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How good is your hearing ? And how do you know ?

Sometimes I have a big laugh when reading this forum. There are clearly people whose hearing is, shall I say, very special. So why buy good stuff ?
inna
prof
3,474 posts
 

@bdp24

I'm curious: when you talk about your high frequency hearing loss, did you mean it was already gone 30 years ago, or that now your hearing tops out at 15k?   If it tops out at 15k now, and if you are middle aged, that's quite good.

I'm almost 55 and mine tops out just under 15k.  Which frankly surprises me, especially given having played in very loud bands earlier in life and working in production sound for 30 years. 

There's various on-line "how old is your hearing" tests and I come up with a "hearing age" of between 38 and 40 years old, so not doing too badly at almost 55.   But I believe I'm now at the crest in age where hearing starts taking a bigger dive in the high frequencies...so I better get as much listening in while I can enjoy those sparkling highs, while I can!

But, I've been protecting my hearing for a long time.   I started noticing Tinnitus in the early 90's and that put the fear-of-gawd in me, so I started protecting my hearing from then on.  Many of the guys I played with in bands who didn't protect their hearing are now having some pretty serious hearing issues!  Like waking up one morning and all their high frequency is gone!


bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,852 posts
 

@prof, the hearing test and my learning of the loss of frequencies above 15k was back in my late 30’s, when I had my "Musician’s Ear Plugs" made. A wax mold is made of one’s ear canal, a soft rubber reproduction of it manufactured, which when inserted into one’s ear canal comes out just to the canal entrance. On that end of the plug is a small hole, into which the little plastic tab on the back of provided "attenuators" is inserted. The attenuators are flat discs about 1/2" in diameter and 1/8" thick, available in different values of dB attenuation---5dB, 10, 15, etc.

I’ve used the plugs ever since, and they are great. The attenuation is even across the frequencies, so the resulting sound heard has the same quality as non-ear plug, with only the SPL reduced. The only problem they have caused me is in regard to dynamics---it’s hard to gauge how hard to strike my drums and cymbals to achieve proper balance with the other instruments and vocals. I haven’t had my ears tested since, but my tinnitus has progressed as I’ve gotten older. When I lay down at night, the hissing in my ears (like white or pink noise) is quite noticeable. I put on a CD, and the hissing gets masked.

gawdbless's avatar
gawdbless
1,235 posts
 
Using a tone generator, I'm good from 7Hz to 18kHz. Sometimes audio quality is how it's delivered though, like a CVT vs Automatic in car terminology.
7hz is very Impressive, that would be 2 octaves lower than the lowest note on a piano. I am guessing its a rumble you can hear and not a specific note?
han_n's avatar
han_n
105 posts
 
Why do some believe that enjoying music starts with the ability to hear frequencies of 14k and up? My frequency hearing limit is currently around 12k, and I still love music as long as it sounds the way I think it should. I'm way over 60 years of age, but I'm still very much able to hear differences, can hear differences between equipment, specially speakers, so I'm still able to make choices, and to purchase the equipment which sound right to my ears. Anyway, believe me, (and I'm sure most of you know) a vast majority of the audible music is not in the 14k-18k frequency range ;)
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Cdp try using a white noise machine when you sleep, might help worth a shot. I assume you've tried the usual over the counter lipo flavonoid, it helps some people. My MD said taking b12 and reducung salt intake can help a little. 
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