Auditory BLS – Disable ‘Audio Enhancements’ To Fix Auditory BLS in Windows

Some users have reported hearing the auditory BLS in both ears at the same time, only hearing it in one ear, or not hearing it at all.

This issue has been introduced by Microsoft and various PC manufacturers introducing sophisticated background noise cancelling and sound enhancement software to  Windows computers. While in most cases this is beneficial. When auditory BLS is being used it can interfere with the proper delivery of bilateral sounds to a client’s ears.

This issue can usually be resolved by disabling the ‘Audio Enhancements’ option in Windows.

To turn off audio enhancements in Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Open Sound Settings:
    • Right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray (bottom right corner of the screen).
    • Select “Sounds” or “Open Sound settings”.
  2. Access Sound Control Panel:
    • If you selected “Sounds”, the Sound control panel will open directly. If you selected “Open Sound settings”, scroll down and click on “Sound Control Panel” on the right side under the “Related Settings” section.
  3. Select Playback Device:
    • In the Sound control panel, go to the “Playback” tab.
    • Right-click on the playback device you are using (it will usually have a green check mark next to it) and select “Properties”.
  4. Disable Enhancements:
    • In the properties window, go to the “Enhancements” tab.
    • Check the box that says “Disable all enhancements” or individually uncheck specific enhancements you don’t want to use.
    • Click “Apply” and then “OK”.
  5. Restart Audio Device:
    • Sometimes, you may need to restart the audio device or even reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

 

The exact location and naming of the options can vary depending on your version of Windows and the Manufacturer of your device so please check out the following resources that provide various ways to disable audio enhancements. These options can also be enabled again if desired using the same guides.

  1. https://www.thewindowsclub.com/disable-audio-enhancements-windows-10
  2. https://www.makeuseof.com/disable-audio-enhancements-windows/
  3. https://www.elevenforum.com/t/enable-or-disable-audio-enhancements-in-windows-11.8426/
  4. https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/disable-audio-enhancements-0ec686c4-8d79-4588-b7e7-9287dd296f72
  5. https://support.loom.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002680438-No-sound-on-your-video-Disable-your-Audio-Enhancements-Windows-10-and-11 

 

Do you have ‘Mono Audio’ Enabled?

We have also helped some users in resolving this and discovered that they had ‘mono audio’ enabled in Windows 11. This will result in auditory BLS not being bilateral. See the following guide to check that this isn’t the issue for you https://pureinfotech.com/enable-mono-audio-windows-11/

 

If you aren’t able to resolve your auditory BLS issue, then contact our support support team. If you are able to resolve your issue it is also helpful to know so we can provide better guidance to other users and so we can feedback this back to Microsoft and device manufacturers so that the issues do not occur going forwards.