Okay, so I'm finally actually making a post about this.

Sorry for no TL:DR.

About a year ago, the left tweeter of my monitor stopped working. Now being the idiot that I am, I continued to listen to music and produce music with the left tweeter not working. So I did that for about a month or 2, even using a smaller speaker sitting on top of my monitor just to get some high end in there. Now at the time I couldn't afford new monitors, and I was reluctant to use my old desktop PC speakers.

Now when I eventually got them fixed, I noticed my left ear was not hearing higher frequencies. Confused as to why the lack of sound could damage my ears, I went to the doc to have my ears cleaned, hoping that might help. No luck.

Anyway, a year later and my left ear still cannot hear very high frequencies. Pretty much if I pan my master channel to the left by like 25, things start to sound like they're in the middle again.

Is this all in my head or ear damage? I'm battling to enjoy music cause of it

 

Your left ear could be trained to listen for the more isolated range it was exposed to for a long duration. You didn't hear music play from any sources other than that within a years time? Seems strange. Typically only the audible frequencies that put more abuse on the ears will temporarily become too transparent to hear. I think you might be right that the upper left frequencies are only less obvious in your mind because of conditioning your ears to listen for that offset. But a problem like that should have corrected itself by now. You should get a hearing test/exam and see if you have a true loss off hearing in your left ear.

 

Last edited: Jan 11, 2017

2-3 months I'd say is about the time I listened to them while broken, it could have been longer or less. I can't really remember. I didn't only listen to those monitors for music and that, it was only when I produced or listened to music in my room. It wasn't my only exposure to stereo sound.

 

If I use Pro-Q and boost the left channels high frequencies, it kinda of feels better but it really doesn't feel the same, as soon as I bypass the EQ it's such a noticeable difference. I also don't recall any possible time that I could have damaged my left ear and only my left ear...

 

when you weren't producing.. were you cranking headphones regularly listening to other music? could be from a completely different source... or going to clubs with insanely loud sound systems/performances... ?

 

you know what, since we're no doctors here it might be an idea to get an ear exam and get your ears tested, something every musician should prolly do every 5 years orso, i know i should do it as well, performing with a band i used to be in for years and always standing on the leftside (rightside for the crowd) my left ear has become damaged but it went slowly and i'm used to it and barely notice it.

anyways, go to the doc and get an ear freq test, best way to find out if it's real or that you're just nuts

 

Hello.
1)Lack of sound cannot damage hearing.
2)How on earth could you produce music without a tweeter on the left channel, did you get a crystal ball to guess what's going on within it?
3)Are you sure your amp (or the entire audio chain) does work well on both channels? Try reversing the speakers and/ or amp outputs. Sounds moronic, but I've seen worse...
4)Clap your hands in front of you, or make 'ts, ts, ts' (as if you discovered the cat was sleeping in your bass enclosure). If your 'stereo' hearing is ok, you're ok. Blame it on the gear.

On a less funny note, you could have a sensitive left ear, and you should spare it as much as possible. If it is due to a few months' exposure to high volume, take a month or two off, put some ear plugs whenever possible, and your hearing will come back to normal.
Few people realize that a 15w speaker, placed in a corner, can produce sounds exceeding 120dB, at 1 meter away.
I played guitar for years with sound constantly over 100dB, without even realizing it (many guitar players suffer from loudness-related problems, like tinnitus). I could barely hear high frequencies with one ear, at times. I turned the volume down, spent less time with high volume, and it is ok now.
Unless you have a genetic predisposition to deafness, you should be ok in a couple of months.
Take care.

 

Last edited: Jan 12, 2017

You may want to eat large quantities of organic GOJi berries, REiSHi mushrooms, and black seed oil.. i do everyday i swear the vitamin A in the goji berries/carrots etc.. really does repair hearing damage. cheers get and hope you get better. i also do alot more health stuff but thats another topic.

 

Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie 'em in a knot?
Can you tie 'em in a bow?
Can you throw 'em o'er your shoulder
Like a continental soldier
Do your ears hang low?

Do your ears stand high?
Do they reach up to the sky?
Do they droop when they are wet?
Do they stiffen when they're dry?
Can you wave them at your neighbor
With an element of flavor?
Do your ears stand high?
WELL DO THEY???

 

The monitor is still broken. They told you they repaired it but didn't, that or the crossover is all wrong and the high frequency is attenuated. Swap the left and right speakers and your right ear will now seem to have the hearing damage. One cannot come down with hearing damage from a lack, only from an overload.

 

Forgot to mention I have since gotten new monitors... I experience it with everything... Headphones, car speakers etc.

 

1> I know that, well at least always assumed that.
2> I had no real choice other than to completely stop producing or using incredibly shitty pc desktop speakers.
3> It has nothing to do with gear anymore since it happens with every speaker setup.
4> My stereo hearing is the problem.

I have prominent tinnitus in my right ear, (a high frequency hiss, never bothered testing the range)

Thanks for the reply!

 

I went to my GP, and he tested something with my ears when I told him about it. He knocked a small metal rod thing and put it to my forehead and asked which way the sound traveled through my head, and it leaned more to my right side. He then didn't mention anything further. Still utterly confused about that experience. (really difficult to explain this sorry)

 

I used headphones sometimes, and clubs/bars/car etc were a weekly/daily thing.

 

Well that's a basic hearing test (I had it last month) - it can diagnose big hearing problems, but you need to make some true hearing tests that measure which frequencies are affected, ask your doctor. You can have some ear-illness like bacteria-driven (I had it for months, my left ear still recovers!). You can also have some obstacle in ear - there is a simple ear cleaning solution that you can ask your doctor for. It helps, especially when high frequencies are affected. And I repeat again: the best thing that you can do when you meet your doctor is asking, asking, asking! You need to understand the problem as he does! :D

 

1. check your hearing with a doctor/audiologist test
2. use earplugs in loud clubs, when hearing goes, it does not come back..
3. hearing in certain frequencies can be lost in one or both ears, preserve what you have left !

and do not expose your ears to overloud music regularly, tinnitus is not something you want to live with !

Dr. really good at collecting the info they want.. but sometimes not so good at telling you
what is relevant for yourself... agree with @dr_after , make him tell you what he knows about your hearing

 

Hence why i mix on low volume 95% of time.

 

How would i reverse it? Not listening to mids and lows on the left?

 

I very much do this! The only time I experience loud music or noise is at a club or bar or jamming out in the car, which is not as often.