Listening fatigue

[angelmf2704]

Hello everyone, recently I tuned my headphones with an eq so I could have a better frequency respone (less bass, more detailed midrange and crisp highs). The sound quality has improved a lot, but I have struggled to listen music for more than 15 minutes. My ears hurt, like they were inflamated or something. Ith's hard to explain. I have only experience this with the EQ preset. I would like to keep it because the qualilty is really nice, is there any frequencies I could change to make it more comfortable?
Thanks in advance

 

[12th Monkey]

I doubt that this belongs in hifi, but I'd be listening to your ears. A gradient that generally increases with frequency is probably not a good idea, so you'll need to (no pun intended) tone that down a wee bit I suspect.

 

[nopiano]

I’d suggest using much subtler tweaks than shown. Many headphones are bass heavy, because that impresses folk that enjoy modern techno productions. But their unnatural balance is soon betrayed when listening to simple speech, say on a BBC news programme.
Reducing the lower frequencies may also mean you’re turning them up too loud. Take care of your hearing, because damage can’t be repaired.

 

[12th Monkey]

But their unnatural balance is soon betrayed when listening to simple speech, say on a BBC news programme.

Like when I walk by a parked car and the voice on its radio is so bassy it makes me wince...

 

[nopiano]

Like when I walk by a parked car and the voice on its radio is so bassy it makes me wince...

Well, a bit like that I guess, but in your scenario you’re hearing no direct treble at all. That’s why all car audios sound boomy from outside, surely?

However, many ‘beat’ orientated ‘phones have that very emphasised bass that’s entirely unnatural.

 

[Deleted member 116933]

Hello everyone, recently I tuned my headphones with an eq so I could have a better frequency respone (less bass, more detailed midrange and crisp highs). The sound quality has improved a lot, but I have struggled to listen music for more than 15 minutes. My ears hurt, like they were inflamated or something. Ith's hard to explain. I have only experience this with the EQ preset. I would like to keep it because the qualilty is really nice, is there any frequencies I could change to make it more comfortable?
Thanks in advance

You have made a change but not for the better, it might be perceived as better sound but id say you have introduced an imbalance that is leading to pressure on the ear. I suspect your pushing the drivers too far and causing distortion.

Eq'ing for the most part needs to be done with a MIC in controlled conditions speakers or headphones alike (or you need a very very keen ear), manufacturers spend a long time balancing them out. If you have to add an EQ to a headphone /mod then headphone isn't for or fit for purpose. Sorry. A headphone is not affected by the environment so need for EQ other simple tone controls that are adjusted for taste eg bass/treble controls.

Id probably head over to a headphone furom to get a more concrete answer

 

[angelmf2704]

You have made a change but not for the better, it might be perceived as better sound but id say you have introduced an imbalance that is leading to pressure on the ear. I suspect your pushing the drivers too far and causing distortion.

Eq'ing for the most part needs to be done with a MIC in controlled conditions speakers or headphones alike (or you need a very very keen ear), manufacturers spend a long time balancing them out. If you have to add an EQ to a headphone /mod then headphone isn't for or fit for purpose. Sorry. A headphone is not affected by the environment so need for EQ other simple tone controls that are adjusted for taste eg bass/treble controls.

Id probably head over to a headphone furom to get a more concrete answer

So, I'm adding pressure if I emphasize trebble. But, does it make more pressure if I decrease the amount of base? The treeble response out of box is good, so I rather decrease the bass amount because it feels very muddy and not great.

 

[angelmf2704]

Well, a bit like that I guess, but in your scenario you’re hearing no direct treble at all. That’s why all car audios sound boomy from outside, surely?

However, many ‘beat’ orientated ‘phones have that very emphasised bass that’s entirely unnatural.

I get that, however this headphones are very comfortable and I liked them a lot. So that's what I tried to improve the sound.

 

[Gray]

...this headphones are very comfortable

And that is very important of course (especially for long listening sessions).
Out of interest, what is the make / model of your headphones?
What do you power them with?
Or do they sound as bad to you with any source?

 

[angelmf2704]

And that is very important of course (especially for long listening sessions).
Out of interest, what is the make / model of your headphones?
What do you power them with?
Or do they sound as bad to you with any source?

The sound is not bad, I just don´t like to much bass honestly. Model: Sony WH-1000XM3 Power on Wired. My source is usually Tidal or Samsung Music in my S10e. I understand that this is not a high end setup, but it's portable and comfortable for me.

 

[Gray]

Interestingly another poster was using the same model wired.
His were hurting his ears and he was experimenting with EQ too.
Where he differed from you was that it was the higher frequencies bothering him.

Plenty of people EQ headphones, some wouldn't dream of not EQing them.
Ideally you wouldn't need to though.

Might be worth a look:

What to do about my new Sony WH-1000XM3?

Hi, My new XM3 produce annoying distorted spots when I play some vocals. Pavarotti's Una Furtiva Lagrima is a good example. This is happening when I use them wired from my PC. Noise cancellation OFF. Other modes are similar. I can remove the distortion by reducing 4 kHz slider down by about 10...

forums.whathifi.com

 

[insider9]

Hi OP, I use Sonarworks when I reference my mixes on headphones. Your headphones do seem bass heavy. And seem to have recessed mids also.

Based on average frequency response of your headphones and EQ you're using I'd suggest you try these settings

63Hz -8dB
125Hz -6dB
250Hz -2dB
500Hz +2dB
1k +1dB
2k +3dB
4k no change
8k -3dB
16k no change

 

[angelmf2704]

Hi OP, I use Sonarworks when I reference my mixes on headphones. Your headphones do seem bass heavy. And seem to have recessed mids also.

Based on average frequency response of your headphones and EQ you're using I'd suggest you try these settings

63Hz -8dB
125Hz -6dB
250Hz -2dB
500Hz +2dB
1k +1dB
2k +3dB
4k no change
8k -3dB
16k no change

That seems pretty good. I liked that HF are untouched. I will give it a try for sure. Have you tried this settings? Is it comfortable to you?

 

[angelmf2704]

Hi OP, I use Sonarworks when I reference my mixes on headphones. Your headphones do seem bass heavy. And seem to have recessed mids also.

Based on average frequency response of your headphones and EQ you're using I'd suggest you try these settings

63Hz -8dB
125Hz -6dB
250Hz -2dB
500Hz +2dB
1k +1dB
2k +3dB
4k no change
8k -3dB
16k no change

So far so good, I'm trying it for the next few days. I can still feel bass present, but it is tighter and more subtle. Vocals and instruments are super clear, it doesn't feel unatural. Thank you for the advice.

 

[insider9]

So far so good, I'm trying it for the next few days. I can still feel bass present, but it is tighter and more subtle. Vocals and instruments are super clear, it doesn't feel unatural. Thank you for the advice.

Glad you found it useful. These filters are based on average frequency response of your headphones as measured by Sonarworks. I haven't got the same headphones so can't comment, but I was able to replicate the filters for your use. I do use Sonarworks to further flatten my AKG K371 which sound great either way but put my mind at ease knowing that there's very little colouration, which is important to me as I use them as one of the references when mixing.

Let us know how you get on after a few days.

 

[Sliced Bread]

You could have a peak at 3-7 hz. In fact looking at your graph, this may very well be the case. If your eq allows for manual adjustments then it might be worth reducing this a little bit.

Assumjng you’re not using a mic with a target flat curve, adjusting EQ can be quite tricky. What might be a good tweak for one instrument can be detrimental to another.

I also agree with the other poster to keep eq changes small.

Ive found the EQ cheat sheet in this link quite useful for this sort of thing:

Two EQ Cheat Sheets For Better Mixes

Here's two EQ charts.

howtomakeelectronicmusic.com

 

[Sliced Bread]

Actually, looking at the amount of bass you cut and how you’ve boosted the mids and upper mids, I do wonder if you would be happier with a pair of quality in-ear monitors like the Shure SE425’s

 

[Vincent Kars]

Boosting is probably not a good idea.
There are a lot of pop recording with a level close to or equal 0 dBFS
This is known as the loudness war.
If you boost, you might introduce clipping/distortion.
Best practice imho is to lower with the highest band just at 0 dB.

Maybe things improve with ANC on: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sony-wh-1000xm4-review-noise-cancelling-headphone.19828/