Mono mix from laptop

My new HP Pavilion 15-e084ca running windows 8-64 puts out an almost mono mix when I listen using headphones or earbuds. I say almost because the right channel has much stronger bass. Most noticeable listening to 60s music like Beatles where there should be a large difference between right and left channels, so they are definitely being mixed to a large extent.

System has integrated sound, Realtek High Definition Audio with most recent driver which is from Realtek and is version 6.0.1.6870. Tried replacing driver with previous version from Realtek, to no effect.

Is there anything I can do about this, or is it likely just the limitation of a mediocre integrated sound chip? Would an inexpensive USB sound card give better channel separation and better overall sound quality? I plan to get stereo speakers, perhaps Edifier Exclaim e10 or something comparable for around $100 and I want to get the best sound possible coming from the laptop - and also when I use headphones which are decent ones as well, Sony MDR-ZX600.

An additional newbie question: if I listen with headphones using the jack on the computer speakers, will this enhance the sound or would it be the same as if I attached the headphones directly to the laptop?

This is my first laptop so if anyone can shed some light for me I would really appreciate it.

 

Well the really low frequencies are non direction but a mixer can do anything he wants. Assuming you've made sure its not mixed that way there are two things that could be wrong:

1) Your connection jack could be worn out resulting in a partial signal coming through.

2) Your balance control(s) could be skewed to one side.