diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch/Objects/Drawables/DrawableCatchHitObject.cs b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch/Objects/Drawables/DrawableCatchHitObject.cs
index e726d6eff5..b12cdd4ccb 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch/Objects/Drawables/DrawableCatchHitObject.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch/Objects/Drawables/DrawableCatchHitObject.cs
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Catch.Objects.Drawables
 
         public float DisplayRadius => DrawSize.X / 2 * Scale.X * HitObject.Scale;
 
-        protected override float SamplePlaybackBalance => 0.8f * HitObject.X - 0.4f;
+        protected override float SamplePlaybackPosition => HitObject.X;
 
         protected DrawableCatchHitObject(CatchHitObject hitObject)
             : base(hitObject)
diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Objects/Drawables/DrawableManiaHitObject.cs b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Objects/Drawables/DrawableManiaHitObject.cs
index 76e9695855..ce56fd222c 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Objects/Drawables/DrawableManiaHitObject.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania/Objects/Drawables/DrawableManiaHitObject.cs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Mania.Objects.Drawables
 
         protected readonly IBindable<ScrollingDirection> Direction = new Bindable<ScrollingDirection>();
 
-        protected override float SamplePlaybackBalance
+        protected override float SamplePlaybackPosition
         {
             get
             {
diff --git a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu/Objects/Drawables/DrawableOsuHitObject.cs b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu/Objects/Drawables/DrawableOsuHitObject.cs
index 068d666c8e..8308c0c576 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu/Objects/Drawables/DrawableOsuHitObject.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu/Objects/Drawables/DrawableOsuHitObject.cs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ using osu.Framework.Graphics;
 using osu.Game.Rulesets.Judgements;
 using osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Judgements;
 using osu.Game.Graphics.Containers;
+using osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.UI;
 using osu.Game.Rulesets.Scoring;
 
 namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Objects.Drawables
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Osu.Objects.Drawables
         // Must be set to update IsHovered as it's used in relax mdo to detect osu hit objects.
         public override bool HandlePositionalInput => true;
 
-        protected override float SamplePlaybackBalance => (HitObject.X / 512f - 0.5f) * 0.8f;
+        protected override float SamplePlaybackPosition => HitObject.X / OsuPlayfield.BASE_SIZE.X;
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Whether this <see cref="DrawableOsuHitObject"/> can be hit.
diff --git a/osu.Game/Rulesets/Objects/Drawables/DrawableHitObject.cs b/osu.Game/Rulesets/Objects/Drawables/DrawableHitObject.cs
index d6e231424b..b14927bcd5 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Rulesets/Objects/Drawables/DrawableHitObject.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Rulesets/Objects/Drawables/DrawableHitObject.cs
@@ -87,11 +87,15 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Objects.Drawables
         public JudgementResult Result { get; private set; }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// The stereo balance of the samples played if <i>Positional hitsounds</i> is set.
+        /// The relative X position of this hit object for sample playback balance adjustment.
         /// </summary>
-        protected virtual float SamplePlaybackBalance => 0;
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// This is a range of 0..1 (0 for far-left, 0.5 for centre, 1 for far-right).
+        /// Dampening is post-applied to ensure the effect is not too intense.
+        /// </remarks>
+        protected virtual float SamplePlaybackPosition => 0.5f;
 
-        private readonly BindableDouble samplePlaybackBalanceAdjustment = new BindableDouble();
+        private readonly BindableDouble balanceAdjust = new BindableDouble();
 
         private BindableList<HitSampleInfo> samplesBindable;
         private Bindable<double> startTimeBindable;
@@ -168,7 +172,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Objects.Drawables
             }
 
             Samples = new SkinnableSound(samples.Select(s => HitObject.SampleControlPoint.ApplyTo(s)));
-            Samples.AddAdjustment(AdjustableProperty.Balance, samplePlaybackBalanceAdjustment);
+            Samples.AddAdjustment(AdjustableProperty.Balance, balanceAdjust);
             AddInternal(Samples);
         }
 
@@ -368,7 +372,9 @@ namespace osu.Game.Rulesets.Objects.Drawables
         /// </summary>
         public virtual void PlaySamples()
         {
-            samplePlaybackBalanceAdjustment.Value = userPositionalHitSounds.Value ? SamplePlaybackBalance : 0;
+            const float balance_adjust_amount = 0.4f;
+
+            balanceAdjust.Value = balance_adjust_amount * (userPositionalHitSounds.Value ? SamplePlaybackPosition - 0.5f : 0);
             Samples?.Play();
         }