SH73 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I am certain that some of you veteran musicians or bedroom musicians sport a pair of hearing aids. Whether anyone chooses to wear them it's a personal choice. I have noticed that I don't respond well to certain frequencies when someone talks to me from a distance or from a different room, phone lines can be troublesome if the reception is bad. This may obviously have an impact how I mix my music and my end result often ends up muddy regardless using eq, comp, panning etc. etc. Surely if I had deficiency hearing certain frequencies, hearing aids would or could potentially improve my mixing/ mastering. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) Yep... get a proper hearing test done, usually a doctors referal From the Hard of Hearing thread... I've got an apt with Audiology on the 7th Feb... 50% or More loss in my left ear 60db down!.. certified cloth ears... Real gypsy's kisser ad most of my music listening is mpe3 'n headphones... I'm going old school P Bass, Flats, Black n White TV and back to mono! Edited January 30, 2023 by PaulThePlug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 10 minutes ago, SH73 said: I am certain that some of you veteran musicians or bedroom musicians sport a pair of hearing aids. Whether anyone chooses to wear them it's a personal choice. I have noticed that I don't respond well to certain frequencies when someone talks to me from a distance or from a different room, phone lines can be troublesome if the reception is bad. This may obviously have an impact how I mix my music and my end result often ends up muddy regardless using eq, comp, panning etc. etc. Surely if I had deficiency hearing certain frequencies, hearing aids would or could potentially improve my mixing/ mastering. Any thoughts? If you are thinking about it - go and get tested. Lots of GP's don't have the kit for it anymore so you'll probably get an NHS referral to SpecSavers - they do loads of the NHS hearing tests now. You'll get a proper understanding of any hearing loss including the frequencies that are most problematic. Then you'll get proper advice on hearing aids if you need them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 3 minutes ago, SH73 said: ... Surely if I had deficiency hearing certain frequencies, hearing aids would or could potentially improve my mixing/ mastering. Any thoughts? The advance of old age put paid to the quality of my hearing yonks ago, and there's little to be done to save it. It doesn't have to be such a handicap for composing, mixing and mastering, though. My trick is to use reference music; music that I know well from the past, with which I can compare my own stuff. No, not for its intrinsic music qualities, obviously; simply for the tonal response and frequencies. I can listen to Ziggy Stardust, for instance, and compare the cymbals there to those I'm mixing. If I can hear them, they're probably too high in the mix..! It's not ideal, of course, and I was better half a century ago, but needs must (and I was using the reference comparison trick back then, too; there's no 'downside'...). It has to be music that one is already familiar with, though, and any genre would do (I have classical pieces from Schubert on hand, or Debussy, but also Bowie, Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention and others...); what matters is to keep the memory of how it sounded 'back then' and compare with the subject being treated. I will admit to being, these days, rather more 'heavy-handed'; it's rare that I use anything less than 3db when adjusting stuff. I can't really hear the difference that 1db makes any more, so I'm probably less 'detailed' than in the past. Still, it's working, and without hearing aids at all (too expensive for me, anyway, so...). Hope this helps. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH73 Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 Thanks chaps nothing wrong with Ziggy Stardust. And don't you start with black white TV. I use reference songs and even have master match software unfortunately it's not be all end all. Luckily my missus is a hearing aid professional so getting it sorted won't be an issue, but the I will not have excuse not to hear what she says 😃 suppose every cloud.... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Black & White TV... i'm colour blind, glasdes as short sited and now deaf in one ear... lost a couple of teeth, oh and shave my head bald... at 54 my head is basically fcuked! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddster Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I've recently gone down the hearing aid route, and it's made quite a difference. Dad has made some good points about reference material. I have done audio/studio work professionally since I was 18 and my hearing deteriorated over the years (also due to an infection), but found that with a built in knowledge of how things were meant to sound (and how to use eq etc) I could compensate for the loss. What I was hearing wasn't right, but i trusted that I knew what I was doing and didn't over compensate for it (ie screwing in lots of mid/treble). Definitely get hearing aids. No excuses if the missis is a professional. It'll make a big difference to your mixing (knowing what you're hearing is right). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH73 Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 18 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said: Black & White TV... i'm colour blind, glasdes as short sited and now deaf in one ear... lost a couple of teeth, oh and shave my head bald... at 54 my head is basically fcuked! I'm not quite as bad but rely on semifocals, and always struggled with Ishihara test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) Mrs Bassfinger wears hearing aids. I can only go by what she tells me in that it makes a significant improvement to not only her ability to hear but the quality of her hearing, so I think if my hearing were sub par I'd sooner be mixing a track while wearing them than not. Edited January 30, 2023 by Bassfinger Typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 There is a website to do your own hearing test that sort off mimics the NHS one https://hearingtest.online/ You've probably lost some hearing around the 5k Hz range, most people do with age, go to your Doctor and get a referral to the NHS Audiology clinic, their hearing aids are free. I tried some private ones for a month on approval, yes they were better than my out of date NHS ones (I'm due to get some up to date ones in Feb) but not £3k better. They do take some getting used too, it took me a year and they still don't handle noisy environments well, but I would be without them 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said: Black & White TV... i'm colour blind, glasdes as short sited and now deaf in one ear... lost a couple of teeth, oh and shave my head bald... at 54 my head is basically fcuked! Blimey, you've gone downhill fast since I last saw you! 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 14 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: They do take some getting used too, it took me a year and they still don't handle noisy environments well, but I would be without them Very much this ^^^. I'm having a couple of days off from my aids as they're being uncomfortable (I have small, sensitive ear canals). I've found that the tuning done to my NHS hearing aids is a bit loud and shrill (this is, of course, compared to what I've grow used to with my diminished hearing at the top end and overall) and overemphasises the sibilants in people's speech, especially on the TV. So I've come up with my own program, via the bluetooth app, that makes this more 'natural'. However, when I play the skinny stringed thing or listen to our small radio, I get feedback at certain frequencies, so I also have a 'guitar' program that cuts the top end even more. Both of these programs still improve my hearing, but in a way that's more pleasing to the official, default settings. I mentioned these shortcomings and custom alterations to my audiologist and she, very sensibly, said that it's my hearing and what works for me is right for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chezz55 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 9 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: They do take some getting used too, it took me a year and they still don't handle noisy environments well, but I would be without them Definitely this. I've worn hearing aids for a few years now and they took a bit of time to get used to. Like others, I had a GP referral for a hearing test, and was supplied with NHS hearing aids - the difference for 'one-to-one' conversation was immediate and impressive, and they are fine in most everyday circumstances. ............................. BUT I find noisy environments a major problem, in some cases I feel even more isolated because the background noise (canned music, other nearby conversations, ambient noise) drowns out everything else and makes conversation impossible - lip-reading is not one of my skills so I might have made some serious conversational gaffes. Also the resulting 'in-ear-drone' is very tiring, so I turn the aids off or remove them completely.. I don't wear them when rehearsing or playing live as the sound levels can cause a 'ringing' feedback. Having said that, I wouldn't be without my hearing aids now - I notice the difference particularly if I remove them when watching television or listening to music at home. Chris 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 My dad has music/volume-induced hearing loss, so sometimes wears hearing aids. He has said that they tend to amplify everything, so it can be hard to distinguish signal from noise (so to speak) in some environments - such as a bar with lots of hard surfaces. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 22 minutes ago, Jakester said: My dad has music/volume-induced hearing loss, so sometimes wears hearing aids. He has said that they tend to amplify everything, so it can be hard to distinguish signal from noise (so to speak) in some environments - such as a bar with lots of hard surfaces. There's the issue, right there. He should wear them all the time and gradually the brain filters stuff out. I started wearing a pair of hearing aids when I was just 50. I'm now 65 and still evangelical about how they have turned my life around. They aren't perfect, still not much use in a noisy environment like a pub or, particualrly for me, noisy restaurant. But in my every day dealing with people I no longer feel excluded. I have extra gizmos that help with the TV - transmits straight into my hearing aid. Same with my phone. Same with cinema. For gigs I can turn them down until the level is comfortable, no need for ear plugs. I can't praise the hearing aids highly enough. Nor my local NHS audiology department. My current hearing aids would cost around a grand each if I had to buy them - provided free. Free batteries from a walk in. I've never had to wait longer than a week for an appointment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH73 Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 4 minutes ago, Paul S said: . But in my every day dealing with people I no longer feel excluded. . This, this is very important if you miss out on conversation 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zbd1960 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I had my hearing tested at local opticians (yeah, I know... they seem to be the default option these days). Fortunately, the only issue was what you'd expect, loss of the top octave, but most of us lose that by the time we're 25... Whilst I've never had a formal diagnosis, I suspect I have some symptoms of 'confusional deafness' which is the ability to discriminate one sound from another - e.g. one voice when there's other noises around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 In some situations you can put your audiogram in to Sonarwork software, and it'll compensate the output to your studio monitors or headphone. Hearing aids are standard tuned to optimise voices in relation to your hearing loss, to the detriment of music. Some may have a music program or setting which is better but not quite the same as the output of music specific speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterMute Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Another nod to Sonarworks Reference for hearing curve adjustments, works a treat, but makes the room a difficult listen for anyone else...! Try investing in a good Spectrum analyser as a visual representation, I use the Nugen Audio Visualiser https://nugenaudio.com/visualizer You can look at the reference tracks and compare the output curves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH73 Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 1 hour ago, WinterMute said: Another nod to Sonarworks Reference for hearing curve adjustments, works a treat, but makes the room a difficult listen for anyone else...! Try investing in a good Spectrum analyser as a visual representation, I use the Nugen Audio Visualiser https://nugenaudio.com/visualizer You can look at the reference tracks and compare the output curves. I have T Racks 5 mixing /mastering plug ins , this has a master match plug in, which is what I use sometimes to give some guidance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.