Mixing and hearing loss?

[Morgan C]

A lot of people here play in bands but also record and mix themselves and others. I play drums and always try to wear isolation earphones but for the first couple of years I didn't and on some gigs I find them to be too awkward, so I have a little tinittus (spelling? ie. the ringing in your ear) now and then.

Nothing too bad but for those who don't use isolation earphones, or have hearing loss just from dialing in amp tones, or mixing at high volumes, do you find this affects your mixing at all? Just read in another thread that one guy here is almost deaf in one ear..I'd imagine that'd mess your panning up pretty bad.

 

[vespiz]

I won't do any mixing after rehearsals / gigs since, even if I wear earplugs, I get a little bit of "humming" in my ears and general ear-fatigue. A little bit of tinnitus is also present, but it gets noticeable only when sleeping or when it gets really quiet..

 

[-Noodles-]

I maybe wrong..

But mixing shouldn't be done any time near when you're dialing in guitar tones.. so it shouldn't be a problem, in that respect.

I just be careful, earplugs as much as I can, and try and get things done ASAP.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I don't mix at high levels.
I'm not near the amp when it's cranked.
I do have some hearing loss due to being an idiot as a teen (nothing over 17.5kHz, sucks).
I always wear protection at this point when going to loud concerts.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I went to an audiologist a few weeks ago to learn about my tinnitus, and I have a -10dB notch at 6kHz, likely from being a douche when I was a teenager at band practice and at shows. The "good" part of this, is that I begin to perceive sound around 5dB, whereas apparently a person with normal hearing will begin to perceive sound at about 25dB...so even with that -10dB notch, I still can technically hear as good as a person with normal hearing would (even a little better, actually). Luckily there isn't a lot of adjusting to be done in a mix in the 6kHz range anyhow, so my hearing loss, as far as I can tell, has had very little to no effect on my ability to mix.

 

[vespiz]

I went to an audiologist a few weeks ago to learn about my tinnitus, and I have a -10dB notch at 6kHz, likely from being a douche when I was a teenager at band practice and at shows.

An audiologist told me once that 6kHz is the first to go, with the first loud bang that you'll hear (probably in childhood).

 

[Aaron Smith]

An audiologist told me once that 6kHz is the first to go, with the first loud bang that you'll hear (probably in childhood).

I'm not doubting you or saying that the audiologist you talked to was wrong, but the lady I saw told me that 4kHz is generally the first to go, because it's a frequency that is found (to some degree) in literally every sound produced. In my case, she says my ear canals have a bend in them that most people don't have, and because of that, 6kHz is the most prominent frequency that my ears are sensitive to.

 

[vespiz]

I'm not doubting you or saying that the audiologist you talked to was wrong, but the lady I saw told me that 4kHz is generally the first to go, because it's a frequency that is found (to some degree) in literally every sound produced. In my case, she says my ear canals have a bend in them that most people don't have, and because of that, 6kHz is the most prominent frequency that my ears are sensitive to.

Could be, as I'm not an expert, I have to rely on what others tell me

Maybe they're both right? One good whack on snare and voilá, a little dip in both 4 and 6kHz?

 

[riffmachine]

I went to an audiologist a few weeks ago to learn about my tinnitus, and I have a -10dB notch at 6kHz, likely from being a douche when I was a teenager at band practice and at shows. The "good" part of this, is that I begin to perceive sound around 5dB, whereas apparently a person with normal hearing will begin to perceive sound at about 25dB...so even with that -10dB notch, I still can technically hear as good as a person with normal hearing would (even a little better, actually). Luckily there isn't a lot of adjusting to be done in a mix in the 6kHz range anyhow, so my hearing loss, as far as I can tell, has had very little to no effect on my ability to mix.

Where did you get your hearing tested? I'm in Seattle and I've been wanting to figure out how bad my tinnitus is affecting things.