How can i trust my mixes if i have hearing loss
The other day i came across a monitor test posted on reasontalk. What it showed me and it wasn't meant to be a hearing test is that i can only hear frequencies from around 40 to 8900 kh. I had no idea. I have since taken similar tests posted on youtube and they bear out what that first test showed. Will i ever be able to trust my ears again? How can i mix going forward. Any work arounds. Love to hear your suggestions especially from those that may have the same hearing loss problem and how you deal with it.
- kuhliloach
- Posts: 881
- Joined: 09 Dec 2015
If you can successfully produce great music between 40 and 8900 you'll have lots of folks beat already! And there are so many visual tools these days it may be very possible to see what you cannot hear and make good decisions based on that. FM Radio doesn't broadcast past 15k. And many people, as music consumers, suffer from high-end loss. So, the significance of hearing above 8900 may be less important than it seems.
My hearing ends around 11,000 khz. I use Ozone's mastering assistant which applies EQ to the mix to resemble some pre-determined Ai frequency graph thing. The end result is that always cuts the highs, so I guess I must boost the highs to compensate for the loss over 10,000khz.
Try putting songs that you like into Reason or another DAW and analyse the frequency graph, compare it to your mixes, see if yours differ at the high-end.
The fact that you didn't know your hearing was bad shows that it's not the end of the world, but it's something to be aware of.
Try putting songs that you like into Reason or another DAW and analyse the frequency graph, compare it to your mixes, see if yours differ at the high-end.
The fact that you didn't know your hearing was bad shows that it's not the end of the world, but it's something to be aware of.
- Boombastix
- Competition Winner
- Posts: 1929
- Joined: 18 May 2018
- Location: Bay Area, CA
All instrument you normally play have the fundamental in your hearing range. You need to focus on things like cymbals that has lots of it's energy <8k. Like they said, visual aids, and match eq. I would use spectrum and VU/peak meters to balance a cymbal with drums. Learn from a reference track, and set up so the meters show the same. Have someone with good hearing check, and use those numbers everyone. Something like that...
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So, EQ-ing out any frequencies you can't yourself hear, would that be a dick move? "If I can't hear it, NOBODY can!" Or, would that actually be a way of ensuring that there are no nasty surprises lurking on the fringes for people with a wider range of hearing?
You could razor cut everything above 9k and make this kind of boxy vintage sound your signature sound.
- Boombastix
- Competition Winner
- Posts: 1929
- Joined: 18 May 2018
- Location: Bay Area, CA
You can hard cut at 12.5k, there is not a lot above it that is needed, and it can mess you up if you don't hear it.
Then maybe a 6dB LP filter at 6kHz that you turn carefully while watching a spectrometer and A/B-ing to a ref track.
It is my guess, but at least it is considering what I look at when dialing in cymbals and such.
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You can always get a second set of ears lmao
No but seriously I would find a second set of ears hearing loss or not. As long as the arrangement is fine you can always let someone else do the grunt work if you don't trust yourself completely
No but seriously I would find a second set of ears hearing loss or not. As long as the arrangement is fine you can always let someone else do the grunt work if you don't trust yourself completely
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You don't measure your hearing acuity in online tests or in shops, mate. How would you even know if it's the air conductivity or bone conductivity loss that you suffer? You need proper audiometry in a designated clinical setting. That's what it's there for. It's also dirt cheap.
If that indeed confirms a problem, a defined state and type of problem will also give you options for treatment.
If that indeed confirms a problem, a defined state and type of problem will also give you options for treatment.
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