19-08-2021, 10:28 AM
Interesting responses.
There will be a high number of forum participants (well over half!) including lurkers and educators of course, who will appreciate mixmasters that contain hyped frequencies in the upper mids and treble regions as well as benefitting from hyper-compression and it's resultant non-linear artifacts and lack of dynamic. Why? Because they will be victims of various stages of hearing impairment from Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Their situation will get worse over time until they realise something is wrong, at which point it will be too late.
Hearing loss is 100 percent irreversible, and it is 100 percent preventable!
Hyped material behaves like a HEARING AID, helping to counter the ear's attenuation caused by damage from noise exposure levels and duration. What their brain perceives is an inaccurate representation of what is arriving at their pinna. Their ear's frequency response will mislead their brains. This in turn, encourages gains (and other parameter decisions) to compensate.
The link in my signature to a report by the World Health Organisation, helps spotlight the extent of the problem. However, it doesn't account for the deafness occurring in the musician and audio community who's exposures to loud environments over time are yet another sad fact, whether young or old. This adds further to the scale and severity of the problem and is multiplied in this forum and the sector as a whole.
Some victims will have more damage than others of course, so their perceptions, whether of their own mixmasters or others by way of feedback; will reflect this. The forum is full of misleading feedback, or misinterpreted feedback. Hearing impairment will often be the root cause (though not always, but an informed individual such as myself, know what clues to look for). Some, perhaps, may not want the community to think they are losing their hearing and will attempt to distract attention away from the subject. Given the extent of the problem in the community, I think this is totally irresponsible and non-educational. I expect, for example, forum moderators to be part of a solution, not part of the problem. But what if their hearing is impaired too? Think about that.
Victims of NIHL, while not all being conscious of their predicament, will carry on over-exposing their hearing because of their environmental habits. They will still wear headphones and earbuds, for example, or not take precautions during band practise, say, or gigs, or when exposed to other loud environments, even powerful in-car entertainment systems – high SPL in a confined space. As their hearing fails, their monitoring levels will get louder...and louder...and louder, speeding up decline in their hearing. Fatigue will also have the same effect. There are correlations to Dementia!
There are over 6 billion smartphone users today, many will be consuming music through earbuds/headphones this way. The number of users is predicted to increase significantly over the next decade and beyond. Earbuds are highly dangerous for the ears because of the staggering pressures they generate in the ear canal which their users will be unaware of, even at low listening levels. Headphones come VERY close behind.
Loudness is a perception. If a user doesn't perceive a volume to be loud, this doesn't mean that it isn't, and neither does it mean it's not going to cause permanent damage by way of duration of exposure. The damage will mount up with time. Yes, hyper-compression is another clue and the Loudness War is of benefit to the hearing impaired and Millennials - note the age range from 12-35 in the WHO's report. This is not a coincidence, I'd suggest. I'm sure it would make a great thesis for academic study, along with the attributes of lossy codec degradation, which may be of further benefit for sufferers of NIHL, etc.
Continual exposures will result in worsening impairment.
We are all at risk, to a greater or lesser extent. Some will be deluded, while some might think it's a natural progress of old age or part of being an adult. It isn't. Be aware of what a “Daily Threshold” is. Any good resource that talks about the risks, will discuss Threshold. Be informed. Help others. But please don't get smart and try and talk down the subject. It's people's health and well-being that is at risk and we all have a duty of care to one another, and especially to ourselves.
There will be a high number of forum participants (well over half!) including lurkers and educators of course, who will appreciate mixmasters that contain hyped frequencies in the upper mids and treble regions as well as benefitting from hyper-compression and it's resultant non-linear artifacts and lack of dynamic. Why? Because they will be victims of various stages of hearing impairment from Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Their situation will get worse over time until they realise something is wrong, at which point it will be too late.
Hearing loss is 100 percent irreversible, and it is 100 percent preventable!
Hyped material behaves like a HEARING AID, helping to counter the ear's attenuation caused by damage from noise exposure levels and duration. What their brain perceives is an inaccurate representation of what is arriving at their pinna. Their ear's frequency response will mislead their brains. This in turn, encourages gains (and other parameter decisions) to compensate.
The link in my signature to a report by the World Health Organisation, helps spotlight the extent of the problem. However, it doesn't account for the deafness occurring in the musician and audio community who's exposures to loud environments over time are yet another sad fact, whether young or old. This adds further to the scale and severity of the problem and is multiplied in this forum and the sector as a whole.
Some victims will have more damage than others of course, so their perceptions, whether of their own mixmasters or others by way of feedback; will reflect this. The forum is full of misleading feedback, or misinterpreted feedback. Hearing impairment will often be the root cause (though not always, but an informed individual such as myself, know what clues to look for). Some, perhaps, may not want the community to think they are losing their hearing and will attempt to distract attention away from the subject. Given the extent of the problem in the community, I think this is totally irresponsible and non-educational. I expect, for example, forum moderators to be part of a solution, not part of the problem. But what if their hearing is impaired too? Think about that.
Victims of NIHL, while not all being conscious of their predicament, will carry on over-exposing their hearing because of their environmental habits. They will still wear headphones and earbuds, for example, or not take precautions during band practise, say, or gigs, or when exposed to other loud environments, even powerful in-car entertainment systems – high SPL in a confined space. As their hearing fails, their monitoring levels will get louder...and louder...and louder, speeding up decline in their hearing. Fatigue will also have the same effect. There are correlations to Dementia!
There are over 6 billion smartphone users today, many will be consuming music through earbuds/headphones this way. The number of users is predicted to increase significantly over the next decade and beyond. Earbuds are highly dangerous for the ears because of the staggering pressures they generate in the ear canal which their users will be unaware of, even at low listening levels. Headphones come VERY close behind.
Loudness is a perception. If a user doesn't perceive a volume to be loud, this doesn't mean that it isn't, and neither does it mean it's not going to cause permanent damage by way of duration of exposure. The damage will mount up with time. Yes, hyper-compression is another clue and the Loudness War is of benefit to the hearing impaired and Millennials - note the age range from 12-35 in the WHO's report. This is not a coincidence, I'd suggest. I'm sure it would make a great thesis for academic study, along with the attributes of lossy codec degradation, which may be of further benefit for sufferers of NIHL, etc.
Continual exposures will result in worsening impairment.
We are all at risk, to a greater or lesser extent. Some will be deluded, while some might think it's a natural progress of old age or part of being an adult. It isn't. Be aware of what a “Daily Threshold” is. Any good resource that talks about the risks, will discuss Threshold. Be informed. Help others. But please don't get smart and try and talk down the subject. It's people's health and well-being that is at risk and we all have a duty of care to one another, and especially to ourselves.
"Nearly half of all teenagers and young adults (12-35 years old) in middle- and high-income countries are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices": https://tinyurl.com/6xeeahc5 Read my bio.