Quite Worried about my ears

[NSGUITAR]

Hey guys. Lately I'm worried that I mix way too loud.. But for some reason, I really enjoy FEELING a mix when I think a song is all mixed, so I tend to crank my speakers.

I'm just wondering if there is a way that I could continue to mix loud and not damage my ears at the same time...

The monitors I'm using are near field monitors, and I'm not sure if switching to mid/far would make a difference?

 

[vespiz]

I know how you feel, it's the same with me...

I'm trying to keep the mix volume down most of the time and then when I feel I'm "ready", I'll crank it up.
I know when I've been listening for too long and/or too loud, because everything starts to sound like shit!

Then it's just better to call it a day.

 

[Heabow]

I think it's necessary to listen to your stuff at a high volume during mixing time but for a short time, just to check things are going well. Yeah, mixing loud is quite cool but gives also often a distorted vision of the real picture. I remember Jacob Hansen saying "when you push up the volume everything sounds good but when you mix at a 'low' volume, it's pretty difficult to feel things punchy".

I personally used to mix pretty loud but since I had some serious problems with my ears on stage a few years back (solved now due to my reactivity - these shit gotta be treated in the 48 hours max after damages), I had to learn how to mix at a "normal" volume and I get now way better results. I highly recommend to take care of your ears man and not especially in your studio but also when you play on stage or just enjoying a band playing live.

Peace


PS - I read here and there that Fredrik Nordström mix at high volume and doesn't really have problem with his ears but I don't take it as an example for me...

 

[fatalforce]

I went to go see an audiologist a few years back because I had the same concern. She ran a test on me and said my hearing was quite good! I would look into it for peace of mind. If you do alot of live work, I would seriously consider getting musician ear plugs. Most audiologists can have these done for you. best of luck!

 

[kool98769]

I know what you mean, a mix just sounds so much more powerful loud!

I was always reading about mixing at low volumes on here. So i'd try a low volume, and i'd be like, damn this sounds so unexciting. no power. boring.
But then I realized if you can mix at boring levels to sound good, it sounds SO MUCH better loud. And, I also remembered reading somewhere that your ears frequency response changes pretty drastically when volume levels increase, which explains why things sound so much different. There's no reason you can't crank it up every now and then for a little to check it out. Also, it's long exposures to high sound levels that does permenant hearing damage. So if you're listening at loud volumes, remember to give your ears a break pretty often. And, wear earplugs at shows and band practices. It's kinda funny, how once i started wearing earplugs at my band practices, my hearing actually seemed to come back. We got a new drummer and he has a brass snare that is loud as piss. I was starting to get used to it, but i noticed my ears were always ringing really bad. Now that i wear earplugs, if he hits his snare without earplugs in, it is physically PAINFUL to me, and I bitch at him.

use hearing protection+mix at low volumes. There's a reason everyone says it. It took a while for me to figure out why, but i'm real happy I finally did.