Tinnitus, the blight of my life. A combination of age, Ménière’s disease and as a result of listening to music way too loud on headphones as a youth. The top end of my range in both ears is about 8k, although the left is a lot, lot worse. The inconvenient truth is that I’m partially deaf, in denial and can’t stand the thought of wearing hearing aids. Never been a fan of beige.
The old adage of “use your ears” and “if it sounds good…” only applies if your ears work properly in the first place. I spend a lot of time looking as levels, spectrum analysers, vector scopes, etc., and hoping that the mix/master is going to sound OK to the general audience, but I can never be 100% sure.
Anyone else having issues with tinnitus or hearing loss? And how do you modify your workflow to help?
I have tinnitus and hyperacusis. I don’t need to modify my workflow.
Luckily, i still have great hearing for my age. I’m on the average. I have regular hearing checks as I work in audio engineering.
Luckily for you, 8 khz and below is where all the important frequencies are for all speech and the majority of mixing. 10kHz and above is what we refer to as “air”, and while it’s good to have a keen ear for air in mixes, it’s absolutely not essential. If it’s out of whack up there a mastering engineer can clean that up in seconds.
Do what @relic suggests and protect what you have left at all costs, but don’t be too concerned about your mixes. I listened to your stuff and didn’t find anything wildly out of place. Sounds pretty good actually
Get yourself a pair of AirPods pro 2 if you’re an apple user. The adaptive transparency mode on them is a god-send. Look it up
Some good advice here. Since there’s no cure for tinnitus (I don’t think that anyone can say with 100% certainty what causes it. Maybe the brain filling in the gaps to compensate for the missing top end?,) I concur with @relic and need to concentrate on hanging on to what’s left. The “air” reference is new to me. I’ve learned something today and that’s a good thing. Thanks @Manton.
I don’t have hearing loss beyond what any other 35-year-old might have, but I do have an insane amount of wax buildup that has been a serious issue throughout my entire life. Every few years I start to notice that things sound weird (or I start getting relentless clogs) and have to start an intense regimen to remove earplug-size balls of wax from both of my ears and afterward, the entire world is so hauntingly loud and crisp that silence is kind of deafening for a while.
Since none of this affects my mixing ability (seriously, it’s the only thing I’ve got going for me, and the only thing people consistently tell me about my tracks) I think audio IQ (for lack of a better term; being able to discern, locate and recognize similar or different sounds) trumps traditional hearing abilities any day of the week. Something about how your brain perceives and constitutes sounds seems to matter much more than those missing frequencies.
(Side note: if audio IQ is real, it’s the only one I score high with)
I don’t know this for sure, but it’s my theory anyway. Maybe that’s why your mixes are great in spite of all of it, too? We all seem to agree on that one around these parts already, so I think it checks out.
I don’t remember where I heard this exactly, but most of the big name mixing engineers out there can only hear up to 7-10k, so you are right in the ballpark. Yeah, you might miss some sibilance and stuff from 8k up, but hopefully you can catch that with your monitoring tools.
I have good hearing (still near 20k in both ears) and I still check things through Izotope Tonal Balance Control. That one is expensive, but they have a similar software called Izotope Audiolens and that one is free. The difference is that Tonal Balance Control includes target curves for you to aim your track at while with Audiolens you have to provide your own reference track to set it up. So if you have a track that you want to sound like, you would just put that into Audiolens as a target curve and then mix your track until it matches the curve. It’s not perfect, but if you entirely cannot hear what you are doing above 8k then this could be a way to give yourself some assurance that you are at least getting a reasonable mix.
I’ll acquire a copy of Audiolens and give it a try. If there’s something that helps then I’m willing to give it a go. My wife hates the style of music I produce so there’s no point in asking her opinion. She calls it “thump thump thump” music.
I use Sonible True:Balance for the same utility as Audiolens. You can provide a reference track or use a target curve. It’s not free but their plugins regularly go on sale for cheap.
See a doctor who specializes in this (Ear nose throat doctor), and adjust your life around their specific instructions.
Don’t be lazy. Don’t question their diagnoses like a dick, but if you have clarifying questions that’s ok, just don’t be one of those “imma do my own research” people, trust me you will be horrified by how terrible of a doctor the internet is. if you need a second opinion, get it from another ENT doctor!
I don’t think any of us here are ENT doctors? Take everything we say with a bigger grain of salt than any ENT doctor.
Find a solution to overcome your aversion to hearing aids. The tech is so much better than it was a decade ago. The science is better! I suggest browsing the hearing impaired subreddits… there are many musicians and music lovers.
Do not compensate for your loss by raising levels. i’m talking about decibels, dickhead. Turn your mixes and outputs DOWN. Seriously, you’ll make it worse if you keep blasting sound through those boom tubes.
Did I already see a doctor? Speak to a specialist whose focus is helping with this exact thing. There is a whole world of professional help for this problem in the UK.
The worst thing you could do for your ears and your health in general is not seeing a medical professional for tests and treatment. It sucks, trust me I know, but do it motherfucker.
Meniere’s disease is quire rare and there’s no cure. Along with the tinnitus, which is bad enough, there’s the small problem of knock-down vertigo, too. With no warning the world jolts one way and you fall over in the opposite direction. I can’t legally drive with the condition and it will make me totally deaf eventually.
The hearing aid thing is interesting. Many people have problems adapting to their use - they feel overwhelmed by the change in aural perception and simply can’t cope. The high-tech, high-quality aids are very expensive and beyond my budget so it’s NHS beige, if I can get on with them.
And yes, you’re right. Keep the levels down at all costs. It’s unfortunate that humans think “louder is better” and you keep cranking up the volume subconsciously. If this Meniere’s irritation is going to make me deaf sooner or later then I’d better get on with producing right now. The clock is ticking…
yes to all of this, and my bad man. you haven’t been around long enough to know I say a lot of stuff out of passion and I just be blunt af sometimes. please excuse me! all love!
wow. that’s so crazy. my prayers and intentions of healing and love go out to you @LFO.juice Carl! please treat yourself as well as you can. the clock is ticking for all of us my brotha!
