Let's talk about your hearing.
Dec 6, 2009 at 7:44 AM Post #16 of 50
I have equal hearing in both ears, but I get a lot of wax buildup. I'm not sure what my lower threshold is, but I can hear 16k and 18k, yet strangely can't seem to hear 17k. Past 19k I don't really hear it anymore, but it feels like a buzzing in my head and I'll start to get a headache.

I'm pretty sensitive to sounds in general, especially the high frequencies. Fluorescent lights drive me crazy sometimes. I can hear when my neighbours turn on their tv. I'm not even sure it's a sound thing at that point.
 
Dec 6, 2009 at 10:22 AM Post #17 of 50
Quote:

Got any test papers you could scan? I'd love to see it.
If you're hearing sounds outside the typical production of hairs in the inner ear for people, thats one hell of a birth defect to have.


Hahahaha. I don't know if my hearing falls outside of anything. I just know that I've always been bothered by chirps and squeals that don't seem to bother most people. As a child, I could hear the TV come on - sometimes from across the house - even if the volume was off, because I could hear the CRT. I hated certain outdoor lights and the hum they emitted. I could walk into a room and hear pitches that bugged the crap out of me.

When I speak of tones as high as 30 kHz, I should qualify that. I heard these tones using an online website. What I "heard" was more of a detection. I could detect when these tones were emitting. What I "heard" wasn't distinct, not like an actual tone you'd "hear" and remember as such. As the pitches go up in frequency, the tones (for me at least) get thinner and thinner till there's nothing to "hear" distinctly so much as feel or sense, whatever.

I've always found these higher tones distracting and unpleasant. To my ears, they're not the stuff of music. I hear no useful details in them.
 
Dec 8, 2009 at 7:34 PM Post #19 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif
What is your hearing range (no need to lie here)?
What are quirks about your ears?
What do you fear most about age-related hearing loss?



Last time I checked my hearing range I was 24, at the university. The test yielded two weird results: I had exactly the same range in both ears, and I could hear the 21k test tone with some difficulty but I could detect it. I don't remember the equipment used and I don't remember my low hearing range, I only remember those two details.

Now I'm 36 and pretty sure I'm no longer hear 21kHz
wink.gif
probably I can't hear above 17k but I haven't performed any real test.

I have a bit oversensitive ears, and that have led to big problems to me: I can hear the tiniest noises from my neighbors, even conversations they don't want me to hear... I can hear tiny sounding noises that sometimes prevent me from sleeping or concentrating, etc. Not funny having such a good hearing, really.

I don't know if I have lost a lot of hearing since I made the test, and I don't know if my hearing will be noticeably worse with age, but it doesn't worry me that much. I love music, and not being able to enjoy it anymore due to a hearing loss it would be a deep pain in my heart, but as long as I can hear and understand speech I suppose that it would not be a reason to stop loving life.
 
Dec 8, 2009 at 9:54 PM Post #20 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen
Do you listen with or without your hearing aids?
I'm assuming you dont but I figured I'd ask anyway.

Have you talked to your audiologist about headphone listening? I think that if I still had trouble hearing, I'd turn-up to compensate. You should definitely check out what level its at with an SPL meter if you haven't and get advice from a professional to protect what you have (until they develop a significant treatment for hearing loss which to be honest I do not think is too far off)



I listen without my hearing aids. The sound without my hearing aids is the sound I'm used to and sounds 'real'. Besides that the Hearing aids are aimed to make me hear people better, not music.
biggrin.gif


I did ask him about the headphones, it should be no problem. At school I'm usually the one that turns the volume down. I find 50% volume on the ipod video more then enough (stock Ibuds). And I take breaks from listening now and then. I never listen for more then 1 hour straight. With my AD700s I can (sort of) talk to people when I'm listening music, so usually not that loud.
 
Dec 9, 2009 at 12:24 AM Post #21 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Sometimes I am hypersensitive to sounds. For example, if someone claps their hands next to me when it's silent, my ears do not like the high contrast in volume.

.



I get this a lot. If I'm siting down somewhere and someone starts talking loudly on a cell phone its like I'm being hit in the back of my ears. Same problem in the gym, I can be doing a set and if someone drops some weights (CLANG) near me I have to stop because it almost "blinds" me.
 
Dec 9, 2009 at 2:05 AM Post #22 of 50
I'm 17, I can from 20hz (lowest the test I tried had) to 20khz (highest it had).

Sibilance really bothers me, and I get tinnitus when I don't clean my ears regularly (had my hearing checked, no sign of hearing loss at all, and it goes away after cleaning my ears, YAYYYY! :p).

I fear permanent tinnitus due to age-related hearing loss, the symptoms I get when I don't clean my ears REALLY bugs me.
 
Dec 9, 2009 at 2:41 AM Post #23 of 50
I have some hearing loss in my left ear and a bit more significant loss in my right ear. I took a hearing test years ago when I was 19 and I believe I had lost 5dB in at 1Khz in my left ear and 15dB in my right at 1Khz. I don't doubt I've lost more since then, especially in the year since I started working in a nightclub. My upper range is likely around 13Khz or 14Khz at best for my left ear, maybe 10Khz to 12Khz in my right. What hearing is left is pretty sensitive at least. Understanding speech has always been a challenge for me, though.

Edit: I guess I should note I'm 26. I had a lot of ear infections when I was a kid, with the last round at age 14 which were what really damaged my hearing. I've also had permanent tinnitus as long as I can remember.
 
Dec 9, 2009 at 3:05 AM Post #24 of 50
I can hear up to about 16k according to some online hearing test, but I question the accuracy of it. I think it's actually probably lower from another site where you chart out your whole frequency curve that seemed more reliable.

I'm recently going through a bout of tinnitus and hyperacusis, which has not been fun. A few weeks ago I got a new dac that it turns out can't be controlled with hardware volume mixer, so when I was first hooking it up I thought the volume was 0%. Turns out it was actually 100% (because the mixer does nothing), so when I switched interconnects it made all this loud cracking square wave kind of sound and felt like it nearly blasted my eardrums out. After that my right ear started ringing fairly loud I estimated at about 7k. I also have TMJ and chronic eustachian tube dysfunction on that side especially from sinus/allergy issues, etc.

After doing a lot of reading, it seems that even with cochlear damage tinnitus is probably largely a neurological disorder. I was reading some really good website by some legitimate experts (the name of which escapes me at the moment), describing how there are "fear" loops created with the limbic system -- a kind of natural anxiety response first to the initial loud noise, but then perpetuated by the constant "checking" of the tinnitus -- that keeps it all going. So with some mental judo I decided to totally "accept" the tinnitus as a welcome thing, to kind of let it in instead of resisting it (which largely comes from the fear of permanent damage, it seems) and amazingly the next day the ringing was literally like 80% lower volume, and the hyperacusis was much improved also, and continued to improve over the next few days.

I still have some feeling of fullness if I focus my attention there, but the ringing is nowhere near what it was and the hyperacusis is still reduced, also. I plan to see an ENT in a few weeks to find out if there actually is any hearing damage and to get a full workup, but I was really amazed at the results of applying the habituation theory ideas in so little time. The mind is a powerful thing when it comes to hearing, it seems, with all the various placebo (or not) effects, psychoacoustics, etc. I'll try to find that website and post a link to it.


>website: Turns out it was pretty easy -- Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). The definitive site for. Great info there, I encourage anyone with tinnitus to check it out.
 
Dec 9, 2009 at 3:34 AM Post #25 of 50
I hear to about 18K in my left and only 15K in my right. I use my right a lot more. It makes sense.

I've tested it several times.

I didn't know about it until a few years ago when I bought MDR-SA5000s. What I noticed is that the left side of my soundstage sounded more expansive. Not louder, just like it extended further out there. I even remember the song I was listening to -- Subterranean Homesick Alien. I reversed the ears and the left was again feeling wider and "larger." The right just felt more boxy or closed in somehow, like the instruments or reverberations were closer to me.

I bring earplugs with me everywhere -- just in case. I use them too. At Pete's Dueling Piano Bar, and at "Rock n Roll at the UTA Planetarium," recently.
 
Dec 11, 2009 at 5:46 PM Post #26 of 50
I just took a "hearing" test on youtube, and according to it I could hear from 20Hz to 14kHz, although there was a big drop off from 13kHz to 14kHz. I turned the volcume down at around 50Hz though, as I realized it was going to get much louder in the upper frequencies.


I wonder how accurate it is, I was listening through a fair of UE TripleFi 10s with a Logitech USB dongle that came with a headset I bought some time ago. I have no idea what the perfomance of the Logitech dongle is, but the TF10s only are rated to 17kHz anyway, and then I wonder if the compression on youtube doesn't cut off some of the higher frequencies aas well? I could still hear the 17kHz if I turned the volume way up, but that sort of defeats the point, doesn't it?
 
Dec 11, 2009 at 6:15 PM Post #27 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by mesasone /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I just took a "hearing" test on youtube, and according to it I could hear from 20Hz to 14kHz, although there was a big drop off from 13kHz to 14kHz. I turned the volcume down at around 50Hz though, as I realized it was going to get much louder in the upper frequencies.


I wonder how accurate it is, I was listening through a fair of UE TripleFi 10s with a Logitech USB dongle that came with a headset I bought some time ago. I have no idea what the perfomance of the Logitech dongle is, but the TF10s only are rated to 17kHz anyway, and then I wonder if the compression on youtube doesn't cut off some of the higher frequencies aas well? I could still hear the 17kHz if I turned the volume way up, but that sort of defeats the point, doesn't it?



At least it tells you you're not completely deaf there.
tongue_smile.gif


I just did this one with speakers, and could hear up to 16k:
YouTube - Hearing Test

So many variables, though, like the compression, etc.
 
Dec 11, 2009 at 7:19 PM Post #28 of 50
My right ear canal is slightly smaller, and results in an imbalance especially with IEMs. I remember quantifying the frequency differences but then I cleaned my ears and it was different. It's disgusting all the gunk that can build up deep inside!

At night and silence, I hear a noise floor like with amps and electronics - not sure if it is tinnitus or what.

Random days I get a spike of tinnitus in one ear that goes away after a minute or so.



Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilavideo /img/forum/go_quote.gif

When I speak of tones as high as 30 kHz, I should qualify that. I heard these tones using an online website. What I "heard" was more of a detection. I could detect when these tones were emitting. What I "heard" wasn't distinct, not like an actual tone you'd "hear" and remember as such. As the pitches go up in frequency, the tones (for me at least) get thinner and thinner till there's nothing to "hear" distinctly so much as feel or sense, whatever.

I've always found these higher tones distracting and unpleasant. To my ears, they're not the stuff of music. I hear no useful details in them.



Are you sure these tones aren't aliasing down to lower frequencies on your system?

These higher tones themselves are certainly distracting and unpleasant, but in actual music, give a sense of timbre and feel that would otherwise be lost.
 
Dec 11, 2009 at 11:30 PM Post #29 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic
Sibilance really bothers me, and I get tinnitus when I don't clean my ears regularly (had my hearing checked, no sign of hearing loss at all, and it goes away after cleaning my ears, YAYYYY! :p).


Interesting! I have a slight tinnitus in my right ear.
How do you clean your ears? Maybe this is my problem too
smile.gif
.
 
Dec 11, 2009 at 11:54 PM Post #30 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by Nepenthe /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I didn't know about it until a few years ago when I bought MDR-SA5000s. What I noticed is that the left side of my soundstage sounded more expansive. Not louder, just like it extended further out there. I even remember the song I was listening to -- Subterranean Homesick Alien. I reversed the ears and the left was again feeling wider and "larger." The right just felt more boxy or closed in somehow, like the instruments or reverberations were closer to me.


I hear more on the left side (as stated), however the right sound has a wider soundstage for some reason. Maybe due to the slightly offset centre.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top