Ears - Hearing

[Nico69]

Went to a gig last night with a friend who is a professional musician and singer. The gig was very loud. I put wads of cotton wool in my ears, she had special sound attenuating earbuds specially for gigs (which she didn't use!)
The sound was very loud even with the cotton wool and to me it was over-amplified and a bit distorted and would have been better if it had been turned down 2-3 notches (I guess all people that do sound checks at venues suffer from hearing loss?).
Anyway, after the gig our friend was raving about how good the sound was, the mixing was spot on for the different instruments, the vocals clear and the separation was really good. My listening experience was very different from this. Yes, the cotton wool does muffle the high frequncies a bit but at least my ears weren't ringing afterwards.
So, not strictly hi-fi but just wanted to highlight that we all hear things very differently from each other, and also to look after your hearing as without it we wouldn't enjoy this hobby we love so much.

 

[twinkletoes]

Sound like a good night.

 

[Gray]

Sound like a good night.

HE SAID,
IT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD NIGHT NICO.

 

[Gray]

...it's not funny.
From late teens I spent several years getting an aural blasting - mobile discos then working full-time sound / lighting in live music venues (Punk and heavy metal bands don't know how to play quietly).

Back then risk and danger didn't exist (we used to eat asbestos for breakfast).

At the Top Rank we had a warning light installed as sound was disturbing the attached Odeons....but that light got disconnected.

I appreciate the hearing I have left.
Be careful is the message - not least you headphone boys.

 

[matthewpianist]

Attenuating ear-buds are highly recommendable for high noise situations, and could save your hearing without reducing musical pleasure. I have a pair of ACS Custom ones which I use when I'm playing in orchestra - many musicians end up with hearing damage from those playing around them.

 

[nopiano]

I have just bought a 30 pair set of those foam earplugs ready for the Grand Prix this coming weekend. I bought a set in Spain for the Barcelona race, but when I read the accompanying leaflet ( which includes the dB attenuation at different frequencies) it mentions they are strictly speaking single use.

Curiously I didn’t need them last year, but 12 months on I found the noise much more penetrating. It’s amazing how the brain/ears compensate, because upon removing them after a couple of hours, the roar of background noise is incredible

 

[manicm]

Always keep a pair of earplugs handy, not worth destroying your hearing for 2 hours.

 

[record_spot]

Went to a gig last night with a friend who is a professional musician and singer. The gig was very loud. I put wads of cotton wool in my ears, she had special sound attenuating earbuds specially for gigs (which she didn't use!)
The sound was very loud even with the cotton wool and to me it was over-amplified and a bit distorted and would have been better if it had been turned down 2-3 notches (I guess all people that do sound checks at venues suffer from hearing loss?).
Anyway, after the gig our friend was raving about how good the sound was, the mixing was spot on for the different instruments, the vocals clear and the separation was really good. My listening experience was very different from this. Yes, the cotton wool does muffle the high frequncies a bit but at least my ears weren't ringing afterwards.
So, not strictly hi-fi but just wanted to highlight that we all hear things very differently from each other, and also to look after your hearing as without it we wouldn't enjoy this hobby we love so much.

I guess based on this I'd wonder what your experience was with live music performances, what type of gig it was (rock, classical, etc) and where you stood?

The two loudest gigs I ever attended were by Genesis and Motorhead.

Genesis, mainly as I had front row seats way back in 1982 in Edinburgh but slap bang in front of the speaker stack (long before active flying arrays!), however I was pretty close to Tony Banks' position at stage right. Amazing concert though. The last time they did Supper's Ready live in its entirety.

Motorhead (and their support Anthrax) at Glasgow Barrowlands back in or around 2004 were off the charts. Fast, hard rock that really took no prisoners with a crowd that did likewise. I was about 20 feet fron the stage and lasted about half an hour before my ears said ENOUGH!!! Moved nearer the bar but utterly ace gig.

Incidentally, the only hearing loss I've suffered is from an infection that can easily be cured if caught early enough. Alas, I didn't so my left ear's about 20% down. C'est la vie.

 

[Gray]

Genesis, mainly as I had front row seats way back in 1982 in Edinburgh but slap bang in front of the speaker stack

No surprise that Phil Collins is paying the price.

At the Top Rank I used to watch heavy metal fans stick their heads inside the bass bins at the bottom of the stacks 🤪
(It must have rattled what brains they had).

 

[Nico69]

I guess based on this I'd wonder what your experience was with live music performances, what type of gig it was (rock, classical, etc) and where you stood?

The two loudest gigs I ever attended were by Genesis and Motorhead.

Genesis, mainly as I had front row seats way back in 1982 in Edinburgh but slap bang in front of the speaker stack (long before active flying arrays!), however I was pretty close to Tony Banks' position at stage right. Amazing concert though. The last time they did Supper's Ready live in its entirety.

Motorhead (and their support Anthrax) at Glasgow Barrowlands back in or around 2004 were off the charts. Fast, hard rock that really took no prisoners with a crowd that did likewise. I was about 20 feet fron the stage and lasted about half an hour before my ears said ENOUGH!!! Moved nearer the bar but utterly ace gig.

Incidentally, the only hearing loss I've suffered is from an infection that can easily be cured if caught early enough. Alas, I didn't so my left ear's about 20% down. C'est la vie.

Been to plenty of very loud gigs in the 80's-90's Nirvana; Mudhoney; The Cramps; Zodiac Mindwarp (that was REALLY LOUD!); Wonderstuff etc. Had one experience where my hearing was gone after a gig and I couldn't hear a lovely girl that was trying to chat me up! Gutted!! The hearing loss was only temporary but the loss of the proposal will live with me forever.

At this gig we were slap, bang center about 2/3rds of the way back away from the stage so in perfect position to see/hear. Lots of bods in front to absorb some of the sound/volume but it was still too much for my ears.

 

[record_spot]

No surprise that Phil Collins is paying the price.

At the Top Rank I used to watch heavy metal fans stick their heads inside the bass bins at the bottom of the stacks 🤪
(It must have rattled what brains they had).

The after effects of the gigs were a day or so for me. The effects of the infection rather long lasting.

 

[plastic penguin]

The loudest concert I ever attended was Status Quo back in their heyday. They were known as one of loudest bands around and my ears were ringing for a good couple of hours after we left. Thankfully there was no lasting damage, and even now my ears are pretty good.

 

[Gray]

The effects of the infection rather long lasting.

Shame ☹️

Me too for a noticeable imbalance between L and R ears.
And @Al ears has given this as the reason why he needs a balance control.

I've got little doubt that others would have some measurable difference in level and certainly in frequency response between ears (if not as profound as ours).

For the likes of us, it sort of makes a mockery of speaker pairs being level matched to within 1dB......but never mind, perhaps it serves to make us more grateful for what hearing we do have 👍

 

[abacus]

The brain tends to compensate for inefficiencies in the body.
In addition what you hear in the real world will determined by your ears, and providing the system is good enough then it should sound identical to how it sounds in real life, and altering the systems balance to compensate for ear deficiencies actual ruins this.
A hearing aid on the other hand, works all the time, so is the better option for ear deficiencies, or you can just live with it.

Bill

 

[DCarmi]

Me too for a noticeable imbalance between L and R ears.

Likewise. I did not realise quite how much until I calibrated the audio output on my phone.
Left is pretty flat but a bit down on high frequencies (age). Right was the same for high frequency but down on low and midrange. I do find it more difficult to hear people talking on my right side.

 

[jamesrfisher]

Loudest I've been to was earlier this year. Mogwai at Brighton Dome. Was stood half-way back and could still feel it through my body. Had one pint, next day I felt hungover!