How does the Ear get damaged at specific frequencies

Discussion in 'Working with Sound' started by Jackson12, Nov 17, 2020.

  1. Jackson12

    Jackson12 Newbie

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    Loud sound damage the ear and NIHL is generally a decrease of hearing sensitivity in the higher frequencies especially at 4000hz. This typical 4khz notch is due to the transfer function of the ear.
    It’s been also known that if you play for example a 1khz pure-tone at huge volume you will most likely damage your hearing at that frequency which makes sense.

    I got tinnitus myself after I was testing my ears with high pitch pure tones. It was ok for me to hear from 20hz to 12khz at a low volume but I had to turn up the volume loud to be able to hear 13khz and 14khz and huge volume to hear 15khz. It was at that time when I was trying so hard to hear 15khz I first started noticing dull hearing and headache and after one day I got tinnitus. My T is a high pitch hiss that varies from 6 to 10khz and my hearing loss start after 5khz (my hearing is perfect at 4khz though, -10db)

    My question is how come I got damage at 6khz while I was playing only pure tones at 14 and 15khz that are at dangerous volume? Is it that the auditory cortex process all high frequencies “on one side” and thus you can damage your healthy hearing with high frequencies that you can’t hear?

    I am also wondering why did I not have tinnitus before because I don’t think I did all the damage in one day, it was hard for me to hear above 12khz that day when I was testing my ears which means I already have hearing loss, but I know 100% I didn’t have tinnitus, I am always the person who is really aware of what I am hearing and I always enjoyed silence. Now I'm suffering from Tinnitus for 7 months just because one day I decided to test my hearing ?
     
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  3. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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    It is not the transmitted frequency ranges that damage your hearing, but the high levels! It simply does not matter if you can hear a frequency. If the level is high enough it can damage your hearing.

    If you notice an excessive, long-term loss of hearing in a certain frequency range, go to a doctor! Depending on the initial situation, the early application of countermeasures, for example with a hearing aid, can stimulate the corresponding nerves and thus contribute to regeneration in some cases. If this is not possible, it at least counteracts further degeneration.
     
  4. itisntreal

    itisntreal Guest

    ear ringin or hi pitch sounds are so fucking annoying and what makes it even worse it never stops
     
  5. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    ...and these tiny tiny new hearing aids are amazing!
    My friend got some, after 35 years of being aware of his problem.
    They actually cancelled out his tinitus with some clever pink or white noise, which he said is made up of lot's of random sounds or something? And his deafness was sorted too.
    He can now enjoy being in a room with lots of random noise and convos, and he can focus through it all easily.
    And this guys record collection when we were kids (well, his father's!) was a BIG influence in my life.
    He is very musically educated. So now, for the first time in his life, he is in heaven!

    @Jackson12 Very sorry to hear your plight.
    Definitely was the amplitude of the frequencies that did it.
    I hope you follow through as Sinus Well said.
    And things can regenerate, as was said.
    Good luck.
     
  6. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Again, that's either tinitus, or you listen to music/gigs too loud, and your ear is producing fluid to protect its self. Which does eventually go. If it doesn't, it's tinitus.
    If you can sit in silence and focus on it, it's been actually possible for some people to cancel it out!
    I mean, the brain must be amazing if we can cancel it out by knowing the frequency and reversing the phase against its self!
    Strange, but true.
     
  7. KungPaoFist

    KungPaoFist Audiosexual

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    It's possible if you did this recently your ears are just irritated, like after going to a loud concert and having your ears ring for a few days after. I would try to isolate yourself in an extremely quiet environment for a few days. When this happened to me recently I listened to some hemi-sync tones (can be found on youtube) and the bass tones seemed to help relax things for me. The ringing eventually went away.
     
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  8. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Having worked in PA, I can say this is often the sign of a badly set up rig, probably not spectrum analysed for the venue/situation, or bad usage of rig and EQ.
    "Loud" is often actually just 'gnarly frequencies'.
    It is totally possible to experience a good, loud gig and not have the protective fluid build up that causes the ringing.
    I only experienced the after ringing a few times in my life when I was younger.
    All other gigs I worked on have been the exact opposite, thanks to the knowledge of my boss.
    He was the sole dealer in the south of the UK for EV, and was with Shuttlesound.
    He helped them design the now worldwide trapezoidal design of the EV DeltaMax; now used by most manufacturers.
    We used to get calls to drive to West End London venues to spectrum analyze the rigs!
    He was much respected.
     
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  9. KungPaoFist

    KungPaoFist Audiosexual

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    Your advice is excellent. I was referring to an instance where I heard an imbalanced high pitched tone for too long causing my ears to ring for 3days after. Was painful but I don't have health insurance so I looked for alternate resolutions.
     
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  10. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    to put it simple (and probably not even accurate),
    design of the ear makes frequencies around 3kHz boosted by 10-12dB (ear hole is about 2.5cm long tube which roughly equates to 1/4 wavelength of 3kHz) and human hearing is adjusted to that to compensate automatically - therefore any higher frequencies are much easier to "loose" because ear doesn't amplify them enough to be processed later on the hearing path
     
  11. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Certain frequencies are good. Maybe this was like an inner ear massage that reversed the effect?
    We only have to look at cymatics to know that certain frequencies are good, and that this can affect our bodies.
    I'm glad Sinus Well mentioned about amplitude.
    Hopefully people won't turn up a hearing test, or anything, if they can't hear certain aspects!
    Because it doesn't mean that the vibrations aren't affecting the ear.

    Talking of this, I happen to know that cancer can be switched on or off with certain frequencies that can resonate on certain levels of our being.
    It's constantly bought up and covered up when labs come across this and discover it.
    I have an actual genius friend who was head-hunted for this work, and the stories he tells me are no surprise, if a bit sad and frustrating.
    All these suits came out of the woodwork and made them an offer they couldn't refuse, and shut the lab down.
    I think he was working in Switzerland for this at the time, but other countries were involved too.
    What is stated about genome sequencing is lies!
    Thanks to him, they can now do the mapping of the whole genome of a human in one go.
    Not just the genome of a little toe over a long time. But this is not public knowledge.
    Something like that. I'm just a musician! He is an acknowledged genius.
     
  12. itisntreal

    itisntreal Guest

    sometimes I sit in my living room
    and it felt like I was in a busy supermarket
    sometimes I turn my TV off and then phew what a relief
    just annoyed by the sound of the TV alone
    it feels like im spammed with sound it fucks your concentration and mood your thinking everything
     
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  13. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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    Yes, the amplitude is a very important aspect because sound is pure energy.
    Imagine you have a 100 hz sine tone at a level of 80 db spl. Such a wave needs about 10ms to pass once. A 10 khz sinus tone at the same amplitude is about 100 times the energy of a 100 hz tone in the same time period of 10 ms.
    And this energy hits the tiny and sensitive hairs and eardrum in your ear canal.

    Now everyone can answer the question for themselves: why do people become less sensitive to high frequencies with increasing age?
     
  14. pratyahara

    pratyahara Rock Star

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    Tinnitus typically results from damage and loss of the tiny sensory hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear or as a consequence of permanent damage to the blood vessels in the inner ear. It can be imagined as a sort of sensory hair cells depilation by intense sound.

    Brain compensates for the frequencies it finds missing, but in some cases it does it statically and continuously, even when there is no sound present. So in complete silence, one can "hear" that compensation. In fact it is a phantom sound.

    It often happens due to exposure to very loud sounds, especially to sine waves which carry the most energy. Especially dangerous are the headphones, since the sound source is less than 1 cm apart from the eardrum and therefore should never be used by laity for hearing capability tests.

    I met a man who got tinnitus because he spent a few hours on a rock concert too close to the loudspeakers.

    Some medications against the high blood pressure can also create such blood vessels' damage.

    Unfortunately, it is wide held that tinnitus in many cases could last for lifetime.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2020
  15. pratyahara

    pratyahara Rock Star

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    Because of the brain processing slowing down, the same reason the sense of temperature or the eyesight get weaker with age.
     
  16. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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    Sure. And because of simple material fatigue.
     
  17. Pistascho

    Pistascho Member

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    Interesting, which are these tiny hearing aids that you mention?
    Brand, model etc. Could you mention them?

     
  18. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    @Pistascho
    Will text the man! I didn't 'clone phone' though, so I think I have to dig out the old sim card!
    Was on the NHS, I seem to remember.
    But they are the most up to date. Pretty standard now.
     
  19. Pistascho

    Pistascho Member

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    Love to hear from you again. Very interested.
     
  20. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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    Number found! Text sent! Last saw and spoke last year in August! hehe.
    I await!
     
  21. Smoove Grooves

    Smoove Grooves Audiosexual

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