Billleivers Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I'd really appreciate some advice guys. It's a long story, but after 40 years of playing, my hearing has been a huge issue for me over the last 2 years. My previously good ear (left) suffered some sort of trauma - maybe noise exposure or infection related , or could be onset of Menieres disease and has left me with debilitating hearing loss. The biggest issue is distortion and poor interpretation of lower frequencies, which makes listening to and playing music quite difficult. My right ear is not great , but I can hear lower frequencies quite well in that ear. I have continued to rehearse and gig but it has been a big struggle and very distressing, compared to how I used to be! I have already given up playing in loud bands as my ears just can't cope with high stage volume. I have good moulded ear plugs which are OK in some circumstances and moulded in ears, which I am having difficulties with, as it seems that the nearer the sound source to my ear drum the more distortion I get. I'm toying with the idea of using high quality headphones on stage, as the distortion seems to be much more manageable when I practice with headphones. Anybody tried using headphones on stage , or any other ideas that might help me? I know it might look a bit weird, but I'm happy to look weird if it means I can carry on playing! TBH I think this is my last throw off the dice before I reluctantly bring my 40 year playing career to a close. I'm desperate not to, but sometimes I think the battle is too hard. Cheers Bill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Sorry to read about this Bill. I'm afraid i can't helpwith the headphones question but hope some others will be able to offer a way for you to continue with a lifelong passion. Wish you all the very best and i'll be following to see how you get on. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassfan Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 What in ears do you currently use Bill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt4ever Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I'm sorry to hear of your hearing issues too. A good mate of mine couldn't afford IEM's and so tried using headphones on stage and I gotta say he did look pretty ridiculous. It looked like he was in his own little world and just not interacting with anyone. If it's your only option then it's gotta be though. Good luck. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billleivers Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Cheers guys and thanks for the support. I'm using 2 driver ACS in ears at the moment. Not the best, but still cost 400 quid! I guess I'm not alone in facing these sorts of challenges, though sometimes it feels that way! My ears vary quite a bit and sometimes the distortion is less, however it's been pretty much the same now since July so not sure `I'm going to get any improvement. The only light tab the end off the tunnel is that, I gather, drugs are being developed to regenerate cochlea hair cells and therefore cure hearing loss and progress is looking quite hopeful. The treatment could be available in 2020. I live in hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassfan Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I was going to suggest maybe some higher end shures, maybe the 535s or 846s but it sounds (scuse the pun) like you have a good pair and they aren’t helping. Fingers crossed the drugs are developed quick! Bose do some quite small headphones that are noise cancelling, and wireless might make things easier on stage? Good luck 👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) If wireless they can't be Bluetooth, as all modern wireless headphones seem to be, as bluetooth has too much latency. The old type (infra red?) work OK. Edited January 12, 2019 by Maude Punctuation darling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Get some of the basschat favourite in ears, KZ ZS10s, not molded but they should sound good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) IEM route may help you - especially if custom moulded - but you’ll need to think your setup and how you’ll route everything into your ears such that you can get a good mix of the band along side yourself. I may also recommend you getting a digital octave pitch shifter so that you get a copy of what you are playing with an octave up so your bass is audible in a more friendly frequency spectrum in your ears. Mix the octave up with your source signal in your ears only not out front. That will give you the intelligibility in your playing to hear what’s going on. Petes suggestion of ZS10s is a good one, also UE6s are a great custom IEM for us bass players. I do think isolation is key for you though - the more you can cut out and the lower volume you can play at, the less impact and pain associated with your tinnitus you will have. If you are looking over ear, EX29 is also a good choice - Paul Gilbert’s preferred headphone. Additionally, as you mention them, the bass response and crucially the headroom on The ACS dual drivers are pretty poor - they may be actually adding to the distortion - they run out of headroom quickly and distortion sets in. Additionally - are you sure that the balanced armatures aren’t damaged? Feel free to msg me or head over to the IEM thread if you need some pointers on how to make all this work. Edited January 13, 2019 by EBS_freak 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aliwobble Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Sorry to hear abou5 your ears, Bill. Active noise cancelling would reduce your noise exposure a lot. They can be got as headphones or ear buds. You will need to send them some sort of audio feed, of course. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxlin Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 In our church band (where admittedly street cred isn’t necessarily top priority!) we use stand mounted individual mixers, and wired phones of choice. One guitarist has hearing problems, so uses over ears headphones. He normally stands towards the back, and it works for him, and no one seems to comment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Sorry about the hearing loss. I can sympathise. Have you thought about trying an Eich Bassboard to augment the IEMs. It certainly helps with the low end. Although your hearing has deteriorated your other senses should be intact and I find that being able to feel the notes up through the feet is extremely helpful. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Some good advice here already! You could try passive sound isolated over ear cans while wearing the IEMs, and make sure the IEMs are not faulty. The less noise you are exposed to the easier it will be to get a soft but clear signal. EBSfreak has a good idea using octave up, maybe add a good EQ to cut disruptive frequencies, like the Mxr 10band, or even a rack unit. Anything that works isn't stupid! I see no downsides to playing live with headphones on. There must be an audiology professor at a university with experience in this sector, maybe you can find one? I know most academic hospitals here in the Netherlands have someone with a passion for music who know about this sort of thing. (Jan de Laat at Leiden UMC or Alex Hoetink at Utrecht UMC for example). Best of luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) Came across this but sorry about the VID clip itself. Edited January 13, 2019 by dmccombe7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 21 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: Came across this but sorry about the VID clip itself. If you are looking into haptic feedback devices, also check out the Woojer and Backbeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeystrange Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I don’t know what model but Drad Delson from Linkin Park has always worn Shure headphones for live monitoring. If they’re ok for headlining stadiums then it can’t be bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billleivers Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Thanks again for the help and advice guys. I'm really grateful. I suspect my problem with distortion isn't helped, or even made worse by my ACS in ears. I will try a good pair of over ear headphones and see what happens. Getting a mix is no problem and other members of the band use in ears and we all have individual mixes/feeds. Been looking at Audio Technical ATH M50's - any opinions about these? I messaged with Dave Swift of Jules Holland's band and he swears by UE in ears and a Porter and Davies platform. Expensive options though! Cheers Bill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 2 minutes ago, Billleivers said: I messaged with Dave Swift of Jules Holland's band and he swears by UE in ears and a Porter and Davies platform. Expensive options though! Eich make 3 different sized platforms that are cheaper than the P & D or you can make your own. I made my own using ideas from this. https://www.bassic.de/threads/bass-shaker-platte-selbst-gemacht.14849010/ Drivers and rubber mounts from Ebay. Wood from Homebase. You can use any spare bass amp to drive it. I bought a used Markbass Nano which is perfect and also acts as a spare for my main amp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I don’t think it looks odd or ridiculous to see anyone on stage wearing over ear headphones, certainly if it’s the difference between you continuing to play or not. I’d wear ‘em like a shot at the drop of a hat! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 3 hours ago, Frank Blank said: I don’t think it looks odd or ridiculous to see anyone on stage wearing over ear headphones, certainly if it’s the difference between you continuing to play or not. I’d wear ‘em like a shot at the drop of a hat! I'll second this. Back in the day, didn't the drummer for Chicago play wearing old-school 'cans'? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) 48 minutes ago, Len_derby said: I'll second this. Back in the day, didn't the drummer for Chicago play wearing old-school 'cans'? A lot of drummers used headphones back then when playing to click tracks incl Neil Peart so its not that uncommon altho these days its probably IEM that are used most. Dave Edited January 13, 2019 by dmccombe7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakester Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I’m not sure as to the fidelity of them, but the drumstick company Vic Firth do drummer-specific (I.e. greater isolation) over the ear phones which may be a cost effective way of trying the idea out? Otherwise I have some old Panasonic studio phones which have great isolation, so might be worth trying to find something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 The guitarist in Anathema wears headphones on stage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 If you already have moulded earplugs, in-ears, are playing at lower volumes and are still having problems, I'd ask what kind of volume you are playing at now? If you really do have Menieres then it might be game up. Don't you have to surrender your driving licence? If not, I'd find the best headphones out there (make sure they work for you) and start using them. The drummer with the Jon Cleary band, used to sport big headphones. It's never uncool to protect your hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Paul Gilbert (of Mr Big fame) has used giant headphones on stage for years. Still looks as cool as ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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