[sifka4]

Does anyone else find that their ears are unequal in their hearing capabilities? I recently purchased a set of Hippo VB IEMs and it seems that the bass is more apparent in one ear, while the treble is better in the other. I was ready to call the IEMs faulty, but I used a mono track and Audacity to test my ears.

When using the L/R slider with my eyes closed, I tended to move the slider 10-20% to the right. When I swapped the IEMs into the opposite ears, oddly enough the middle sounded not as bad as before, but I would still push about 10% to the left side (my right ear).

It sounds like my right ear just doesn't want to hear the bass as well as the left. I'm thinking my few years of driving my car with two 12" subs in the trunk has burned out the low end frequencies for my right ear; in the car, the bass is always louder on the right side of my head compared to the left.

I'm still not 100% convinced, but it's driving me nuts everytime I listen to music now. I don't think isolation is an issue because I am using some Comply tips that seem to offer the best isolation I've ever had.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Head Injury]

I don't want to even try to experience it. This is the sort of thing that would slowly drive me insane, and is very hard to fix.

Though when I got the HF2, bass seemed much louder and muddy on the right side. I thought it was either the headphones or one of the tubes in my amp. I didn't do anything about it, and after a week it disappeared. Burn in? Maybe. Did I finally find the right position for the pad on that ear? Probably. Are my ears equalized? Probably not, but I'm not worrying about it.

 

[JxK]

It's not uncommon for people to have disparate hearing in their ears, especially if they've spent time in loud environments like you say you have.

Here is a link to test your hearing. Do each ear separately so you can see how they compare. Hopefully, you just have some wax build up. That can be cleaned out fairly easily at home, or if it's bad a family practitioner should do the trick.

If it's permanent, then you'll have to use a player with pan/balance. That means either a cowon player or a rockboxed player.

 

[MrGreen]

It's normal for there to be variance between left and right ear (infact it is abnormal to have completely equal ears).

Perceived difference in left and right ears may not actually be due to damage of natural or noise related hearing loss, but an ear dominance (much like that of left/right hand or brain). It may also be due to an assymetry of the face, particularly the cheeks, outer and inner ears. Lack of perceived difference is usually a deficiency in listening ability, rather than super hearing ability.


If you're interested in equalising your ears, get a 20-20khz audiogram (a 40-6k should be adequate though), and use something like Winamp DSP bridge to load EnergyXTE in foobar, and then load two equalisers for the left and right channels and equalise them to your audiogram.

NB. If you are experiencing bass related imbalance, it is likely an imbalance you have had since birth and haven't noticed, or is the result of the music. Myself and a few others tend to find that soundstage typically favours the left side in recordings taht arent exactly even.

Congratulations on being normal

 

[JamesChappell]

Yeah, I have also experienced this. My right ear hears better that the left. Anyways, MrGreen gave us soothing information. We are normal.Thanks MrGreen for that knowledge. I just remember though, my sister got her right ear infected because, according to the doctor, of too much noise. So, you see, there is a difference between noise and sound, right?

 

[leeperry]

I've got a slight hole at 8kHz on the left ear, it's indeed due to my jaw pushing the ear canal a bit.

I always read(and hear) that many records favor the right channel...like all those ppl complaining that their DT770 is louder on the right side.

 

[Rossinator]

^ Yeah, I've noticed that too, since I got my DT48s and started really paying attention to music.

For awhile there it seemed that my left ear was hearing better then my right; now my right ear hears better then my left. Apparently it is caused by sinus problems of mine, so I am trying to fix it now.

 

[terriblepaulz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossinator /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ Yeah, I've noticed that too, since I got my DT48s and started really paying attention to music. For awhile there it seemed that my left ear was hearing better then my right; now my right ear hears better then my left. Apparently it is caused by sinus problems of mine, so I am trying to fix it now.

My hearing predominance changes from time to time, usually in conjunction with some sort of sinus/allergy issue. Taking Loratadine at certain times of year is the most effective tweak I have found for my system.

 

[ford2]

When I test a phone for driver imbalance I use a mono test track,it works equally well to test if your ears have an imbalance as well.

 

[JamesChappell]

There is an online site where you can test your ears, I am just not sure about the link. I would also like to test mine. I think I am having problems with my ears. Anyone knows the site I am talking about? My friend told it to me once, I just couldn't remember and I am not sure if it was true.

 

[ford2]

There are hundreds::Google

 

[Feanor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terriblepaulz /img/forum/go_quote.gif My hearing predominance changes from time to time, usually in conjunction with some sort of sinus/allergy issue. Taking Loratadine at certain times of year is the most effective tweak I have found for my system.

quoted for lols if you dont mind.

 

[MrGreen]

I should also mention that there are certain phenomena (auditory illusions) which will make you think you have uneven hearing, when in fact your ears are fine. I won't go into them in detail, but just be aware that listening to music isnt always the best way to judge your ears - but its certainly the most important in our case (and I recommend anyone who is annoyed by it compensate thusly).

I also have problems with shifting balance due to allergies and a large number of sinus problems and occasionally eustachian tube dysfunction. Keeping my ears clean, using antihistamines (such as telfast), and other medications (such as demazin) help me a lot on days when it is particularly off balance.

Generally though, my hearing is pretty even and has about as much variance as your average headphone.

 

[ford2]

Quote:

I should also mention that there are certain phenomena (auditory illusions) which will make you think you have uneven hearing, when in fact your ears are fine. I won't go into them in detail, but just be aware that listening to music isnt always the best way to judge your ears - but its certainly the most important in our case (and I recommend anyone who is annoyed by it compensate thusly).

I also have problems with shifting balance due to allergies and a large number of sinus problems and occasionally eustachian tube dysfunction. Keeping my ears clean, using antihistamines (such as telfast), and other medications (such as demazin) help me a lot on days when it is particularly off balance.

Generally though, my hearing is pretty even and has about as much variance as your average headphone.

No doubt all those ailments are responsible for your skin turning Green.Love your Avatar.