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Mixing and hearing loss

JT

Senior Member
I have hearing loss especially in the upper frequencies. Today, I'm trying to adjust a glockenspiel in a track. But I can't even hear it at all unless I have the levels cranked. And that wouldn't work for anyone with normal hearing.

Does anyone else have issues like this? Any tips on how to set a level without being able to hear it?
 
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Have a professionally provided hearing test to see which frequencies are most affected then consider some top quality hearing aids adjusted and programmed to provide help with the affected frequencies. Hearing aids aren’t just for the elderly or people with severe hearing loss, and they can totally improve things for you.
 
Can top Headphones + Calib get close if main need is homestudio mixing, etc.??
Not so sure, but in some instances....perhaps. Still, working with an expert audiologist who can then tweak and adjust over a period of time and monitor changes seems to me to be something that will eventually win out over simple calibration of a device with limitations already present.
 
I have a pretty bad hearing loss in one ear which has gradually gotten worse over the last decade or so. There is a stigma about hearing aids and I confess I was guilty of it, but I'm 100% with playz123: invest the money and get yourself fitted. I finally did and even with only correcting the one ear it made a world of difference.

Hearing aids have really improved recently. They're smaller, sound better, and are extremely flexible to customize.
 
I did see an audiologist a few months ago. It was way more expensive than I had estimated. Talking with him, my main focus would be on improving my hearing in my wife's speaking range. He felt confident that the aid would work for that, but was less promising about hearing different frequencies in music.
 
Sorry to hear about your hearing JT. I am currently in a bad situation myself as I suddenly lost my hearing in one ear back in October down 95% with zero word recognition. It is sensorineural instead of over exposure/degenerative loss. I gained some back after treatments but it’s only about 60% DB and 35% word recognition currently.

It looks like you already spoke with your Audiologist about hearing aids. They won’t work for me because they will just amp up distortion so I can’t say from experience. Obviously I am not an Audiologist but based on my research your Audiologist is correct. Most hearing aid devices are built for understanding speech clearly and potentially could miss certain frequency ranges. I know that to be certain for cochlear implants as my own ENT wrote a huge research paper on the implants being a bad choice for musicians. It sounds like your Audiologist is giving you some good info on that.

Also, just to say I feel your pain with this as it has been a life altering condition for me being a professional musician for so many years. I have simply been running my tracks by a few musician friends for mixing etc...and doing the best I can. I was trying to read reviews on the new Ozone 9 plug-in for mastering since I think I could do with a little AI help to achieve good results. I was actually going to post something about Ozone 9 here in the forums to see if people that own it think it would really be useful for my situation. Currently I am just using the EQs, Compressors, Limiters and Lufts metering etc...in Logic Pro X.

Finally, I just want to make a little PSA on this topic. Nobody here wants to go through what I have been through recently. So if you suddenly realize your hearing is down in one or both ears, do not wait it out and think you are just getting sick. Do some anecdotal tests with your headphones and see if it is hard to hear in one ear. If you suddenly and dramatically lose your hearing in one ear treat it as an emergency. Don’t assume it’s just clogged up with wax. The absolute next best thing is to get to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor right away. Your regular doctor might not be on top of the current guidelines and might send you away with some meds and a wait and see attitude. Do not do that. There currently is no cure for Sudden Hearing Loss but you will be given high dose steroids to begin with and statistically your chances of recovering are much higher the sooner you start them. As in within 1 -2 week window and the sooner the better.

For all of you that have lost hearing do to over exposure there is at least some promising news. For the first time there are a few companies doing actual human trials for regrowing hair cells (not just on mice) and having a little bit of success. Just maybe there will actually be some treatment for hearing loss in a few years instead of 10-30 years.
Take care of those ears,
Jason
 
Jason,

Good luck with this problem. I hope those who read your words take them to heart. I would also encourage others to turn down the volume on their headphones & monitors whenever possible. It's more satisfying when tracks are cranked, but those loud volumes can and do take a toll on our hearing.

JT
 
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