Music Hurts My Ears

[DeadRock]

So...this may seem counterintuitive but bear with me here. First...my ears are pretty good considering I'm just north of 60 and I spent 4 years training with and around very loud things that go BOOM. Further...I don't think I've ever suffered or experienced "listening fatigue"...though I have fallen asleep only to be awakened by the sound of the stylus rounding the last groove over and over and over and...but I digress. Recently, I got a subwoofer for my main system. It took a bit to get it dialed-in properly especially vis a vis crossover with the main speakers. Once that was achieved, 2 other things happened. I realized I needed to move my listening position back (ultimately by about 12 inches, considerable given I'd been only about 6ft away from the mains for years), and I needed to turn down the main volume from where it had been "perfect" for several years, simply because it now seemed too loud overall. Aside from achieving or arriving at absolute sublime sound, I also found that some of my physical media (especially cds that previously seemed to have wee shrillness or harshness here and there), sounded better.

Not sure this would help with what some experience as "listening fatigue"...but it may....

Cheers!

 

[N0rt0n]

Not sure this would help with what some experience as "listening fatigue"...but it may....

Cheers!

To me, listening fatigue is when a tweeter is shrill or harsh and when played loud it gets irritating after a while. This usually comes from metal dome tweeters but not all of them. I never felt it with my Dyns but an older pair of JM Labs I have with a Titanium Tweeter can get overbearing at louder levels and you want to turn it down. I guess we all experience fatigue a little different.

 

[RunOutGroove]

The Quad 12L speakers that I've just replaced with some Klipsch ones are pretty smooth. Not likely to have much fatigue listening to them...

 

[jayvis]

So...this may seem counterintuitive but bear with me here. First...my ears are pretty good considering I'm just north of 60 and I spent 4 years training with and around very loud things that go BOOM. Further...I don't think I've ever suffered or experienced "listening fatigue"...though I have fallen asleep only to be awakened by the sound of the stylus rounding the last groove over and over and over and...but I digress. Recently, I got a subwoofer for my main system. It took a bit to get it dialed-in properly especially vis a vis crossover with the main speakers. Once that was achieved, 2 other things happened. I realized I needed to move my listening position back (ultimately by about 12 inches, considerable given I'd been only about 6ft away from the mains for years), and I needed to turn down the main volume from where it had been "perfect" for several years, simply because it now seemed too loud overall. Aside from achieving or arriving at absolute sublime sound, I also found that some of my physical media (especially cds that previously seemed to have wee shrillness or harshness here and there), sounded better.

Not sure this would help with what some experience as "listening fatigue"...but it may....

Cheers!

Your experience with adding a sub just about mirrors mine. It's pretty amazing what it can do for a system if done right.

 

[Myvinyl333]

I took lessons for a few years when I was kid first starting out and it helped set me on a path to a basic understanding of the instrument (and I learned how to read rhythmic notation), but I'm a bit ADD myself (not really so much with the "H" part of it) so it seemed like precious little of what I learned stuck. What's really helped me though in the past few years is working out rudiments, sticking patterns and such on a practice pad. I'll watch YouTube videos about various rudiments where they're showing all sorts of different variations that can be done with just one idea. I'll then create my own kind of exercise that goes through the different variations and drill with it. The pad is good because it eliminates the distractions from the rest of the drum kit and once you can play something well on the pad, it's not hard to adapt it to the kit. I also find it kind of meditative to play that thing and maybe best of all, it's not loud like hitting a snare drum so you can save your hearing as you're practicing this stuff over and over again.... and maybe save the sanity of other folks that you might be living with.

I still play some pretty heavy rock stuff, but I feel that even with that kind of thing that you can sound plenty heavy without hitting the drums so loud or making that much noise, though you may find yourself having to tell the rest of the band to turn down a bit. The control that I develop from playing the practice pad all the time has really helped me reign in the volume. All of that helps save not just my ears, but my wrists as well...

Thanks for the great input!

 

[Myvinyl333]

I am pleased with the Schitt Loki Max 6-Band EQ. This is not my 70's Pioneer 12 band by far. It is a very minimal change and with the sub, Triads are close to my Yamaha studio speakers/sub through the Focusrite.

 

[ernieb1536]

Thank you all for your helpful responses. I've decided to schedule an appointment with an audiologist to address the discomfort I've been experiencing.
On another note, I have a high-quality EQ that I initially bought for vintage bootleg shows but haven't integrated into my system. I'm considering using it for a more hands-on adjustment. Additionally, I've been contemplating whether my Rega phono amp might need some adjustment.
Regarding the Marantz CD player, it doesn't seem to be as harsh on the ears compared to other components in my setup. My Triad speakers, originally part of my home theatre system powered by McIntosh integrated amps, have been a bit of a puzzle. I replaced them in the home theatre with Legacy bookshelf and small center channel speakers, relocating the Triads to my 2-channel system. These speakers are formidable, and I have them in a 10X10 listening room with acoustic tiles. My initial thought was that, with clean power, they would sound fantastic. However, they turn out to be too loud to achieve the desired audio balance.
I'm going to experiment with my EQ and see if it brings about any positive changes. I'll keep you all posted on the results. Thanks again for your insights!

My Triad Gold Speakers Looking at a Schittz Luki Maz 6-Band EQ to possibly reduce headaches

George

I have a set of Cerwyn Vega model 26 from the mid seventies that I love ! Sound full with good bass at low levels and I tweak the midrange to mellow out the tweeters the speakers are rated at 60 rms my sta2080 80wpc , generally run them between 1-5 watts plenty of sound with no ear ringing ! Noticed a while back when I crank the Mach 2s they sound great at loud levels but afterward the dreaded ear ringing ! Getting old sucks ! But it beats the alternative !