Ear fatigue using monitors

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sl33py

Member
Hi All.

Using my Eris E8 monitors, I've found that the amp models only hit their stride to my ears and show unique characteristics when the volume causes ear fatigue after only 5-10 minutes of playing (around 80dB measured on a phone app).

If I turn it down to a comfortable level, everything's flat and sounds a bit the same. My E8's are in a near-field configuration cos that's all I have room for. I've played plenty of real amps in the room (at similar volumes when measured) and never had this problem.

My question is: might I be better off with an SS power amp/FRFR cab setup (eg. Matrix FR12) that I can sit in the room but not facing my head directly?
 
You should be able to get good tones at lower volume. If you brain requires more volume to think it sounds good you may want to go to a guitar cab or reduce the high freqs from the tone coming out of the full range monitors..
 
I too have the Eris E8 as my main monitors at my desk. I keep a SPL meter handy when setting up scene volumes.
They do sound better to me above 80 db.
I was going through some settings just the other day and had this real nice hi gain lead tone going.
It was at about 100db. It sounded great. No I don't play that loud for very long.
Just want to get past the FM affect.
All in all, I find they sound better a little louder. I don't experience ear fatigue.
I do EQ in the cab block Lo cut 110 HZ and hi cut 4600 HZ, and amp block speaker page Hi Resonance 6.0.
It took me a long time to hone in on these setting and they work great for me using factory cab F048.
Along with the CA Triptik Mdrn amp.

I had a powered 2 way monitor in my music room like you mention above, but I really like the stereo effect of the Eris E8's better than the monitor on the floor. I also use IEM live and to check patches at home.

I like to listen to the speakers straight on, to hear what is going on.
 
80db shouldn't call fatigue after just 5-10 minutes. It's a relatively loud but safe output level for a full day of listening. If it's sounding harsh then it's likely your patch and it's simply revealing those high frequencies. Try high cut to about 7500hz in the cab block and see if it sounds smoother yet still clear. Normal guitar cab rolls off a lot of highs which a studio monitor reproduces.

Remember studio monitors aren't supposed to sound pleasing, just accurate. Good mixes and tones sound great, but poor ones sound poor as the monitor doesn't hide or smooth over anything.
 
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Hi, thanks I've already got a high cut at 7500Hz in all can blocks though.

I reduced the 1khz region by a dB or so in my monitors which has helped a little bit, but it just seems to me that these monitors really need a loud-ish signal going into them to really wake up, otherwise they are dull and boring sounding. The problem with reducing the frequencies that give me grief in the patch is that it completely changed the sound (for the worse) and they don't sound like the amp in question any more.

Should I look at smaller or more sensitive monitors? Or a more cab-like setup (matrix etc) that won't face me directly?
 
There's something in your upper mids or low treble that's grating on your ears.

Dial in your tones at 80 dB. Mess with the Amp block's tone controls (and graphic EQ if you need to) until it isn't fatiguing anymore.
 
sl33py said:
Hi, thanks I've already got a high cut at 7500Hz in all can blocks though.

I reduced the 1khz region by a dB or so in my monitors which has helped a little bit, but it just seems to me that these monitors really need a loud-ish signal going into them to really wake up, otherwise they are dull and boring sounding. The problem with reducing the frequencies that give me grief in the patch is that it completely changed the sound (for the worse) and they don't sound like the amp in question any more.

Should I look at smaller or more sensitive monitors? Or a more cab-like setup (matrix etc) that won't face me directly?
Click to expand...

Go higher with your notch, around 3K vs. 1K. 1K is in the heart of the guitar midrange. 3K is more in the "harsh" range.
 
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The Mid control on my monitors is 1kHz and the Hi control is 4.5kHz. To control 3kHz explicitly should go per patch, or use the Axe's global EQ? As this weird volume effect is for all my patches
 
sl33py said:
The Mid control on my monitors is 1kHz and the Hi control is 4.5kHz. To control 3kHz explicitly should go per patch, or use the Axe's global EQ? As this weird volume effect is for all my patches
Click to expand...
Go global. It'll save you a lot of work, and it won't affect your FOH signal.
 
Don't cut 1000 Hz, that is going to make the highs feel even harsher. And again, remember good monitors aren't supposed to be dull and boring, but neither are they supposed to sound exciting. They aren't trying to flatter you signal at all, just accurately reproduce what goes into them. Give them a harsh sounding patch, they should make it sound that way. Guitar speakers often don't since they overly color the sound, roll off a ton of highs etc. Might sound "good" but its not accurate.

Also realize your hearing sensativity across the frequency range isn't linear. As the volume level increases so does your awareness of different frequencies, so things can sound different at high and low volume levels. A good clinical audiometer is actually calibrated for this minimum curve of auditory perception so the response is equal across the range, but in reality, we can hear a tone at 2000 Hz at a lower level than we can at 500 Hz, and if you turn something up to where its past your threshold at 500 Hz, its going to sound louder to you at 2000 Hz, so on and so forth.

Again, I don't think there is anything wrong with your monitors, provided you use them as reference monitors, not listening for enjoyment type speakers that are supposed to sound "good". Garbage in, garbage out concept applies here, so if they sound bad, it means you need to adjust your patches more because its what they really sound like.

You don't want your playback system to do that, because maybe you think it sound great, as you hear it, but then you send me that track, and I play it through my accurate monitor system, and I'm going to think it sounds harsh, which you don't want.

You want the patches dialed in so that if they sound good to you, on your accurate system, they will also sound good essentially anywhere, and to anyone, else
 
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