Ear pain caused by distortion?

Professional audio recording and studio engineering, post #43,309
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 yrret
 2008-06-08 02:41:43
 Ear pain caused by distortion?
Hello, so I've been trying my hand at mastering using the Ozone pluggin.

Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it to
one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both heavy
and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.

>From my net searching I've found little on this subject except for a mention
on a board that inaudible distortion causes ear pain. Could something this
pronounced really be coming from a phantom in this guitar's signal path?
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Chris Hornbeck
 2008-06-08 03:56:05
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
On Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:41:43 GMT, "yrret" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello, so I've been trying my hand at mastering using the Ozone pluggin.

No comment.


>Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
>less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
>actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
>short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it to
>one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both heavy
>and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.

Headphones can easily make enough clean, undistorted, loud-
enough-to-damage-your-hearing sound to seem "normal" but
to be very dangerously loud.

IOW, if it hurts, it's very, very wrong. Just say no.

You don't get a second chance on your hearing, so don't
fuck around. Not in the least bit kidding.

All the best fortune, and, Play Safe,

Chris Hornbeck
"The technical part is easy, the artistic part is difficult."
-scott
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Eeyore
 2008-06-08 05:06:20
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
yrret wrote:

> Hello, so I've been trying my hand at mastering using the Ozone pluggin.
>
> Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
> less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
> actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
> short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it to
> one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both heavy
> and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.
>
> From my net searching I've found little on this subject except for a mention
> on a board that inaudible distortion causes ear pain. Could something this
> pronounced really be coming from a phantom in this guitar's signal path?

Have you gor an SPL meter ? Radio Shack do or did a cheap but moderately useful
one. Its cheap insurance for your gearing.

Try putting its mic where your ear canal is when playing the headphones.
Anything much over 100ish dB on a prolonged basis is going to do more long-term
damage than just 'hurt a bit'.

Graham
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 yrret
 2008-06-08 04:18:41
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
"Eeyore" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:484B5ABB.60387EBB@hotmail.com...
>
>
> yrret wrote:
>
>> Hello, so I've been trying my hand at mastering using the Ozone pluggin.
>>
>> Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
>> less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
>> actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
>> short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it
>> to
>> one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both
>> heavy
>> and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.
>>
>> From my net searching I've found little on this subject except for a
>> mention
>> on a board that inaudible distortion causes ear pain. Could something
>> this
>> pronounced really be coming from a phantom in this guitar's signal path?
>
> Have you gor an SPL meter ? Radio Shack do or did a cheap but moderately
> useful
> one. Its cheap insurance for your gearing.
>
> Try putting its mic where your ear canal is when playing the headphones.
> Anything much over 100ish dB on a prolonged basis is going to do more
> long-term
> damage than just 'hurt a bit'.
>
> Graham
>
>

I should clarify, its not an instant nail to the ear pain. But a slight
discomfort that becomes painful after a few listens. Listening to anything
else under the same conditions and similar volume doesn't create this
discomfort.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Chris Hornbeck
 2008-06-08 04:30:38
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
On Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:18:41 GMT, "yrret" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I should clarify, its not an instant nail to the ear pain. But a slight
>discomfort that becomes painful after a few listens. Listening to anything
>else under the same conditions and similar volume doesn't create this
>discomfort.

"Doctor, it hurts when I hit myself with this hammer. What
can I do?"

Don't fuck with your hearing, Mon. Thank your favorite Goddess
for what you have and protect it.

All the best fortune,

Chris Hornbeck
"The technical part is easy, the artistic part is difficult."
-scott
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Eeyore
 2008-06-08 06:06:39
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
yrret wrote:

> I should clarify, its not an instant nail to the ear pain.

NOT YET it isn't you mean. Now do what I suggest and measure the dB before
making yourself deaf.

One other thing. Have you had your ears syringed ? Wax buildup can cause
discomfort.

Graham
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Don Pearce
 2008-06-08 07:35:21
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
Eeyore wrote:
>
> yrret wrote:
>
>> Hello, so I've been trying my hand at mastering using the Ozone pluggin.
>>
>> Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
>> less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
>> actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
>> short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it to
>> one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both heavy
>> and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.
>>
>> From my net searching I've found little on this subject except for a mention
>> on a board that inaudible distortion causes ear pain. Could something this
>> pronounced really be coming from a phantom in this guitar's signal path?
>
> Have you gor an SPL meter ? Radio Shack do or did a cheap but moderately useful
> one. Its cheap insurance for your gearing.
>
> Try putting its mic where your ear canal is when playing the headphones.
> Anything much over 100ish dB on a prolonged basis is going to do more long-term
> damage than just 'hurt a bit'.
>
> Graham
>
>

In fact five minutes of work with a bit of MDF plus the Radio Shack
meter and you have the simple little fixture that I use regularly with
phones to make sure I am not being silly with levels. It really gives a
very accurate reading of the SPL in phones.

http://81.174.169.10/odds/phonetest.jpg

d
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Richard Kuschel
 2008-06-07 22:43:01
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
On Jun 7, 8:41 pm, "yrret" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello, so I've been trying my hand at mastering using the Ozone pluggin.
>
> Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
> less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
> actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
> short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it to
> one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both heavy
> and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.
>
> From my net searching I've found little on this subject except for a mention
> on a board that inaudible distortion causes ear pain. Could something this
> pronounced really be coming from a phantom in this guitar's signal path?

What is probably causing your ear pain is that you are playing the
music too damn loud.
This is really easy to do using headphones because most headphone amps
are pretty clean even when pushing headphones to dangerous SPL's.

Try turning down the volume a bit and see if that helps.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Scott Dorsey
 2008-06-08 08:47:00
 Re: Ear pain caused by distortion?
In article <HFH2k.12354$js6.11200@pd7urf1no>, yrret <[email protected]> wrote:
>Whats happening is after mastering (the 'rock band' preset with a little
>less exciter') a particular set of music if listened to on headphones is
>actually making my ear hurt to where its painful to the touch in a very
>short amount of time. It seems to be one particular guitar, if I pan it to
>one side that ear alone will hurt. Some songs have two guitars, both heavy
>and have similar sound but the pain follows this one.

Yes! You've got it! It's the modern CD sound!

>From my net searching I've found little on this subject except for a mention
>on a board that inaudible distortion causes ear pain. Could something this
>pronounced really be coming from a phantom in this guitar's signal path?

There are all kinds of things that can cause ear pain and ear fatigue.
Massive distortion is sure one of them. If you have a huge amount of
horribly distorted top end, it's going to be painful to listen to.

This is why the whole notion of using presets, which are someone else's
ideas of what they want done to their material, is totally misguided.

Not to mention that anything involving an exciter is bad news. Stop
mutilating your music this way.
--scott
>
>
>


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."