How do your ears work?

Orionaut · 13 Apr 2019 at 22:46

What I mean by this is, if you have access to a graphic equalizer, how do you adjust it (Headphones or speakers, though headphones are likely a better test)

For me I tend to go more or less flat

BUT FOR

I will practically snip out the 500 Hz band all together (40Db down from the other ends of the spectrum) and seriously tone down the bands that are on each side of that.

Interestingly I recall some 40 years ago having a hearing test and the sensitivity that I recorded at the 500 Hz band exceeded the ability of the machine to record (Basically the needle went to the top of the chart and flat-lined)

Do other people do this with graphic equalisers or is this somewhat unusual?

CREATIVE!11 · 13 Apr 2019 at 23:22

No it's not usual,

Basically our ears have a frequency response curve and it differs due to many many factors like age, past hearing damage, too much earwax? etc

Our ears are more / less sensitive to certain frequencies too with our hearing being most accurate in mids due to the human voice being around there. I know one thing from my years of sound engineering, my right ear is not as great, I always end up turning up the right channel up by 2db till I think something is panned centre....so I have to be aware of it or i'll end up panning sounds too far right.

Devrij · 14 Apr 2019 at 09:51

Yep, at the top end I'm already starting to go, but I don't compensate by turning up the 15khz+ channels

FoxEye · 14 Apr 2019 at 09:54

All EQ and other stuff always turned completely off.

datalol-jack · 14 Apr 2019 at 10:07

Like ears. I hear things. Occasionally voices!

Pawnless Endgame · 14 Apr 2019 at 10:42

Cut the mid range and drop the bass

moon man · 14 Apr 2019 at 11:01

I used to be really into all the audiophile equipment ,but found my HP gaming laptop sounded
better ,maybe my age
When I'm listening to my youtube videos with my Denon ahd2000 and tablet i select rich on Dolby atmos
Gone are my days of flac and flat eq

ricid · 14 Apr 2019 at 11:21

CREATIVE!11 said:
No it's not usual,

Basically our ears have a frequency response curve and it differs due to many many factors like age, past hearing damage, too much earwax? etc

Our ears are more / less sensitive to certain frequencies too with our hearing being most accurate in mids due to the human voice being around there. I know one thing from my years of sound engineering, my right ear is not as great, I always end up turning up the right channel up by 2db till I think something is panned centre....so I have to be aware of it or i'll end up panning sounds too far right.

Hah, I'm glad this isn't just me. I've rigged up a switch to temporarily reverse the stereo image so I can compare while mixing as I always end up off centre.

ianh · 14 Apr 2019 at 12:27

I'm slightly high-tone deaf (years working on jet engines) and I love that bassy "kick in the chest" feel from concerts so my equaliser would usually look like a "U" shape with the mid-range left alone but the bass and treble boosted.

However once I found a good mix of Hi-Fi which matched my ears I could leave everything in the middle -

Rotel RA971-RB991 Amps - solid sounding (sounded fairly neutral, not bassy nor trebbly)
Marantz 6000KI Sig CD - a bit bright maybe
B&W 605 Speakers - powered speakers with 4 subs and metal tweeters so Bassy and Bright

Here is everything back in 2003-4 I think with my 5.1 system popped on top - ah the good old days

I also tried an ARCAM setup with ARCAM alpha 8 & 8P Amps, same Marantz CD and Mission 705 speakers - same idea as B&W 605's but cheaper) and, to my ears, the sound was more like a "n" with the bass and treble lowered compared to the mid-range, and I didn't like that at all.

ksangur · 14 Apr 2019 at 12:41

datalol-jack said:
Like ears. I hear things. Occasionally voices!

I can wiggle mine and they are perfectly positioned for spectacles, what are the chances eh ?

Orionaut · 14 Apr 2019 at 12:50

ianh said:
I'm slightly high-tone deaf (years working on jet engines) and I love that bassy "kick in the chest" feel from concerts so my equaliser would usually look like a "U" shape with the mid-range left alone but the bass and treble boosted.

However once I found a good mix of Hi-Fi which matched my ears I could leave everything in the middle -

Rotel RA971-RB991 Amps - solid sounding (sounded fairly neutral, not bassy nor trebbly)
Marantz 6000KI Sig CD - a bit bright maybe
B&W 605 Speakers - powered speakers with 4 subs and metal tweeters so Bassy and Bright

Here is everything back in 2003-4 I think with my 5.1 system popped on top - ah the good old days

I also tried an ARCAM setup with ARCAM alpha 8 & 8P Amps, same Marantz CD and Mission 705 speakers - same idea as B&W 605's but cheaper) and, to my ears, the sound was more like a "n" with the bass and treble lowered compared to the mid-range, and I didn't like that at all.

Bloody hell! :cool:

I guess you live in a nice detached house right out in the middle of nowhere!

MookJong · 14 Apr 2019 at 13:33

Pawnless Endgame said:
Cut the mid range and drop the bass

I’m 40 so I know exactly what you mean

ricid · 14 Apr 2019 at 13:40

G-MAN2004 · 14 Apr 2019 at 13:46

I'd love to know how tinnitus works. I've had it quite bad the past few months and it's slowly driving me insane. I can't get to sleep without playing rain sounds.

ricid · 14 Apr 2019 at 14:05

Tinnitus is no fun at all. The good news is that it's often temporary, so I hope yours gets better soon. I'd suggest going to the doctor if you haven't already as it can sometimes be caused by things they can fix (I had a bout that was down to excess ear wax)

CREATIVE!11 · 14 Apr 2019 at 14:12

G-MAN2004 said:
I'd love to know how tinnitus works. I've had it quite bad the past few months and it's slowly driving me insane. I can't get to sleep without playing rain sounds.

One of the reasons I started wearing earplugs in my mid 20's anywhere loud....

I've only got mild tinnitus.... I can notice it if i'm lying in bed in silence but it's not too loud.

Bassmansam · 14 Apr 2019 at 14:17

G-MAN2004 said:
I'd love to know how tinnitus works. I've had it quite bad the past few months and it's slowly driving me insane. I can't get to sleep without playing rain sounds.

Roughly its because your cochlea hairs/ nerve got damaged which caused neurone in your brain to start acting over excitedly and firing in the auditory cortex of the brain and creating the noise.

Bassmansam · 14 Apr 2019 at 14:19

ricid said:
Tinnitus is no fun at all. The good news is that it's often temporary, so I hope yours gets better soon. I'd suggest going to the doctor if you haven't already as it can sometimes be caused by things they can fix (I had a bout that was down to excess ear wax)

I wish it was temporary! Had it for about 3 years now, not really noticebale when out and about but in a quiet room its quite audible.

DXP55 · 14 Apr 2019 at 14:33

I have two little ear plugs - when I put them in and turn them on I CAN HEAR - I miss quality sound more then you will ever know.

ianh · 14 Apr 2019 at 14:39

Orionaut said:
Bloody hell!

I guess you live in a nice detached house right out in the middle of nowhere!

I promise I'm not making this up - that photo was in a military accommodation block and the room size was around 3.5mx2.5m - that stereo set-up (and the AV setup with a 800w Yamaha YST-SW800 sub) took up all the room and could never be fully used. I did manage once during a fire alarm and the volume/subs knocked off stuff 3 rooms away.

I sold it and never regretted it, it was just silly.