# Need help with hearing loss compensation eq curve... if possible



## berto (Jul 10, 2021)

Hello. It turns out I have a mild hearing loss. Mild they say ... starts from 3000hz with 40 db loss on 4000hz as a negative peak then gets to around 30db loss from 6000 onwards. 

i was thinking to use an eq on the master to create a correction curve. But if I literally boost 40db at 4khz with a wide bell it sounds awful even for me...even if I use a graphic eq and follow exactly my issue frequency by frequency it sounds terrible. 
logic would Tell me if I hear those freqs softer I should boost them louder of the same amount. But it does not work. What is the physic behind it? How much should I boost to be able to compensate my loss? Thank you.

don’t wear earbuds folks !!! 

thanks in advance for the help.


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## Kent (Jul 10, 2021)

This is a complex issue, but I’d imagine the bulk of what you’re experiencing is because your mind _already _applies a compensatory EQ curve so you are, in effect, double-compensating.


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## rdd27 (Jul 10, 2021)

I'm sorry to hear about your hearing loss. I have significant hearing loss in my left ear, so I know it can be difficult. In my experience, trying to compensate for hearing loss isn't usually the answer unfortunately - although do try everything as you never know what might work for you.

Boosting the specific frequencies that your ear struggles seems to be the obvious solution (that's how a hearing aid works), but in my experience this is rarely helpful. That's because hearing loss doesn't just make things quieter, it affects how your ear works fundamentally. Yes, boosting those frequencies _might _help compensate the volume (it doesn't always) but your ear will likely lack the ability to correctly discern those frequencies as pitches. The result is: instead of hearing something more balanced, you just get a strange noisy experience that isn't helpful at all (it's difficult to describe!).

What I find incredibly helpful is to learn how to use the meters. You will begin to see visually whether there are any significant problems. Then for critical stuff, once you've completed your mix, share it with someone else who you trust (which is generally good practice anyway) to get their feedback before mastering and distributing it.

I recommend trying as many different things as you can - you'll find a method that works for you!


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## Babe (Jul 10, 2021)

I have a moderate hearing loss bad enough that I have hearing aids. (Don't wear them.) What I found out with my own testing is that I may not be able to hear a soft high sound at 60db where at 80db, it sound normal. I use a multi band compressor. It took me several days to get the sound (hopefully) right. 

My test piece was the Smetana's Moldau. There is a soft triangle hit several bar in. My wife could hear it but I couldn't. So I raised the low dynamics starting around 1k hz. so I could hear the ring. If I just left the adjustment as that, when the piece got loud it sounded, well not so good. So I gradual lowered the adjustment as dynamic increased.


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## rrichard63 (Jul 10, 2021)

berto said:


> logic would Tell me if I hear those freqs softer I should boost them louder of the same amount. But it does not work. What is the physic behind it?


The brain perceives the louder/softer relationship between different parts of the frequency spectrum in different ways depending on the overall volume level. At low levels, very low and very high frequencies sound relatively quieter in relation to mid frequencies. At higher levels, the very low and very high frequencies sound louder relative to the mids. See









Equal-loudness contour - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





This is why monitoring levels matter a lot when you are mixing and mastering. It is also the reason for the so-called "loudness compensation" switch on consumer audio gear.


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## b_elliott (Jul 11, 2021)

berto said:


> Hello. It turns out I have a mild hearing loss. Mild they say ... starts from 3000hz with 40 db loss on 4000hz as a negative peak then gets to around 30db loss from 6000 onwards.


We share a hearing loss predicament on the high end. 

I have a solution I like to think positively helps me. 

I use Izotope's Ozone8 and Nuetron 2's AI features to get a mix for stuff I simply can't hear. Either through one of its presets or using the master assistant. 

After making my selection, I then look at the resulting EQ, compression settings and will lower levels that boost too much. (I saw a number of reviews from pro mixers commenting on Neutron is good as a _starting point_ but then would lower any big boosts or the amount of change in the mix; therefore, I follow suit.) 

Using this approach on about 90 songs this year, not one comment from vi forum was made on a terrible mix/trebly. My postings get commented for entirely different reasons. So, there is yet another approach to consider: AI.

Hope this helps, Bill


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## SergeD (Jul 11, 2021)

Hearing loss on both sides? If not, you could temporarily pan everything to the healthy side and balance your mix, while checking meters, as suggested by rdd27. You could also isolate the frequency range you can't hear and again check the meters.


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## berto (Jul 11, 2021)

SergeD said:


> Hearing loss on both sides? If not, you could temporarily pan everything to the healthy side and balance your mix, while checking meters, as suggested by rdd27. You could also isolate the frequency range you can't hear and again check the meters.


both sides....


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## berto (Jul 11, 2021)

what i am doing at the moment ...
i use newfangled eq, 26 bands... i did a comparison with 2 people which seem to have still very good ears...i used a sine wave on all 26 freqs, i did a chart and marked down the differences of hearing on all 26 bands... then i set those differences in the EQ, divided them by 6 (arbitrary), and then used the max db slider to smoothen out (i works as a ratio or a wet/dry thing) i noticed that at "full wet", it is too much, but at around 20db out of 24db max (which is kind of 83% wet) i can perceive it as balanced. did that with many songs... it seems working for the moment.


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