Tears In The Rain

[bmullen]

hi Bob,

last October i got my hearing checked by a qualified audiologist for two reasons: the first, primarily is because to be professionally engaged in mixing and mastering one is totally dependent on having good hearing. the ears of a studio mixing and mastering engineer are the critical tools needed to perform the role, like a pair of healthy hands are crucial for a pianist etc. i wasn't happy merely to assume my hearing was adequate for the job. secondly, i was also suffering a lot of discomfort when listening to people's mixes, not only here in this forum, but all over the web....and occasionally with so-say professionally produced and mastered audio CD's. as someone who started a career in heavy industry, and with a father who was an audiophile, i was well versed in the issues surrounding the hazards of exposure to loud sources and have taken the necessary precautions all my life. indeed, i'll even wear ear plugs in the car on a long drive, or during a flight, for example. last year i attended a major Blues Festival and noted only one other person with ear plugs, despite the fact that the festival was going on over the course of 2 days; duration of exposure is a critical factor to hearing loss, which many are unaware of. while one event without hearing protection won't make one deaf, it will most certainly have contributed to the risks of long-term hearing loss....the damage stacks up and we are totally unaware of it until it's too late - normally discovered during mid-life though there's a trend occurring where even kids/youths and young adults are also showing evidence of hearing loss because of their modern-day listening habits.

the audiologist's report had him surprised....as he'd never seen a client of my age with such good hearing. indeed, to quote him; "You have the hearing of a young man".

so, now when listening to records and i suffer discomfort, i know the problem isn't me.

i found your mix, while having some nice attributes, nevertheless caused me fatigue. what concerns me is that i appear to be the only one here to have experienced the problem. it's not my gear....i'm running a Lake People 103 headphone amp over a pair of Sennheiser Ovation II's, namely the HD560's which got rave reviews back in their day and still impress those who are fortunate to discover them on the second hand market. and it's clearly not my ears.

I don't know what to say. When I listen to your mix, it sounds "harder" frequency wise than mine to me?