Low frequency resonance in left ear

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5inchspeaker

5inchspeaker

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Hey guys,

Since a few months I'm experiencing problems with hearing low frequencies. When I listen to frequencies in the range of 85-95Hz (in particular) and 121-123HZ, I hear very annoying resonance in my left ear. I also hear a constant kind of whistling sound around a B4 that sometimes drives me crazy.

I have been trying to learn myself how to design every sounds from scratch. Among the other sounds, I've also been working on a kick drum. I noticed it takes a lot of time and effort to get the perfect results and because of that, there have been days that I've been working on the same sound for more than 6 hours straight on.

I use proper monitors and never turn the volume up to an outrageous level, but i did tuned the kickdrum at 85hz!!!
I'm scared shitless that the resonance I hear is the result of permanent damage, caused by working on that freaking kick.:(
When I was younger I used to play drums in a band and often forgot my earplugs (stupid and ignorant me:4theloveofgod: ). I should have been more careful with my ears back then but, up until a few months ago, I never experienced a problem, except for a 'barely noticeable' high pitched sound, which I could only hear when there was absolute silence.

Has anyone ever experienced the same symptoms? Do you guys think it will be a serious problem in case I want to take my productions to a professional level?

Thanks,
 
the 1kHz whistle is a carrier tone found in a lot of television broadcasts when they are showing the test card so you may be hearing something similar to that

as for the resonance issue - do you feel that the ear drum is being over extended? Are you experiencing any pain with that resonance at all?

I would also suggest that you take 10 minutes off in each hour as if you were working at a computer to relax your ears

the barely noticeable high pitched sound is probably your neurons firing - this was identified more than 60 years ago by acoustic engineers working in anechoic chambers - they would hear a low rumble and high pitched frequency - the latter was determined to be the firing rate of neurons in the brain the former was found to be the pulse
 
Interesting fact about the neurons. I always wondered if everyone could hear that super high sound.

I don't know if I can describe the resonance as 'physical' pain. It feels kinda like pain though, but more in an annoying/stinging way I guess. Now, when I work on low frequencies sounds I use an earplug for my left ear, but I'm still afraid it will get worse. I even hear the resonance at low volume. for example, when I am watching a soccer match and the crowd starts cheering.

I forgot to mention that I've been to the doctor for the whistle sound. He Tested my hearing with some high pitched bleeps but I got them all right. He said that it may be caused by a disturbance of the air pressure inside the inner ear, and that I should wait for a few months to see if the problem resolves itself. But that wasn't really the clarifying answer I was hoping for. My visit at the doctor is now about one month ago and nothing changed over the long run. There are days that the symptoms are less present than other days.

As for the whistle, I'm pretty that the sound comes from within my ear/head. When I close my ear and the external sound is filtered the whistle gets louder. Sucks :(
 
get a referral to an audiologist - they will be able to do more and check for physical as well as neurological causes
 
Yeah, I suppose that's the only way to really get an answer!

Before I realized the resonance was just in my head, I was EQing the shit out of everything to make the resonance go away lol.

I was just wondering if there are any other producers that are familiar with ringing ears and hearing resonance at certain frequencies. But according to the number of views I suppose not.

What is a safe amount of dB without risking damage to your ears? I wanna be in the safe zone but still be able to analyse every little crisp in the sound.
 
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85db spl is the recommended room equivalent to 0dbrms which is something between -20 and -12 dbfs depending on your metering situation

I do have a few more question for you

Your room - what are the dimensions? - there may be a physical external resonance that you are tuned to

If you are using headphones, stop using them for now

What monitors are you using? can you set them to be as flat as possible (i.e. are they powered with additional filters to control the frequency response?)

as for musicians/engineers having issues with ringing and resonance issues we all do to differing extents - the audiology literature is littered with studies into the causes and treatment of these disorders - in most cases there is an over-excitation of the related cilia in the cochlear, causing excessive sensitivity to specific frequencies - in some cases the cilia become self-exciting, which is the fundamental issue with ringing and tinnitus
 
Thanks for your feedback :),

I have a 18m2 Room with single layered glass (literal translation), wooden floor, think brick walls.
It's not the ideal room for studio purposes, Because I can hear a lot of echo. I also have a gas heater that vibrates like hell, but I put weight on it to make it stop.

I do use headphones but only when I am DJing (at home). I try to use my left ear as little as possible.

I am using KRK Rockit 6 Generation 3 monitors. I can adjust the low filter and hi filter, but I have them both set on 0dB.

Since the problems began I've read a lot about tinnitus. It kinda puts me in panic mode because, in most cases the cilia won't recover and keep sending "ghost signals" to the brain. I have read that long exposure to frequencies within a certain range can damage the relating cilia. As a result the brain receives less input on those frequencies and starts amplifying those frequencies even when there is no input. This causes the buzzing/whistling,noisy "phantom" sounds that don't exist.
 
actual room dimensions (volume tells me nothing about resonances along each axis and the interaction between axes)

height
width
length
 
Height: about 3.5 meter
Width: about 4 meter
Length: About 4.5 meter
 
so room resonance profile
[table=class:grid]
[tr][td=align:center]H[/td][td=align:center]W[/td][td=align:center]L[/td][td=align:center]SoS[/td][/tr]
[tr][td=align:right]3.5[/td][td=align:right]4[/td][td=align:right]4.5[/td][td=align:right]344.42[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Volume[/td][td=align:right]63[/td][[td=colspan:3]cubic meters[/td][/tr]
[tr][td="colspan:4,align:center"][/td][/tr]
[tr][td="colspan:4,align:center"]Axial Modes[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dimension[/td][td=align:center]H[/td][td=align:center]W[/td][td=align:center]L[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Frequency[/td][td=align:right]49.20[/td][td=align:right]43.05[/td][td=align:right]38.27[/td][/tr]
[tr][td="colspan:4,align:center"][/td][/tr]
[tr][td="colspan:4,align:center"]Tangential Modes[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dimension[/td][td=align:center]HW[/td][td=align:center]HL[/td][td=align:center]WL[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Frequency[/td][td=align:right]65.38[/td][td=align:right]62.33[/td][td=align:right]57.60[/td][/tr]
[tr][td="colspan:4,align:center"][/td][/tr]
[tr][td="colspan:4,align:center"]Oblique Modes[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dimension[/td][td=align:center]HWL[/td][td=colspan:2][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Frequency[/td][td=align:right]75.76[/td][td=colspan:2][/td][/tr]
[/table]

38.27, 43.05, 49.20, 57.60, 62.33, 65.38, 75.76

taking whole multiples up to the third mode of resonance for each node we get the following modes of resonance

[table=class:grid]
[tr][td][/td][td='colspan:7, align:center']Node[/td][/tr]
[tr][td=align:center]Mode[/td][td=align:center]L[/td][td=align:center]W[/td][td=align:center]H[/td][td=align:center]WL[/td][td=align:center]HL[/td][td=align:center]HW[/td][td=align:center]HWL[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1[/td][td=align:right]38.27[/td][td=align:right]43.05[/td][td=align:right]49.20[/td][td=align:right]57.60[/td][td=align:right]62.33[/td][td=align:right]65.38[/td][td=align:right]75.76[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2[/td][td=align:right]76.54[/td][td=align:right]86.10[/td][td=align:right]98.40[/td][td=align:right]115.20[/td][td=align:right]124.66[/td][td=align:right]130.76[/td][td=align:right]151.52[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3[/td][td=align:right]114.81[/td][td=align:right]129.15[/td][td=align:right]147.60[/td][td=align:right]172.80[/td][td=align:right]186.99[/td][td=align:right]196.14[/td][td=align:right]227.28[/td][/tr]
[/table]

comparing this against your earlier stated resonance issues, 85-95Hz (in particular) and 121-123Hz, we can see some reasons in your room that may be contributing to the problem

do you have any treatment for bass (traps, etc)?
 
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Thanks for sorting it out for me, I really appreciate the effort.

After some Google searches I think i quite understand the theory!

If I understand it correctly, the tangential mode applies for my room (almost square room). The frequencies listed for mode 2 in the table, are the resonating frequencies. My monitors are positioned in the center of the length axis of the room and face the other length axis. That means that the resonating frequencies under "W" in the table are the strongest (waves bounce back in the opposite direction). And this is indeed the troubling 85Hz frequency.

When you say "treatment for bass" do you mean damping material what they use in sound studios? Because I do have curtains at the opposite wall.
 
Thanks for the link, it makes a lot more sense now. I also checked out Steven Helm's way to build bass traps the low-budget way. Very handy!

On the opposite side of the room, the side where my speakers are targeted, I have two huge single glass windows almost covering the whole length and height of the room. To treat the first reflections there, would thick curtains be a (functional) temporarily solution?
The thing is, I live in a student house and I'm not allowed to make big changes to the room (new windows, isolation, etc) Besides that, I might move out to a new home in about half a year.

My main concern is: Are those acoustic resonating frequencies (86.10, 124.66 in your table) harmful to my hearing?
If so, I will start threading the room right away, If not I will wait with applying bass traps and absorbing panels , until I move to another house so I can apply it right away while the room is still empty.

Thanks again,
 
Have you showed your ear to doctor? There could be some pressure inside also
 
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