My hearing only goes up to ~15k. Am I doomed?

[Ben J]

Based on an unofficial hearing test administered by myself, using a sine sweep, my hearing ain't what it should be. I realize that no hugely important frequencies (for music) reside in the upper high frequency range, and I also understand the concept of "hearing is not the same as listening", but after reading a few people on here bragging about being able to go up to 22k or more , I can't help but feel a little discouraged.

Btw, I'm 21, but I've taken pretty good care of my ears. I guess some people are just genetically short-changed in some ways (and gifted in others ).

[theblotted]

i'm also peaking around 15~16. i can "feel" above that, but it's quite straining.

too much live playing in a loud rock band i suppose. i did use earplugs a lot tho.

[lpkyer]

I think after 30 years old the hearing decreases a lot above 15k. Made the test....

[Led]

Don't worry what other people hear. We all hear differently and adjust accordingly. Some famous producers and mixers have come from heavy live backgrounds and done fine. Mind you, always look after your hearing. And be nice to your mother.

[theblotted]

Originally Posted by Led

We all hear differently and adjust accordingly. .

must be a psychosomatic thing, because i've heard that the brain can compensate frequencies that's long gone..

but losing a lot of 2~4K from live, and the adjusting accordingly is a bit dangerous to others. but then, if they like the song, eventually they'll start to hear like me

[asagaai]

Hey Ben J

I know not quite on track-but Beethoven did some pretty amazing stuff while going deaf- and I dont think not hearing above 15K is that radical.

Look after your ears and work with what you got to the best you can, - I have no doubt a good engineer with hearing to 13K would mix a better album that a shitty engineer with hearing to 21k.

We all got limitations, just gotta figure out how to work around it. yeah-I am still figuring

GJ
Newcastle OZ

[Dot]

Ben, you wouldn't happen to be using Q-Tips to clean your ears? Can drive wax in and affect hearing of higher frequencies.

Also, I wouldn't put much stock in a test you administered yourself. I also wouldn't worry about it. If you can pass a legit hearing test through all the ranges to 8K, you're hearing's probably fine.

[Mydog_Nixon]

I just did the test and I started to notice a sharp drop off around 16k. However, when I turned up the volume I could start to hear a lower fundamental. It is barely noticeable but it you toggle the bypass on the tone generator you can definately tell that it is there all the way up to 20K. It sounds like a a dull 1k tone, but you have to crank the volume and toggle the bypass to hear it.

[bing81]

Originally Posted by theblotted

must be a psychosomatic thing, because i've heard that the brain can compensate frequencies that's long gone..

but losing a lot of 2~4K from live, and the adjusting accordingly is a bit dangerous to others.

FWIW, I'm quite down in that range from years of live work. But I don't "compensate", as I just mix to what sounds right/normal. If you gradually lose some frequencies, you adjust to that and mix accordingly.

Not saying it's ideal of course!

B

[SergioS]

Originally Posted by Ben J

Based on an unofficial hearing test administered by myself, using a sine sweep, my hearing ain't what it should be. I realize that no hugely important frequencies (for music) reside in the upper high frequency range, and I also understand the concept of "hearing is not the same as listening", but after reading a few people on here bragging about being able to go up to 22k or more , I can't help but feel a little discouraged.

Btw, I'm 21, but I've taken pretty good care of my ears. I guess some people are just genetically short-changed in some ways (and gifted in others ).

Don't worry, music is in the middle range!

[Kiwiburger]

Wait up ... your hearing is probably fine. You've probably just discovered the high frequency limit of your headphones. (Or soundcard, or something else in the chain).

You need very high end gear to be able to reproduce those frequencies. Don't believe the specs on paper.

[Bob Yordan]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

Wait up ... your hearing is probably fine. You've probably just discovered the high frequency limit of your headphones. (Or soundcard, or something else in the chain).

You need very high end gear to be able to reproduce those frequencies. Don't believe the specs on paper.

Yup a hearing check should be done in a specialist environment, not infront of
eg a i-net surf PC.

[JDunkley]

If you can still hear Hi Hats I wouldnt worry to much

[theblotted]

Originally Posted by bing81

FWIW, I'm quite down in that range from years of live work. But I don't "compensate", as I just mix to what sounds right/normal.

but how do you know what's right/normal anymore, if you can't even hear it? and there'll be a degree of compensation just because you've lost hear that part of hearing already.

not trying to pick a fight, just saying. it's not unlike when you get ear fatigue at end of the day, and trying to mix the high's a little brighter so you can hear it. very dangerous.

[theblotted]

Originally Posted by Mydog_Nixon

you have to crank the volume and toggle the bypass to hear it.

be really careful when you do this. i tried it with my NS10's, and had to replace 2 tweeters as a result. yes, learn from my stupid mistake before you do the same.

cranking real loud to hear 20k is probably killing even more of your 20k hearing anyway, much like cranking any other freq. don't crank anything at all costs, if you wanna preserve what you'll never regain once lost

[daveseviltwin]

I agree with theblotted. You can't mess around too much trying to push frequencies in the high end. Tweeters are very sensitive to that sort of thing and it's an easy way to blow something up including the tweeters or the cilia in your ear. I've seen people crank up 18-20k really loud and then watch the tweeters smoke because it's just like pushing too much bass. The excursion of a tweeter is next to nothing and you don't want to kill your hearing or your gear. Go to the Doc, get your ears cleaned and get a hearing test. It's always good to know what's going on. We all always talk about how important it is know what Freq. response our gear is so why not find out for sure what your ears are. Can't hurt to know your own Frequency Response...