Download Balance Lock 1.1 (Mac) – Download Free

The audio balance of the latest Mac models is finicky, especially when you need to plug and unplug your headphones frequently every day.

This is a well-known macOS bug encountered by many Mac users, every time they disconnect their headphones, they have to manually make it again using the Sound Preferences pane in System Preferences or the Audio Midi Settings app in the Applications > Utilities folder Centered.

Low-profile app for controlling Mac audio balance

balance lock is a simple-to-use macOS utility designed from the ground up to stop your Mac’s audio balance from swiping right or left, which sounds annoying when listening to music or watching movies.

Plus, Balance Lock is a minimalist gadget that runs in the background, monitoring your Mac’s audio balance, and automatically centering it when it drifts left and right after you unplug your headphones.

The Balance Lock app adds a status bar item that lets you toggle audio balance with a single mouse click, and allows you to access the app’s Preferences window.

Let you know audio balance has been restored with Notification Center alerts

With Balance Lock’s preferences, you can set the application to start automatically at startup, run in the background, and keep an eye on your Mac’s audio balance. It’s worth mentioning that although the balance lock is in the background, it will go into sleep mode until the audio balance changes.

In addition, Balance Lock can be configured to notify you when the sound balance is restored to center, with more detail, and additional console output to simplify debugging if desired.

Balance Lock worked well throughout our testing, and while we didn’t encounter the audio balance bug it was designed to fix, it did re-establish the correct balance immediately after we manually modified it.

Monitor and maintain your Mac’s audio balance

Regarding the bugs and shortcomings we encountered, no, but Balance Lock definitely needs a headless mode option for users who don’t want extra icons in their Mac’s status bar.

In short, if you’re having audio balance issues after unplugging your headphones from your Mac, you should give Balance Lock a try, as it automatically restores, saving you a lot of time and frustration every day.