How to do with ear degradation with age?

[avasopht]

A college lecturer on music production once talked about ear degradation and how this one world class engineer later took on his son to attend to the higher frequency content of his mixes.

But failing the option of an assistant mixer, how are you older engineers managing the top end, and can anything be done to prevent degradation?

[motuscott]

I rely on my amateur status for this, I ain't selling nothing, I ain't pushing nothing. I proceed as if I could hear normally. I have sustained some serious hearing damage (and there's reason to believe my hearing's been compromised from the get go). High end, I can still imagine that, what I miss is the low end. Well that's my story. You pros are on yer own...,

[Marco Raaphorst]

What are you afraid of? Putting too much high end in the mixes? I hear a lot of stuff which has too much high end.

[stratatonic]

I hear a lot of stuff which has too much high end.

So are there a lot of aging producers out there?
Or just a lot of producers with tired shot ears?

[stratatonic]

OP - I'd stay away from long loud mixing sessions. And when listening to other music, keep it at a sensible volume and avoid earphones/headphones. just imo. And just take a break from noise when you can.

[Marco Raaphorst]

I hear a lot of stuff which has too much high end.

So are there a lot of aging producers out there?
Or just a lot of producers with tired shot ears?

Not sure. It's just that I don't like certain sounds.

I think 1 - 5 kHz is far more important than anything higher. Get that right and the rest is just some icing on the cake

[selig]

I just do as I always do, which is when in doubt compare to a great mix I'm familiar with from my youth. It's all relative, and it's not like those upper frequencies are non-existent - they're just not as loud as they used to be!

[16BitBear]

As I get older I recognize as I have with many things that I must use it or lose it and stay on top of things with more awareness.

I exercise much more regularly. I watch my sugar and salt intake daily. I do mental exercises to keep my mind sharp. And I use exercises to keep my ears well trained. I also invested more money into higher quality headphones and studio monitors.

I have also learned to use my eyes more to help my ears recognize a good mix. Though I have to admit that I am more of a composer and producer than I am an engineer. I am learning more and more about this side of music production as I move towards finally putting out some of my EP's and LP's commercially.

[normen]

1) You can't really do anything to prevent degradation apart from protecting your ears and living healthily to prevent clogging your capillary blood system. The rest is genetic disposition I'm afraid.
2) Sure many old engineers don't have as much of a range but its not really a problem unless they're completely deaf. As the whole process is happening over years and decades your brain adapts, its not like you would suddenly put more highs in, it would still sound too bright for you because your listening experience is the same with the same content. Few instruments have completely separate content in the high regions, its always tied to content in the lower regions and your brain is smart enough to judge the overall response from that.

That said, of course there might be things like very high frequency ringing from some broken equipment or something that might slip your attention but if you notice a spike at 15kHz in the analyzer you can just investigate that. For example I was once going into the studio where a colleague was sitting mixing an orchestra recording. I was instantly struck by a high frequency sine and noted it. He was like "Huh? No, I don't know what you're talking about?". So we pulled out an analyzer and sure enough, there was this 13 kHz spike coming from an ambience mic that was apparently broken. But no, overall his mixes didn't have too much high end or anything and he didn't have more problems hearing through a mix - apart from this isolated high frequency thing.

[Data_Shrine]

I also have ear damage, the worst for me is high end frequencies... it hurts easily. I prefer "dark" sound-style, by that I mean sound that has a lower high-frequency content.

It's difficult to get away from the noise now days. Even my natal village has become very noisy. We have to go very far away to get some peace. Loud noises are almost everywhere now.