Ear Fatigue

[skwiggo]

I now produce mainly with headphones (AKG K241mkII) and I think they've made a positive difference to my production quality.

They give me such sore ears though. I can't bear to produce for more than an hour or two using them and I don't even have the volume that loud tbh. It really hampers my production sessions after a while.

Does anyone else have problems with this or any tips to reduce ear fatigue?

[lloydy]

I could reduce ear fatigue by divorcing the mrs haha.
No in all honesty you need to look at why they fatigue your ears,are they uncomfortable?Is it the sound of them?
I would just suggest taking breaks,i tend to not leave mine on constantly when producing.I don't think you should listen through headphones without a break every hour or so.

[OfficialDAPT]

Does it feel like some kind of pressure pushing in on your ears? I can't really describe it but It happens to me with some kinds of headphones.

[Wikum]

try to get used to mixing at lower levels a bit more often. i know it's hard though.

[AxeD]

Using headphones should actually reduce ear fatigue. Isn't it just because they are quite tight (akg's usually are).

I wouldn't recommend producing on a low level though, the fcked up thing is that louder sounds better.
Because to our ears, sound starts to loose amplitude at lower frequencies.
On monitors I think somewhere around 80-90dB is recommended but you should take enough breaks.

[skwiggo]

cheers for the responses. i think i prob should take more breaks as i'm used to mixing on shit computer speakers without any breaks for hours lol. I've got monitors but I'm not in a suitable environment to use them at the moment. my volume is quite low and i never turn them up more than 50% on my soundcard.

yeah it does feel like pressure on my ears. gets really sore after a while. the headphones themselves are quite comfy though although they are too stuffy to wear for long periods. they do feel tight aswell so maybe thats another problem.

[Lichee]

I could reduce ear fatigue by divorcing the mrs haha.
No in all honesty you need to look at why they fatigue your ears,are they uncomfortable?Is it the sound of them?
I would just suggest taking breaks,i tend to not leave mine on constantly when producing.I don't think you should listen through headphones without a break every hour or so.

i kid you not the other day i was making a tune for probably 8 hours straight with a few small breaks in between and towards the end had ear fatigue, my girlfriend starting giving me hassle about there being no such thing as ear fatigue and that i was making it up hence giving me further ear fatigue.

also to the point i only get sore ears with my cheap headphones, they just grip my ears that bit too much and it hurts to keep them on for more than an hour, as for speakers it's just mixing the same things for a long period at loud volumes, i always try and turn it down although mixing loud is so tempting it's a bad habit

[didi]

Fatigue is the most irritating thing when it goes unnoticed. I was vibzing off of this grime track. Went away, came back, took another listen.

Pure shit.

[alpz]

I now produce mainly with headphones (AKG K241mkII) and I think they've made a positive difference to my production quality.

They give me such sore ears though. I can't bear to produce for more than an hour or two using them and I don't even have the volume that loud tbh. It really hampers my production sessions after a while.

Does anyone else have problems with this or any tips to reduce ear fatigue?

I have the same headphones and the exact same thing - it's just because of the way they put pressure on the cartilage I believe. After getting used to and dealing with the discomfort, I can wear them to produce and listen to music all day without it being too bad at all. Just stick it out man, it gets better. =p

[Efrafa11]

I get the same thing.
My ears get pretty sore after a bit and feel pinned to the back of my head.
so I have been trying to get some books and stretch them out the with them.
Also, sometimes bass pressure can be problematic with headphones in which if thats happening you should probably reduce volume a bit to a more comfortable level as pressures
in headphones can do some long term damage.

[Smiles]

Same thing happens to me, my headphones are really good but they aren't over ear so i have to take a 5-10 min brake every hour. No way to fix it unless you just get new headphones or use monitors.

[Sharmaji]

fletcher-munson, 88db, etc.... whatevz. I spend most of my day working on stuff just above a whisper, and then crank it when it needs to be cranked. otherwise burnout is inevitable. If you're trying to get a really vibey balance between drums and bass, yes, crank it and dance around the room. if you're comping vocals or working on a melody, you can work really really quietly.

also as the whole picture comes together, listening quietly can really help you get a wider focus. If you turn it way down and the drums disappear-- you have a problem.

didub is right-- you won't notice you're fatigued until you stop playback and realize you're just exhausted. at that point, chances are you haven't made an objective decision in the last 30 mins. take breaks.

[ehbes]

There's an effect on my mixer that is a -20db button.... The only time that comes off is when it's time for mixing otherwise my ears start to burnout and hurt when my hats and snares haven't been pulled down

[Attila]

I'm always a/bing between headphones and monitors because I don't trust my ability to get a good stereo image through monitors, so it usually saves my ears. As far as burnout from just prolonged listening, I've been holding pretty much 90% of my mixing to the end (save for drums) so my critical listening ears can kind of be put off until the arrangements done. Helps me stay focused and I'm not wasting time trying to get everything sounding right before I throw whole sections away.

[dublerium]

Wish my room was treated, I feel like I have to have them just a bit to loud to hear all my lower frequencies with some clarity. When I've been at the buttons for a few hours forget to turn them down and end up with achy ears like I do now. As suggested above best thing to do is take breaks, when I used to only use headphones I'd always take short breaks to avoid this, I personally find with headphones it's a lot easier to have them playing louder than I think I have them.

[lloydy]

I was producing the other day for 10 hrs straight and started to get ear fatigue,i found the ultimate cure.
I just simply emptied my wallet into her purse and told her to fuck off out and buy something.



True story

[Mindforce]

If it kills your actual ears, I'd say it's your headphones. I had a pair of AKG headphones (I think the cheapest model though) and I couldn't wear them for more than an hour because they hurt my ears so much. I figured out its cos the ear pads weren't deep enough and so were literally pushing my ears back with the hard plastic speaker case thing. Which after an hour really hurt.

Idk if this is the case with all AKG headphones, but since getting a pair of KRK headphones (which coincidently have much thicker, deeper ear pads) my ears are fine and I could wear them for 5 hours if I needed to.

[breakitdown]

Frequent breaks and working with low volume usually helps me.

It's not the soar ears that do me with headphones. It's the headphone hair... always that little tuft on top that won't go away.

[MassAphekt]

Fatigue is the most irritating thing when it goes unnoticed. I was vibzing off of this grime track. Went away, came back, took another listen.

Pure shit.