Anyone else have frazzled ears from Logic?

[Wakes]

Have been using Logic 9 for a year or so and the sound quality is great. however, am I alone in experiencing ear fatigue caused by the powerful frequencies of the sounds? I have tried easing the treble off in the eq which I think is causing it, though the sounds are still piercing compared to commercial tracks. Especially have problems listening in the van on a CD or Ipod.

 

Is this a problem that is the norm and can be cured at the mastering stage? Fear that my ears are gonna suffer some damage if I carry on like this even at moderate listening volumes.

 

Wakes.

[Ashermusic]

What kind of speakers are you using? I used to get that kind of ear fatigue with Yamaha NS10Ms but when I switched to Event Tria system it was no longer a problem.

[Wakes]

Rokit 5s. The speakers in the van cause me more grief though. If I listen to a commercial track on i pod its just easier on my ears, its definately the raw logic sounds.

[steveo12ax7]

There are so many variables in the mix process itself that suspecting the DAW doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me. Then again I've never used PT so I can't really compare the two, but I'm sure PT is capable of making harsh mixes too. Its one of those things that can be very hard to get right, but I don't think switching DAWs is the answer (in my opinion anyway).

[Atlas007]

Could you post comparative sound recordings? On SoundCloud for instance? With a screencapture of the mixer EQs could also be helpful...

[Ashermusic]

I've been working in Logic since 1.0 and have spent a lot of time in the studio with PT as well and I simply do not buy the idea that the harshness is inherent in it.

[strikingtwice]

I also have a very difficult time buying that the DA W's have that much of a discrepancy in sound. I've been seeing these posts on a lot of boards about people doing shootouts and stuff like that, and hearing all the different things in all their DA W's. I just feel like the math that's used in all of the workstations is so similar, I can't see how it would cost that much difference. The plug-ins and everything I can see, but not just the inherent sound.

 

Anyway, your mix and the translation of it are probably more the cause. I used to have m audio BX 5s that I was mixing on, and I had a real problem with mixed translation. I'm not an incredible mixer, but I know at least what I hear a little bit. I recently got Yamaha hs50s and they seem to make a world of difference. I'm still mediocre at mixing, but what I hear on those translates very well to other environments.

 

Also, if you're worried about fatiguing your years, mix at lower volumes! I'm not being sarcastic, but a lot of people neglect doing that. When you need to mix the bass and all that stuff, you do need to turn up. But when you're looking for balance, you will find that you can achieve balance at very low volumes much better. If you can hear everything at low volumes, you'll hear them at higher volumes.

[Wakes]

Here is the song I'm working on. Its called 'Loves lost in Limbo' and is straight out of Logic. The others songs on Soundcloud have been mastered

 

 

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/laurence-stephen-wakefield-wakes[/soundcloud]

[Wakes]

As you can see the piano only has 2 effects added, compression and eq. The treble is tailed off on the eq. I usually use the eq presets then just alter slightly to suit. There are no effects/ processing added on the output

 

Wakes.

[camillo jr]

The first thing I noticed was how compressed the piano is. I have this thing where if something is compressed in a way that sounds weird to me then my ears literally feel like they're being squished. It's mainly a psychological thing but it's worth noting that ear fatigue goes hand in hand with overly compressed and limited mixes. Your ear is always searching for the "breath" in the sound, the ebb and flow and if it doesn't get that, it gets tired. I'm not saying that your music is ultimately overcompressed or limited but it's something to think about.

 

For music like this, you could accomplish the same thing with the piano by leveling the velocities and then backing off on the compressor so that the individual transients of each note are preserved. That way, you'll get an even performance with little or no squishing via the comp. Alternatively, you could put a transient shaping plug on the piano if you want to tame the transients in a way that sounds more natural then raw compression. Logic's enveloper plug might work here or the excellent and free Bittersweet by Flux could also soften the peaks in a musical way.

 

Another thing is, looking at your EQs, it looks like many of them are set to boost around 2 kHz. I find that having a lot of 2K or 2.5 K in your mix can get to be hard to listen to after a while. That frequency range can impart harshness right in the middle of the mids, which is where the ear tends to be most sensitive.

 

This highlights the potential problem of using EQ presets. Why use them at all? If you start from ground zero with no preconceptions about how something should be EQed, then you're more likely to use your ears in a more sensitive way. Thing is, when you slap on a preset that has pre-selected boosts in it, you can get used to that sound pretty quickly. This doesn't mean the sound is ultimately flattering but any EQ boost will make things sound louder and most people will (initially) find the louder sound more compelling.

[Wakes]

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

 

I had suspected that it was probably to do with eq and compression. The sounds in Logic are a lot more powerful than I had previously been used to on my old hardware synths which are very mellow sounding in comparison and needed a lot of processing to get the sounds beefed up. Seems that very little eq and compression are needed then as they are already pre-treated to get them sounding good straight out of the box. I'll back off with the effects a bit I think and see what happens.

 

Cheers

 

Wakes.