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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 1:36:28 GMT
For the past couple of years, I had been growing increasingly unhappy with the top end on my speakers, B&W CDM 7-NT. I felt that there wasn't enough! I had been very happy with them since I got them, and never felt that they lacked top-end sparkle in any way. However, during the past year, I had become increasingly convinced that I needed more 'sparkle".
My wife, an ex-nurse, had worked for a few years as an Audiology Technician, and reminded me that after fighting in the Falklands in 1982 , and two (very) active tours of N.I., my H.F. perception (especially in my right ear - closest to the breach on an SLR) was probably shot. She arranged (using her Audiology contacts) for me to attend for a full hearing test. I'm slightly ashamed to say that at the last minute I chickened out.
It's all pretty complex, and wrapped up in self-image, but I absolutely did not want some young girl telling me I'm "Hearing-impaired". For Christ sake, I'm only 52, otherwise in perfect health, and in my head I'm really only about 30!! (Aren't we all?)
I wasn't deaf, I was just having problems hearing HF on the right channel (my right side).
The solution was via SLS Audio Super Tweeters. As soon as I configured them to my speakers, I heard the missing H F.
They give that boost in volume on just the HF frequencies that I need. I can dial in how much boost, and at what frequency it cuts in, via two rear toggle switches.
I'm listening to Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly" at the moment, and I'm hearing every little "tsst, tsst" of the drummer's brushes.
And for some reason, the bass, which had been becoming more dominant, (in a bad Dr. Dre way) has calmed down and is more "balanced" with the rest of the FR.
RESULT!!!
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Nov 5, 2013 6:02:29 GMT
A little bit of treble boost won't hurt. I can relate to it how relieving it is to finally hear the top end again.
About 15 years ago I had a nasty hearing infection and being close to deaf for about a month my hearing didn't restore to its old glory after many months. I had trouble with listening to speakers (strangely enough not so much to headphones which got me in the HP hobby).
Tried everything, hospital, doctors, even 2 'alternative healers'. Nothing helped and was really bummed out about this as listening to speakers was almost my purpose in life and having moved to a home without neighbours in that time thought I could play at higher levels in the smaller hours.
I was told my hearing was not bad but had a little loss in the highs which was 'normal' at my age my ears were 'clean' acc to MD's.
a few years later I had trouble in one ear with earwax building up (shoving it towards the eardrum by inserting foam tips !) and went to the doc's nurse to have my ears syringed.
Should have done that years earlier... all highs returned had my other ear done as well which was supposed to be 'clean' and this cured it for me.
Not saying this is the case for everyone though, just my story after my ear infection but cleaning out the old ears worked for me. When ears are 'optically' clean a nurse isn't allowed to rinse ears by the way, a MD has to do that in that case on your request.
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Crispy
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Post by Crispy on Nov 5, 2013 8:19:16 GMT
My wife, an ex-nurse, had worked for a few years as an Audiology Technician, and reminded me that after fighting in the Falklands in 1982 , and two (very) active tours of N.I., my H.F. perception (especially in my right ear - closest to the breach on an SLR) was probably shot. She arranged (using her Audiology contacts) for me to attend for a full hearing test. I'm slightly ashamed to say that at the last minute I chickened out. I have the same problem Jeff, I always think my right side hearing is worse than my left side due to the same problem of SLR and anti tank weapons when I was in the infantry. Even so I think Frans is correct in that if you clean them regularly it helps without going to the expense of new equipment. I use Otex ear cleaner once a month and syringe them out with the supplied syringe every couple of weeks, and it certainly makes a difference to me. Check out this link it may be worth a try. www.otexear.com/otexrange/otex-express-combi.ashx
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 5, 2013 11:03:37 GMT
I have 'Industry Related Hearing Loss' (working life in steel industry) and am now 73 so it ain't gonna get any better. In practice this means I have lost sensitivity to both ends of the audio spectrum. This thread has reminded me that I should go and get my hearing tested again and get my hearing aids re-programmed to compensate for these ongoing losses. I share others views that, outside, they identify you as an old fogey and so I rarely wear them outside or inside the house, much to the annoyance of my wife . But I will say that I use them while listening to speakers and with very good effect. Walking across the hospital grounds after first having them fitted I was made very aware of birds singing, which I had almost forgotten about. Listening to music from speakers benefitted the top end similarly and the bottom end became less 'muddy' and mono-tonal, tightening up greatly. The purpose of listening to music is to get the maximum enjoyment from it that you can afford, surely? Given that hearing aids are provided free under the NHS to those that need them (note 'need') why wouldn't anyone get them and use them, if only for listening to music in the privacy of your own listening area? - if ever there was a 'no-brainer' surely that's it? If you do need them then your hearing, and therefore your enjoyment of music, is deficient so why would anyone not want to improve it for that purpose? Take it from one who's been there and got there 'T' shirt, the investment in time (only, no shekels), is more than worth the effort. IMHO it's like going to a football match or the theatre but not wearing your spectacles - why handicap your enjoyment of your hobby for solely personal vanity reasons? - barmy in my opinion, so wake up and smell the coffee . Dave.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 5, 2013 11:36:47 GMT
I stick my ears under the bath for a few minutes to keep them clean. That does a pretty good job.
I'm still hearing quite high at 59 so I guess I'm lucky in that respect. My high blood pressure has caused slight tinnitus though, but now I've lost a stone and a half in weight, I'm hoping that will help to make it recede.
Makes you wonder ...... does anyone actually hear flat?
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Nov 5, 2013 19:47:26 GMT
I think everyones hearing is not exactly the same but that doesn't matter as the brain is the one creating the reference each and every day. It's self calibrating as it were. If changes in hearing abilities go very slow we won't even notice I reckon.
We hear 'real' sounds all day long and consider that a reference for day to day basis. As long as the reproduction is flat and the recording is flat it doesn't matter how skewed the hearing is as it will still be perceived as 'realistic'.
When things get really bad and cues around us are telling we don't hear as well as we remember we did and or need hearing aids that 'adjust' the frequency range it gets annoying.
When things are only of in the FR range AND not too severe AND we know what correction to use (possible to determine yourself IF you own a flat headphone) you could create an EQ that corrects the hearing (as in 'super hifi hearing aid') and enjoy what we lost again.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 19:59:39 GMT
My wife, an ex-nurse, had worked for a few years as an Audiology Technician, and reminded me that after fighting in the Falklands in 1982 , and two (very) active tours of N.I., my H.F. perception (especially in my right ear - closest to the breach on an SLR) was probably shot. She arranged (using her Audiology contacts) for me to attend for a full hearing test. I'm slightly ashamed to say that at the last minute I chickened out. I have the same problem Jeff, I always think my right side hearing is worse than my left side due to the same problem of SLR and anti tank weapons when I was in the infantry. Chris, I well remember the first time I live-fired a '66. I thought the world had ended and my ears were ringing for a good couple of minutes afterward One of my muckers fired a Charley G at an an Argentine frigate, and he hasn't heard anything since. Christ knows how you guys in the infantry, who regularly fired Charley G's and Milans, heard anything ever again Dave, reading your post, I realise that H.A.'s are just in-ear amps. Could you not send your H.A.'s to Frans/Jeremy and they could work their magic with them? Probably too small to fit valves so they would have to be SS. The "DaveK" In-ear Monitor Amp.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 5, 2013 20:18:20 GMT
When things are only of in the FR range AND not too severe AND we know what correction to use (possible to determine yourself IF you own a flat headphone) you could create an EQ that corrects the hearing (as in 'super hifi hearing aid') and enjoy what we lost again. Hi Frans, Fancy a bit of a challenge along those lines? I'm up for it if you are . On a more realistic note I'm told by a NHS Consultant (in another discipline, Clinical Psychology) that the NHS hearing aids are very good - made by Siemens and part of their contract is to maintain the technology incorporated at the highest level (using latest developments in audio technology) such that, even though he could readily afford the most expensive hearing aid available and probably get them fitted at a discount he has always used the NHS units as being more than fit for purpose. They test your hearing across the frequency range, for each ear, plot it on a graph and measure where and the 'amount' you're missing. Each hearing aid is then programmed to amplify only the areas lacking and only by the amount necessary, presumably to return your frequency response to what is considered normal. I recommend it for anyone losing out and missing some of their music. Some of us go to the trouble and expense of having super-tweeters on their speakers even though their hearing is not capable of noticing much of the contribution that ordinary tweeters make to the sound 'picture' - barmy, innit? Well worth the effort involved if only to hear the birds singing again . Just my opinion . Dave.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 20:55:17 GMT
Some of us go to the trouble and expense of having super-tweeters on their speakers even though their hearing is not capable of noticing much of the contribution that ordinary tweeters make to the sound 'picture' - barmy, innit? Dave. Dave, a common misconception about super tweeters is that they only reproduce frequencies that bats can hear. Although most do go very very high, most good quality ST's like mine actually start to kick in and boost around 2-4Khz, giving increasing boost as the frequency rises. So I'm getting a nice little kick from, say, 4Khz up to our hearing limit of what, somewhere between 15-19 or 20Khz? BTW, I accept that we don't hear above 20Khz, but I'm not convinced that we can't hear or "perceive" the lower harmonics of much higher frequencies. About your hearing loss, my dad lost some of his hearing in exactly the same way. He worked at Clydebridge Steelworks in Cambuslang in Glasgow. BTW, I'm sorry if I offended you with my daft hearing aid remark in the original post, I honestly meant no disrespect, and I apologize. Jeff
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Nov 5, 2013 22:08:49 GMT
Jeff, fear not, I took absolutely no offence, didn't even notice anything to take offence at, 'onest guv, , so no problem there. Dave.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Nov 5, 2013 22:35:51 GMT
The problem with hearing damage (as opposed to slowly declining hearing loss) is that when certain parts of the cochlea are damaged they make 'gaps' in the audible band which cannot be compensated any more. Also some hearing damage gives linearity problems which are most annoying. Some suffer from the fact they don't hear much below a certain level and somewhat above that level turns into painful. These people need special (also digital, like the NHS ones) earpieces that handle such.
The digital ones can have very sharp bandfilters and substantial gains/drops that cannot be reached in an analog way. Only 'gradual' changes in FR only can be compensated in an analog way.
Jeff is correct about the supertweeters. Even when filtered at 20kHz highpass they still have enough efficiency to boost the 10kHz range and even lower to levels higher than the speakers do thereby increasing the amount of highs that can be heard as well which is what's perceived.
Test have shown we can perceive related harmonics higher up than 'accepted' when using a single tone (squarewave) or in phase and timing. The problem is though that even though we can perceive that with a single tone there is no evidence we can do the same when hearing complex sounds (music) There has been some research showing there is some extra brain parts active when related >20kHz energy is perceived in music signals. The problem is there that the same individuals cannot tell the same music samples apart even though the brain seems to do something with it.
Other research has shown that when a wideband signal is reproduced by a capable system and a sharp low-pass filter is switched in there seems to be no correlation with perceived SQ.
Judges are still out and just like with research done on smoking and cell phones ... test results are most likely to go in the direction where the one 'proving' his point WANTS the results to go.
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