Do you notice your hearing change based on mood or energy level?

I'm glad (annoyed?) the "meh" music night phenomenon is a universal experience; I gathered it was since we are all special snowflakes in that we are alike. Now what to do about my wandering ears that seem to morph tastes on the daily...

 

I'm glad the "meh" music night phenomenon is a universal experience; I gathered it was since we are all special snowflakes in that we are alike. Now what to do about my wandering ears that seem to morph tastes on the daily...

 

Late at night usually sounds best to me. Super quiet spaces are also the best, for obvious reasons.

I find listening for a while, then stopping for a few minutes to read something, or just take a break to breath and then going back helps my ears.

I agree about alcohol; it does me no good at all. Green is a whole other story... The cheapest performance to price value by far.

 

Yup. Alochol just makes my ears clench up.

 

I've noticed temporary tinnitus when I get really pissed off and my blood pressure changes. Does that count?

To be serious, yes, external factors have a huge impact on my listening experience, particularly time of day and what I had listened to previously (speakers, another headphone, nothing etc). My hearing also sucks when my allergies act up and my sinuses get congested. Haircuts increase percieved bass response and clarity as well, for obvious reasons.

 

Does the human brain run out of signal processing power? Do chemical and hormonal changes influence or dull audio related neural pathways? Maybe cortisol is killing our ears

 

I think it depends on what you’re trying to get out of the processing. If you’re trying to be analytical, you can probably get past many of the psychological barriers- not so much the physiological ones unless you’re well-versed in biofeedback. If you’re trying to control the amount of enjoyment, then the same thing applies. However, if you can do that then you might as well just save a ton of money and all of this, and just go with Earpods or Porta Pros.

This reminded me of what Bob Katz said in the comments of one of his articles on IF:

“We've discussed this issue of the ear's being accustomed to one sound and changing headphones causing a deprivation syndrome a while back here in response to one of my reviews. It's definitely a problem, and I am not immune to it either... Sometimes this happens to me. But I'm trained to deal with it. As a mastering engineer I have to deal with it, or I wouldn't be able to get any work done. Part of my job is making the sound of one song in an album compatible with the next, matching levels, EQ if desired, compression, expansion, distortion.... you name it. That's what I do for a living, since 1972. When I hear an EQ anomaly, I know which knob to go to and adjust for it. When a song sounds real bad to me, I do question myself to ensure it's not just the accomodation issue, I do guard for it as a matter of course.

So when comparing headphones, it's instinctive to me to guard against the phenomenon you described. If a new headphone sounds awful, I question myself first. Just as I do when equalizing an album for a client. So when in doubt, one thing I do is play the reference loudspeakers. Another thing is to play my LCD-X with the special Harman compensation curve that I've worked on in conjunction of Tyll's measurements of these cans. I use these as absolute comparison points.”

Read more at http://www.innerfidelity.com/conten...d-sealed-headphone-survey#QMRBr6WIAs4uxbBW.99

This is of course the analytical perspective.

 

caffeine,over counter medications,prescription drugs/medications can also affect your hearing. i believe cold medicines can actually do something to people's hf hearing and cause a hf hearing loss if used a lot. i think things like nsiad's(blood thinners) too. chemicals in foods can be cause of hearing impairment as well. that's why i stay away from lot of things. i always make sure i eat good things and stay away from drugs and any type of stimulate. only stimulate i take sometimes is theobromine which is found in cacao and some teas. similar molecule structure to caffeine in a way but, acts completely opposite(minimum to no stimulation to nervous system, increases blood flow by widening blood vessels, stimulates the heart) where caffeine( strong and fast acting stimulate to nervous system, blocks a2 receptors to force body to increase flow of dopinmines[that's why it's possible to get high off of coffee], forces adrenalin glands into overdrive and stimulates respiratory system, constricts blood vessels).

 

Lots of things that can screw up your hearing- anyone know of anything that will sharpen it? Something to improve A/B testing and bitrate detection would be cool. I’m thinking of audiophile doping.

 

How is it even a question that your hearing is dependent on your body's state? Your ears are a complex biological organ... There are muscles within/around the ear that move and contract in response to external stimuli, noises, stress, etc. There's more to the ear than just a flapping eardrum, there are tiny little hairs that vibrate and the state of these will vary depending on your body condition as well. All this and nevermind the crazy complex processing of generated signals from your ear organs to your brain. Try to do complex math when you're fresh and well rested vs tired and distracted, and it's not that much different except one's subconscious and running all the time.

 

Similar topics come up in other fields, for example memory retention or visual recall of witnesses being traditionally unreliable. You'd be surprised how many people think their senses are infallible.

 

No, the opposite is true. Your ears/brain adjusts. Those eq sliders get slided inside. Nope, I'm not trying to say that everything sounds the same. Actually, not many people do claim that everything sounds the same! Your ears/brain adjust, but, if there is some major fault, or major imbalance in the sound (remember, some people go out specifically to buy imbalance) I don't think you stop being concious of that. One can't mentally adjust 'phones designed to give kids thump-thump bass and little else and start hearing the nuances of a full orchestra in that

 

You almost had me falling of my chair in laughter. Can you recommend me a specific model of rubber chicken?

Reminds me of this British panel show comedy gem.

 

Ahhh,,, I used to watch HIGNFY.

Two great British abreviations: HIGNFY and ISIHAC

 

Night time is good but after I wake up are the best time to hear some songs. The music feels much lighter and musical to the ears yet I don't need to turn the volume up.

 

Isent your hearing best in the morning, then get worse thru out the day?
I personally, enjoy music most when its night time.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if we are biologically wired to focus more on our hearing at night after blue light levels drop in our eyes.

 

I have allergies and food intolerances that affect my hearing. If I eat certain dairy products, my eustachian tubes collapse (diagnosed by an ENT specialist), and my hearing is noticibly degraded. When I stop eating the stuff, the tubes return to normal, and I can hear properly again.