my ears hurt

[Tyler Logic]

I'm making music in logic through my headphones (it's all I have. Ik monitors are better.)  I'm focused on drums right now and when I begin to adjust high-hats and cymbals my ears feel like they're going to pop after a while... one time I almost fainted after a sesh. What do I do? I'm assuming it's volume and I've tried gain as well. Where do I begin learning the volume parameters for 'ear safety'?

[RobertAnthony]

 

I used headphones too loud for too long one weekend 20 years ago and my ears have been ringing ever sense. It only takes one time to damage your hearing for life, so be careful. Even if you don't develop Tinnitus, hearing loss can occur and before you know it you can't hear anything over 12kHz (as an example).

That said, some random tips I use:

• Don't use headphones too often. I know you said it's all you got but still, the point remains valid.
• Open-back headphones are typically thought of as safer/better for hearing/etc. than closed back. Use them if you can.
• Set the volume to a comfortable listening level at the beginning of your studio time and don't adjust the volume afterwards (or if you do, be very mindful of how much you are turning it up). If the said comfortable listening level sounds too low an hour later, that's your ears protecting themselves from damage. Don't make the same mistake I did and keep turning it up and up just a little.
• Take frequent breaks. I use an app on my Mac that obstructs the screen at set time intervals to force me to take a short break every hour.

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by RobertAnthony
Added add'l comment

[Tyler Logic]

wow. thank you but could you specify a little... so I use an audio interface as well. should I lower the volume on the track in logic or logics master app volume or the audio interface volume or laptop volume? Sorry... there are so many volumes and I'm still kind of lost.

[RobertAnthony]

9 minutes ago, Tyler Logic said:

wow. thank you but could you specify a little... so I use an audio interface as well. should I lower the volume on the track in logic or logics master app volume or the audio interface volume or laptop volume? Sorry... there are so many volumes and I'm still kind of lost.

I’d assume/ hope your interface has a volume knob for the headphone output. This is the one I (and I assume most people) would turn down in this situation given it’s the volume stage that’s right before the sound hits your ears. I guess some headphones could have a volume control on them which you could also use.

The sound can be as loud or as quiet as you want within Logic, it’s the volume level going from logic out to your headphones that you wanna be careful of.

[fmaestas]

I too have developed a little tinnitus over the years, so I am super careful about noise of any sort, not just with music. Like the other poster said, "open-back headphones" are best if you want to be careful. Personally I think they sound better too if you get a nice set.  I also avoid in-ear of any kind, I feel a speaker inside my ear canal is too close to the ear drum, for my situation.

Get a Sound level meter app for your phone.  I use mine to measure headphone volume, then I set the audio interface and I don't go over that mark, I think I'm at 47-50db on my headphones and speakers.  I use this one.  NIOSH Sound Level Meter App | NIOSH | CDC

Also this site.  Decibel Chart of Common Sounds | dB Comparing Decibel Levels (decibelpro.app). There is a noise level-maximum exposure chart on it.  Over 85db for too long is where damage starts.

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by fmaestas

[analogika]

I get ear fatigue when on monitors, as well. It's normal. It's a lot better working with the big Genelecs than it was with the Meyers I was on before. 

 

Take breaks.

Turn down the volume of the speakers or headphones.

Go outside for a bit.

Do your editing (rather than mixing) on internal speakers or anything else (those little K-ROC KRK6, I believe, are great for just the grunt work of editing, lining things up, choosing takes, etc.).

Make coffee.

Go for lunch. 

 

Combine those freely. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by analogika

[melodica123]

On 6/18/2022 at 1:33 AM, Tyler Logic said:

wow. thank you but could you specify a little... so I use an audio interface as well. should I lower the volume on the track in logic or logics master app volume or the audio interface volume or laptop volume? Sorry... there are so many volumes and I'm still kind of lost.

Do you have a headphones output volume control?  

[MikeRobinson]

The volume level in your phones should only be loud enough that you can hear the music clearly.  Which is actually a very quiet level.  Keep it that way.  Sound does not improve with loudness.

I often listen with the phones set slightly back from my ears, not covering the ear completely.

When I attend any "rock" or "jazz" concert, I wear soft foam earplugs that you can buy in any hardware store – or keep them ready in my shirt pocket.  Some sound-board operators like to gradually increase the volume as the show goes on toward its climax.  If they do that, "in go the plugs."  I can still hear the performance just fine; sometimes better.  I throw them away when I walk out.

Edited June 20, 2022 by MikeRobinson

[fisherking]

i personally believe 'loud is better'. i want to be consumed by the music, and i want to feel the bass everywhere.

but loud before painful matters. i worked with a famous production team for 3 years; we mixed so long and loud my ears would hurt for 2 days (and, generally, our less-stressed rough mixes sounded better). the infamous rock star i work with now (mostly engineering) needs everything loud and insanely bright (after he leaves the studio, i bring the high-end back to human settings). 🤣

too loud and you lose 'real-world perspective'. and the old saying is true; if your mix sounds good at a low, or reasonable, volume, it will sound great cranked up.

loud IS good, pain is not.

[fuzzfilth]

On 6/18/2022 at 7:37 PM, fmaestas said:

I also avoid in-ear of any kind, I feel a speaker inside my ear canal is too close to the ear drum, for my situation.

Funnily enough I, as a drummer for close to 45 years, feel exactly the opposite. My in ears protect me from the din of skins and (especially) metals and I can finally have a decent, fat drum sound and monitor mix, that is still significantly quieter than the raw thing.

[analogika]

On 6/18/2022 at 7:37 PM, fmaestas said:

I also avoid in-ear of any kind, I feel a speaker inside my ear canal is too close to the ear drum, for my situation.

I would have thought so, too, but I feel that having switched to in-ear monitoring many years ago was the single most important decision I've made, apart from getting custom-molded earplugs twenty-five years ago. 

In-ear systems have limiters built in, and blocking off outside noise actually means that you can run them way more quietly than you would run a stage monitor. They are so much *less* stressful for the ears… 

 

In the studio, however, I find them fatiguing — partly because my Hearsafes aren't optimised for optimal studio performance; they're built for clarity during live shows. And partly because I don't like blocking my ears off when producing music, as opposed to a live performance setting. 

[RobertAnthony]

I agree that professional level in-ear monitors are great, since they can isolate you from the environment noise either out of the box or better yet with custom ear molds. You can have them at a safe, comfortable level and not have to be fighting the external noise.

I sometimes use consumer in-ear headphones/earbuds, but I'm very systematic about the volume, and never use them in loud environments (ex. near a street with traffic or inside a busy store, since I usually have a pair of Hearo earplugs in).

[fisherking]

i cannot use in-ear monitors, they make my left eardrum throb. my audiologist (unsurprisingly) made me move to headphones immediately (open-back sennheisers, which i love). whatever works!