# Fix audio that plays in one ear only

> Drop a stereo file. The levels, the phase and the verdict show at once, and one click fixes it.

Find out why a stereo recording sounds wrong: one silent ear, cancelling phase or one side louder. Fix it and save a WAV. Runs in your browser.

- Tool: [Fix stereo audio](https://fixmint.cc/fix-stereo-audio)
- Category: [Audio & video](https://fixmint.cc/audio-video)
- Fixes: Sound only in one ear
- Runs in the browser: files and text stay on the device, no sign-up, free.

## How to fix audio that plays in one ear

1. Drop the stereo file on the box.
2. Read the verdict. The fix that matches it is already selected, and you can pick another.
3. Choose stereo or mono output, then download the WAV.

## Questions

### What do the verdicts mean?

A channel below −60 dB while the other is louder is reported as silent. Channels that cancel out have a correlation below −0.5, which means one plays the opposite of the other. A difference above 3 dB between the levels is reported as one side louder.

### What does "out of phase" do to sound?

When both channels carry the same sound with opposite signs, the two cancel when they are heard together, most of the sound disappears in a mono player. Inverting one channel fixes this.

### Why does mono output average the channels?

A mono file is one channel, so the two channels are averaged. If the channels are out of phase, one is flipped first, so the average does not cancel.

### Is my audio uploaded?

No. The channels are read and fixed in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere. Only the first two channels of a multichannel file are used.

## Related tools

- [Normalize loudness](https://fixmint.cc/normalize-audio-loudness): Files at uneven volume
- [Remove silence](https://fixmint.cc/remove-silence): Long pauses in my recording
- [Clean voice recording](https://fixmint.cc/clean-voice-recording): Hiss and hum in my voice memo
- [Make loop](https://fixmint.cc/make-audio-loop): Need a seamless loop of a sound