Xonar DX volume vs balance issue

Greetings!

I have recently (< 1 month) bought an Asus Xonar DX soundcard to put to my Logitech x530 and Sennheiser RS180.

I don't know how it came to be but since yesterday, when I adjust the master volume on either windows, or through the

keyboard multimedia buttons OR even on Xonar DX Audio Center, it ONLY changes the volume of the "Left" speakers (in terms of balance).

It sounds clearly like Master volume = Left Volume. I have no idea how this came to be.

I have already reinstalled the drivers to the latest from Asus website.

I have checked to see if all cables were well plugged.

IF the Master volume is at 100% then the sound distribution is even and everything works great and sounds beautiful.

If I go lower with the Master volume then I get an uneven balance in the speakers.

Tried with the Headphones on and got the same issue.

My configuration is as follows:

When on 5.1 speakers:

Audio Channel: 6 channels

Sample Rate: PCM 44.1 KHz

Analog Out: Speaker 5.1

When on Stereo Headphone:

Audio Channel: 2 channels

Sample Rate: PCM 192 KHz

Analog Out: Headphone

Dolby Headphone (checked)

Smart Volume (SVN): Always off.

Windows 7 audio setup:

Changes between 5.1 and Stereo as I switch it on DX's Audio Center

On-board sound configuration (BIOS setting):

I have tried both with onboard HD audio on/off, does not affect this issue

The most clear identification of the problem goes as follows:

I first go to Sound -> Playback tab -> Properties of ASUS Xonar DX -> Levels tab -> Balance button

Then if I slide the "L" button sound my Left (balance) volume changes.

If I slide the "R" button... NO sound changes. Nothing changes!

This is evil... any clues? :(

It's really annoying to not be able to control master volume except directly on the output devices (speakers and headphone)

OR per application.

Thanks in advance.

Found the answer (just if someone every has this problem here is how to fix).

I am running Windows 7 64x and apparently (didn't know exactly the cause) but the problem relied on having both

"HsMgr.exe" and "HsMgr64.exe" running in the processes.

I didn't went to check what these processes are actually responsible for but what made my problem fixed was:

1st - uninstall Xonar DX drivers

2nd - go to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and delete HsMgr.exe (if the process is running, kill it first on windows task manager)

3rd - reinstall latest drivers from Asus website

4th - boot your system for all to take effect

I believe ANY other soundcard that comes to this issue will likely be due to the same conflict of interfacing processes.

Cheers

Glad it was helpful :)