Ear Fatigue / Annoying distortion on headphones? (low volume)

    Hi All,


    I've been jamming with my kemper tonight using my Audio Technica ATH-M50 cans - almost two hours now, and noticed a frustrating issue that's stopping my playing. On almost EVERY heavy distorted profile there's a frequency that's bugging my ears.


    I've tried different headphones and cables - no difference.


    I initally thought it was the definition parameter within the amp block - turning it down helped, but it was still niggling me. Then, I have dropped my dist sens to -12 and that has cleaned it up - but still noticeable. I've then tried with the eq - and reducing the treble / presence helps but dulls the guitar tone...


    So, I recorded a clip with me going from 0>10 on the definition parameter - around 0:52-54 I can really hear this annoying issue when playing muted 'A' power chord - does anyone else hear this?


    I did notice this previously with my alnico II pu's - and now it seems a little more pronounced with my SD Black Winters - bridge pu is around 4mm away from strings. Dropping the dist sens has given me a lot more string definition when playing chords.


    Btw, this clip is with NO stomps - as soon as I put a green scream in - it BOOSTS the issue. I sure it's linked to the EQ.


    So, does anyone else hear this - and what can I do?


    Headphone volume is on -76.6 db - and main out - master stereo / monitor - master mono / direct out - git+processing...


    I hope there is a way to fix this - it's making me not enjoy playing guitar.


    I did suffer a perforated ear drum over 7 years ago - which gives me slight tinnitus. This frequency seems to irritate it - but listening to music on the same headphone a LOT louder produces NONE of these issues.


    Same issue is apparent both with headphones connect direct to kemper and through audio-interface.


    I notice a lot of the H.gain profiles I like have the definition on 9-10 - lowering to 5.5 helps, along with the dropping of dist sens and eq - but I'm not sure what else to do.


    One profile that does sound good - if a little bassy is 'Peavey RM Ultra' by Thumas - this is WITH the EQ engaged after amp.


    Hope I can sort this ASAP -


    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/46395535/Kemper Frequency.wav


    -Tonerider

    Gate is set on 0 for all stomps and input is locked, so current on -12 for dist and clean sens.


    Can anyone else hear the frequency boosted @ approx 0:52-0:54 on the clip? If not, I'm going to get my hearing checked.


    Do notice with ribbon mic profiles, the issue is no where near as apparent...


    Input light is always green also.


    Thanks,

    I hear a harmonic that starts at 0.52 and gradually gets higher in pitch during the next 10-15 seconds. Sounds a bit like when trying to do pinch harmonics while playing chords. It doesn't bother me through my monitors at work, but I can imagine that it'd get pretty annoying after a couple of hours' playing in headphones. On that note, remember that listening in headphones requires regular breaks, every 30 mins or so preferably, but no more than 1 hour at a time without a good 5-10 mins pause. Guitar tones especially can aggravate the frequencies where our ears are most sensitive. Worst case scenario, you could end up with a deficiency at that point in the spectrum or even make your tinnitus worse.


    Cheers,
    Sam

    I remember a wise man (steve lukather) saying he wished he had never used IEM/headphones as they have damaged his hearing.
    For me it is difficult to choose a low enough volume to avoid fatigue with headphones.

    Edit: I have now listened to the clip with headphones, that type of sound would make my ears really tired after 2 hours.
    I would use a parametric EQ or lower gain to try to tame it, or better yet try and find a similar rig without this top end to save time and frustration.

    Edited once, last by MartinJ ().

    Quote from MartinJ

    I remember a wise man (steve lukather) saying he wished he had never used IEM/headphones as they have damaged his hearing.
    For me it is difficult to choose a low enough volume to avoid fatigue with headphones.


    Only if you turn them up to loud, I sent mine back to be repaired before Xmas and had to do a few gigs without them. Man I couldn't believe how loud the stage volume was with the drums, my drummer hits the drums very hard and when he hit the china it went right through me. So I was glad when I got mine back better on stage sound and hearing protection :)

    Quote from MartinJ

    I remember a wise man (steve lukather) saying he wished he had never used IEM/headphones as they have damaged his hearing.
    For me it is difficult to choose a low enough volume to avoid fatigue with headphones.


    This is not a wise man, this is a man who is (in this case) wrong. ;)
    Simple rule: When using IEM you simply have to be careful not to turn up too loud to compensate for something described as oomph, moving air, 3-dimensionality (whatever).
    You will achieve excellent results when you make up a good monitor mix in your IEM's with a good balance of all instruments, and add a good portion of room.
    I'm always pleased with my IEM experience.

    Quote from Ingolf

    This is not a wise man, this is a man who is (in this case) wrong. ;)
    Simple rule: When using IEM you simply have to be careful not to turn up too loud to compensate for something described as oomph, moving air, 3-dimensionality (whatever).
    You will achieve excellent results when you make up a good monitor mix in your IEM's with a good balance of all instruments, and add a good portion of room.
    I'm always pleased with my IEM experience.


    Another little tip i learnt is to try and keep the top end quote low. this is the frequency that will kill your ears quite quickly.. When I first got my IEM's it took me a few gigs to work the volume down because i had been so used to it being so loud on stage. Would never want to do a gig without them now :)

    Don't know if this applies to you but here a go:


    When my Kemper sounded awesome yesterday or this morning, but then I'm playing and it's NOT awesome?


    I hit "global reset" and that usually sets it back right. I can't keep track of my global tweaks so this puts me back to square one easy.


    Hope your solution is as easy as this.

    Quote from Ingolf

    This is not a wise man, this is a man who is (in this case) wrong. ;)
    Simple rule: When using IEM you simply have to be careful not to turn up too loud to compensate for something described as oomph, moving air, 3-dimensionality (whatever).
    You will achieve excellent results when you make up a good monitor mix in your IEM's with a good balance of all instruments, and add a good portion of room.
    I'm always pleased with my IEM experience.


    Ok, maybe he used them in an unwise manner :)


    I agree, adding room is a good way to keep volume down.

    K, looks like this issue is all sorted -


    I did install the latest firmware, and try a global reset as recommended by db9091 - this combined with reducing the dist sens to between -8 to -10 globally has sorted the issue. Stomps like the Green Scream now react as I would expect. I think it must have been a case of the hotter SD pu's driving things further despite not clipping the input light. I still have plenty of gain on tap, more clarity and the harsh frequencies are much more tamed.


    Back to writing and enjoying music - priceless!


    -Tonerider