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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 15:02:14 GMT -6
When I wear headphones, it sometimes sounds like I’m listening to an old Duophonic record. 😆
But yeah, weird thing that happened sometime in the past 12 months or so. There’s a hole in the frequency range of my right ear somewhere between 100-200hz based on what I can tell. I’ve been to an audiologist for a screening a couple times during that period, and they only test down to 250 so they didn’t have much to add. My ears pass all the external and pressure tests. I’ve been told it’s likely genetics as much as anything else, not much to be done about it.
The really strange part is hearing which should be a mono bass track that sounds like it’s leaning to the left, or a snare where the thump and wood are more audible on the left and the presence and sizzle are on the right. (The high frequency extension is better in my right ear, and for a long time that was my “good” ear overall.) Mono podcasts are a weird experience too.
Just getting older I guess. I am grateful that I still have objectively “good” hearing in both ears by medical standards, and I am very good about noise exposure hygiene (my most damaging experiences were before the age of 20), but it also sucks to hit a point where I’m now conscious of how what I’m hear is skewed from reality.
On the bright side, this is another reason to invest in a Mixcube 😅
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Post by christopher on Nov 20, 2024 15:54:36 GMT -6
It can be hard to diagnose. Surest way is take a Transformerless mic and run sine sweeps while recording each cup of your headphone. Verify same peak loudness throughout. Then listen, etc. If it’s earbuds you notice it, that can be harder to verify it’s not from a messed up smartphone jack. I have had a headphone extender make the stereo feed lean one way very slightly. Probably not using same wire or resistance in connection or who knows? Almost a full year of thinking my ears were toast before I did the loopback and caught it
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Post by doubledog on Nov 20, 2024 15:55:49 GMT -6
Or as I said in another thread, check out Raising Jake Studios free "Stereo Swapper" plugin. It's useful.
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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 16:03:27 GMT -6
It can be hard to diagnose. Surest way is take a Transformerless mic and run sine sweeps while recording each cup of your headphone. Verify same peak loudness throughout. Then listen, etc. If it’s earbuds you notice it, that can be harder to verify it’s not from a messed up smartphone jack. I have had a headphone extender make the stereo feed lean one way very slightly. Probably not using same wire or resistance in connection or who knows? Almost a full year of thinking my ears were toast before I did the loopback and caught it Unfortunately, it happens in the real world without headphones too. I have headphones that definitely accentuate it though. |
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 20, 2024 16:03:33 GMT -6
I lost some low end in one of my ears. My dad, who was an ear nose and throat doctor was alarmed when I told him of this and he pulled some strings to get me in to see an audiologist a couple of days later. I believe the words sudden deafness syndrome or similar were uttered. And that you may only have a day or two to address it. Whatever caused mine, I don’t think it’s getting worse at the moment.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 16:07:21 GMT -6
I lost some low end in one of my ears. My dad, who was an ear nose and throat doctor was alarmed when I told him of this and he pulled some strings to get me in to see an audiologist a couple of days later. I believe the words sudden deafness syndrome or similar were uttered. And that you may only have a day or two to address it. Whatever caused mine, I don’t think it’s getting worse at the moment. Cheers, Geoff I've heard of such things. I'm way past that couple day threshold (I don't even know when mine first started). It sounds like yours stabilized but the low end never came back? |
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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 16:09:12 GMT -6
Or as I said in another thread, check out Raising Jake Studios free "Stereo Swapper" plugin. It's useful. I've used stereo swaps as a check in the past, all the more reason to keep doing it now. I have also found that monitoring room simulators with head tracking are good in headphones because I end up naturally shifting my head to make the ears balance out the way I would do listening in a real room. The funny part is, when it first happened I thought it was a slight defect in my wireless headphones and I just let it go because the model I use for casual listening has been discontinued. Imagine my shock a while later when I determined that it wasn't just that pair of headphones. |
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 20, 2024 16:13:20 GMT -6
I lost some low end in one of my ears. My dad, who was an ear nose and throat doctor was alarmed when I told him of this and he pulled some strings to get me in to see an audiologist a couple of days later. I believe the words sudden deafness syndrome or similar were uttered. And that you may only have a day or two to address it. Whatever caused mine, I don’t think it’s getting worse at the moment. Cheers, Geoff I've heard of such things. I'm way past that couple day threshold (I don't even know when mine first started). It sounds like yours stabilized but the low end never came back? Good question! I’m not sure I ever checked. And this goes back a decade plus. Cheers, Geoff |
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 20, 2024 16:14:30 GMT -6
Ha, I thought it was my headphones too.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 16:17:02 GMT -6
Y'all probably have some experiences like this...I'm lucky that my hearing was good in the right ear for as long as it was.
In the days before ear plugs, my band played a basement show in the corner and I was right in front of the drummer's kit, with the crash cymbal right behind my right ear.
By the end of the night I couldn't hear out of my right ear, and our guitarist decided to test that theory by yelling into said ear. I still shudder thinking about it.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Nov 20, 2024 16:27:59 GMT -6
My cousin the audiologist & my old rehab doc who was originally a audiologist both said this; find a better audiologist! Yeah easier said than done, but where I would start is find someone through one of the IEM manufacturers, at least you know they have worked with musicians.
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Post by baxter on Nov 20, 2024 17:12:52 GMT -6
My cousin the audiologist & my old rehab doc who was originally a audiologist both said this; find a better audiologist! Yeah easier said than done, but where I would start is find someone through one of the IEM manufacturers, at least you know they have worked with musicians. Yeah this is good advice. A lot of audiologists or doctors aren't used to the demands of musicians and sound engineers, and will stop at the point where a member of the general public would be happy with their condition.
The other thing is to remind you of the classic cliche - Brian Wilson was deaf in one ear! Never let life get in the way of making art and music :-)
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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 17:29:05 GMT -6
My cousin the audiologist & my old rehab doc who was originally a audiologist both said this; find a better audiologist! Yeah easier said than done, but where I would start is find someone through one of the IEM manufacturers, at least you know they have worked with musicians. Yeah this is good advice. A lot of audiologists or doctors aren't used to the demands of musicians and sound engineers, and will stop at the point where a member of the general public would be happy with their condition.
The other thing is to remind you of the classic cliche - Brian Wilson was deaf in one ear! Never let life get in the way of making art and music :-)
Yeah, I also like the Paul Gilbert quote from his “ear muffs” era after one of his ears was pretty much gone: “Those mono Brian Wilson mixes are sounding better all the time!” I’ll see about finding a new audiologist next year, or at least someone who can do a more extended test. I’m already on my second one after the first botched my last screening a couple years ago and moved me through without even checking it against the previous year’s results. |
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 20, 2024 19:12:25 GMT -6
I guess end of the day if you notice a loss of hearing in low frequencies don’t take it lightly and get it checked asap.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Post by doubledog on Nov 20, 2024 19:21:31 GMT -6
and don't accept "oh, that just happens with age". My ENT (although I may never go back to this one) told me something like that. I lost below 500Hz and probably above 4KHz. Got some drugs , an MRI (to make sure it was not a tumor), and after some time it just came back. Tbh, I wasn't completely sure it had because the brain will compensate. But testing said yes. Then a year later started doing the same thing again. More drugs, but no relief. ENT said, well, it can happen. (I was like WTF?). I've just recently cut out gluten (there is a family history) and I'm noticing some improvement. Can't say for sure it is directly correlated, but if it keeps improving then I probably won't go back. But, I'm not going to accept a sudden change like that without a bit of a fight.
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Post by bossanova on Nov 20, 2024 20:48:38 GMT -6
and don't accept "oh, that just happens with age". My ENT (although I may never go back to this one) told me something like that. I lost below 500Hz and probably above 4KHz. Got some drugs , an MRI (to make sure it was not a tumor), and after some time it just came back. Tbh, I wasn't completely sure it had because the brain will compensate. But testing said yes. Then a year later started doing the same thing again. More drugs, but no relief. ENT said, well, it can happen. (I was like WTF?). I've just recently cut out gluten (there is a family history) and I'm noticing some improvement. Can't say for sure it is directly correlated, but if it keeps improving then I probably won't go back. But, I'm not going to accept a sudden change like that without a bit of a fight. I know something like that might be in my future too. I already have (non life-threatening) swelling in my esophagus that’s linked to an as-yet unknown food allergy. I need to do a full elimination diet to confirm, it’s probably gluten or diary. I also have issues in the nerve that runs down the side of my face on the same side as the bass-light ear. No one has been able to diagnose that one yet either, other than it not being Bell’s Palsy or shingles…as far as they know. |
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Post by Mister Chase on Nov 20, 2024 21:49:50 GMT -6
I have issues with my hearing. It's still "decent" but there are dips and it's asymmetrical. I just had my hearing test and ENT appointment last week. It drives me crazy sometimes along with the tinnitus which is constant and sometimes episodic with big jumps in intensity. I am more careful with my ears now. I played in a marching snare line a good number of years and did some other dumb things. I just do the best I can. Thankfully I'm ok for now, though I do wish they would hurry up with the hearing regeneration stuff so I can hear like when I was 20 again :-)
Or maybe I don't want that!
Best of luck with your journey. I am sorry you have to deal with issues.
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Post by doubledog on Nov 20, 2024 22:30:06 GMT -6
and don't accept "oh, that just happens with age". My ENT (although I may never go back to this one) told me something like that. I lost below 500Hz and probably above 4KHz. Got some drugs , an MRI (to make sure it was not a tumor), and after some time it just came back. Tbh, I wasn't completely sure it had because the brain will compensate. But testing said yes. Then a year later started doing the same thing again. More drugs, but no relief. ENT said, well, it can happen. (I was like WTF?). I've just recently cut out gluten (there is a family history) and I'm noticing some improvement. Can't say for sure it is directly correlated, but if it keeps improving then I probably won't go back. But, I'm not going to accept a sudden change like that without a bit of a fight. I know something like that might be in my future too. I already have (non life-threatening) swelling in my esophagus that’s linked to an as-yet unknown food allergy. I need to do a full elimination diet to confirm, it’s probably gluten or diary. I also have issues in the nerve that runs down the side of my face on the same side as the bass-light ear. No one has been able to diagnose that one yet either, other than it not being Bell’s Palsy or shingles…as far as they know. and I "liked" it , but I don't like it. I'm just saying, it sucks, but also keep after it. |
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,083
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Post by ericn on Nov 20, 2024 22:38:26 GMT -6
You can’t tell in the avatar pic but post burns my ears are physically asymmetrical. I have pretty much learned how to compensate ( hey I can see with a scratched cornea). Early on I had talked to a plastic guy about reconstruction but after one of my burn surgeons told me “ before you do it, keep in mind ears are funny”. I said hell no! Between training and learning to use L/R reverse, soloing left and right as well mono I have learned to embrace the difference. Right sounds more open, right a bit of a hooded honk.
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