Loss of hearing..

I was just curious if any of you producers have noticed any hearing loss since you started producing. Do you take any precautionary measures to avoid this? Do you wear headphones,or listen to your music loudly on monitors?

I produce on headphones,so the bass levels (which they say are more dangerous than high frequencies) are not insane.. but i have noticed slight hearing loss. Nothing major,but i do have to turn up the television a little louder these day.. Trying to cut back on how loud i listen to music on headphones,and for how long during the day.

"Do you take any precautionary measures to avoid this?"

Yea, about a year ago I noticed a slight change in my hearing, so I bought a pair of monitors. Also, I generally listen to music at low-mid levels on my monitors/headphones.

some people say it's a miracle after they get their ears syringed, and suddenly the top-end they didn't even realise they'd lost comes back

i think there's some evidence that blasting your ears can increase the amount of ear wax that builds up - so that's a likely candidate

i used to go to raves and have my ears, and most of my head, ringing for days afterwards

when i produce i'm normally at very low levels... i got this from mastering... you master at medium/high levels and your hearing's gone in no time from ear fatigue - you know you've got a great sounding mix when it works well at low volumes

i think it's often the same with musical ideas - you want something that grabs your attention and draws you in

the last few days i have practicially lost my hearing due to having a snuffy nose that moved round to my ears.

i'll pass but everything sounds like i have headphones on. total bass. but if i bloew my nose hard it gts little better.

I've overdone it a few times in the past when making music on my headphones and have had saw ears as a result. Now I make music mainly through listen to it via my speakers. I don't have monitors but am fairly use as to how to get levels etc just right using my existing pc speakers.

  Quote

you know you've got a great sounding mix when it works well at low volumes

yeah very true. loud music always sounds more exciting. i always stick to one (sort of neutral) volume setting while working; not too loud because it wears you out.

good thread

i use headphones cause i got other people in the room i'm in so i dont want to be playing electronic music or any music, i like to be private, but i guess there should be avls function for windows :)

SORRY, you need to speak up a bit, can't hear shitt, whats the thread called again? write it down for me? oh it must be some aphex track name?

low levels for mixing and mastering always a la the moons post.

also, don't produce on headphones.

ever.

not for your hearing btw, just for your production.

^^^what pb said

Don't turn it up so loud for long periods of time. That's really the only thing you have to keep in mind.

i produce with headphones on most of the time. it's not that big a deal. just know that your sound will be more dense when heard over speakers, because of the reflections. changes in sound at an equal sound level are less dramatic over speakers then over headphones.

I don't think its an impossibilty to produce on headphones. Especially if you have time later to even things out. just know your headphones well and make sure they arn't crappy. obvoisly monitors are a better choice but whatever.

Reid:

maybe it's the inordinate amount of dix that puncture your ears - you waste of garbage.

Yeah waste of garbage.

mass.

i might have lost some of my hearing, but i think even so with the knowledge i've gained along the way i hear hear better, much more accurate, so it's more than evened out (i imagine)

  loganfive McGriff said:

low levels for mixing and mastering always a la the moons post.

 

also, don't produce on headphones.

 

ever.

 

not for your hearing btw, just for your production.

i dont seem to have a problem with this. i try to listen to the track on multiple systems regardless if i am producing on my headphones,or my terrible speakers. its all dependent on what kind of methods you are limited to,or limit yourself to..and what you learn because of it. In my case,i just cant really cop for a pair of nice monitors at the present time. not to say things wont change in the near future.. but forcing myself to get good mastering by using a 20$ pair of sony headphones has taught me alot,believe it or not. trial and error etc etc.

  thanks robert moses said:

  loganfive McGriff said:

low levels for mixing and mastering always a la the moons post.

 

also, don't produce on headphones.

 

ever.

 

not for your hearing btw, just for your production.

 

i dont seem to have a problem with this. i try to listen to the track on multiple systems regardless if i am producing on my headphones,or my terrible speakers. its all dependent on what kind of methods you are limited to,or limit yourself to..and what you learn because of it. In my case,i just cant really cop for a pair of nice monitors at the present time. not to say things wont change in the near future.. but forcing myself to get good mastering by using a 20$ pair of sony headphones has taught me alot,believe it or not. trial and error etc etc.

But you have to agree that there is a lot of grey area with 20$ phones. I would trust the crappy speakers more. I can understand the stress taken off a person who finally gets dependable speakers. I'm not that person yet. I've got some nice AKGs but none of that fancy speaker monitor stuff.

  Bubba69 said:

  thanks robert moses said:

  loganfive McGriff said:

low levels for mixing and mastering always a la the moons post.

 

also, don't produce on headphones.

 

ever.

 

not for your hearing btw, just for your production.

 

i dont seem to have a problem with this. i try to listen to the track on multiple systems regardless if i am producing on my headphones,or my terrible speakers. its all dependent on what kind of methods you are limited to,or limit yourself to..and what you learn because of it. In my case,i just cant really cop for a pair of nice monitors at the present time. not to say things wont change in the near future.. but forcing myself to get good mastering by using a 20$ pair of sony headphones has taught me alot,believe it or not. trial and error etc etc.

 

But you have to agree that there is a lot of grey area with 20$ phones. I would trust the crappy speakers more. I can understand the stress taken off a person who finally gets dependable speakers. I'm not that person yet. I've got some nice AKGs but none of that fancy speaker monitor stuff.

I dont disagree that there is alot of gray area. Dont get me wrong.. i would love to be producing on an amazing pair of monitors.. but like i said,its all about what you learn. In my case,i have basically learned what im NOT hearing,which allows me to have a little forsight in terms of the mix.. usually when it comes to the lower frequencies. Only problem i still have its giving the mix a complete balance. In the end,i am happy with my finished mixes.. but sometimes it will take me a bit of listening on different systems,namely the car stereo,my home stereo (shitty speakers) and various other places, to get it the way i like it. Which can be a pain in the ass sometimes. But thats just a m atter of not having d ecent monitors,really. Basically,its just getting good at what you do in the worst of conditions.

A tiny bit but I try to prevent it by using little speakers instead of headphones (dunno if this helps). I had a DODGY mixer setup in 2003 and had like the ultimate pain noise on channel one... a couple of times I accidently hit it with my arm and it was fucking nasty.

when i used headphones it fucked up my hearing a bit. i got some decent speakers from an old stereo my dad had in his basement and it helped a lot.

Does anyone know if having more sensitive than average ears is a symptom of hearing loss? Any time I go to a nightclub or concert it's almost always way too loud to the point where I have to have something in my ears, but most other people will go around without earplugs and be totally comfortable. I know a lot of those same people would never listen to their music at home/on headphones as loud as I prefer to. So there's got to be a catch.

And yeah, I've definitely had some hearing loss from listening to moderately loud music for extended periods of time. But then again, it's nothing compared to what most people who go out clubbing on a regular basis must endure. I think my generation's going to have more near-deaf 60 year olds than at any other time in history. Here's hoping I'm not one of them...