Stereo Tool :: Fatiguing sound / ear ache

Interesting. There are many factors to sound that could cause fatigue. From compression ratios/speeds, to the amount of punch, to bass distribution, etc.

For me, I find too much sub-bass gives me a specific type of headache. If this is the cause, try messing with True Bass or the Sub Bass Synthesis slider on the main page to reduce the effect.

Also, is Natural Dynamics on? This is an expander that causes extra punch that doesn't always feel great, depending on the settings.

I'm the person who posted about this last year; I've never figured out a solution. The nearest I can tell is that it MIGHT have to do with the flat band tops, since, if you turn them off you see a curve that's similar to what I think I hear across the board - bumped up lows and very top end. I've tried turning these off and manually redoing the EQ, but then nothing ever really sounds great on the top end.

I had my hearing checked several years ago and while I have strong ability left (I'm in my 50s) on the top end, my middle range has an enormous hole in it around 2k I didn't realize I had. I've wondered if this is ultimately why StereoTool is very fatiguing to me, it's irritating the place in my spectrum that isn't there, or is deficient. My wife, a Berklee grad, can't hear the problems nor apparently can most of the users of the software. So why do a few of us find it painful and we're not able to find ANY settings that work for us? I've been trying for at least two years!

I've made some progress since my post last year.

I've found the hearing discomfort (the sense of a pressure on the ear) is more noticeable on laptop speakers rather than full range hi-fi speakers. I had assumed the problem was too much low end bass, but you obviously can't hear that on laptop speakers.

I have found, that turning off the peak limiter removes the problem. You then get level trying to go above 0dBFS so I need to work out how not to push that limiter so hard.
There doesn't seem to be a way of adjusting how hard that final limiter is pushed.

Although I haven't solved it completely, it does seem to come from pushing everything too hard, especially that final limiter.

Author:	AMFMAllthatjazz [ Wed Sep 25, 2024 6:13 pm ]
Post subject:	Fatiguing sound / ear ache
I'm looking for some help please. I'm using v10.30 of Stereo Tool on Linux and on various presets there's something in it that hurts my ears. I've made a preset (a modified version of Eleven Heaven Encore) which I like the sound of, but it feels like there's pressure on my ears and they are left ringing afterwards. I'm not listening at a loud volume but at normal radio listening volume. Even with Bojcha's excellent StudioONE preset I hear the issue. I'm sure people are using this preset in the real world without this issue, so what am I doing wrong? Anyone know of a stream using StudioONE I can listen to? I'm listening normally on floor standing hi-fi speakers but I've also heard it in the car when testing there. I've tried a different soundcard to rule that out. I've tried adjusting the CPU settings with some improvement, but it's still an issue and no way I could use it on air. Any thoughts please?

Author:	MrKlorox [ Thu Sep 26, 2024 1:09 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
Interesting. There are many factors to sound that could cause fatigue. From compression ratios/speeds, to the amount of punch, to bass distribution, etc. For me, I find too much sub-bass gives me a specific type of headache. If this is the cause, try messing with True Bass or the Sub Bass Synthesis slider on the main page to reduce the effect. Also, is Natural Dynamics on? This is an expander that causes extra punch that doesn't always feel great, depending on the settings.

Author:	AMFMAllthatjazz [ Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
Quote: Interesting. There are many factors to sound that could cause fatigue. From compression ratios/speeds, to the amount of punch, to bass distribution, etc. For me, I find too much sub-bass gives me a specific type of headache. If this is the cause, try messing with True Bass or the Sub Bass Synthesis slider on the main page to reduce the effect. Also, is Natural Dynamics on? This is an expander that causes extra punch that doesn't always feel great, depending on the settings. Thanks for the reply. It seems to be an issue with multiple presets. Yesterday, after posting here, I downloaded the preset in this thread https://forums.stereotool.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34540 which is light on bass, but still has the issue. I see someone started a thread in March this year describing exactly the same issue. You were helping them too. I wonder if they found a solution? I am using the Linux version where I suspect 99% of users are using Windows. Maybe I should compare in case something is wrong in the Linux version.

Author:	Bojcha [ Thu Sep 26, 2024 6:24 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
Did you check FM calibration? Might be not preset. In those your files i hear bad phase, especially on bass, masking everything else, wich me personally is not fan. But if you think it's to the preset, then try QuadBender (it's in BuiltIn), wich is most open preset with minimal compression. It's easy to adjust too, if needed.

Author:	typecrazy789 [ Thu Feb 06, 2025 2:32 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
I'm the person who posted about this last year; I've never figured out a solution. The nearest I can tell is that it MIGHT have to do with the flat band tops, since, if you turn them off you see a curve that's similar to what I think I hear across the board - bumped up lows and very top end. I've tried turning these off and manually redoing the EQ, but then nothing ever really sounds great on the top end. I had my hearing checked several years ago and while I have strong ability left (I'm in my 50s) on the top end, my middle range has an enormous hole in it around 2k I didn't realize I had. I've wondered if this is ultimately why StereoTool is very fatiguing to me, it's irritating the place in my spectrum that isn't there, or is deficient. My wife, a Berklee grad, can't hear the problems nor apparently can most of the users of the software. So why do a few of us find it painful and we're not able to find ANY settings that work for us? I've been trying for at least two years!

Stereo Tool https://www.forums.stereotool.com/

Fatiguing sound / ear ache https://www.forums.stereotool.com/viewtopic.php?t=34571	Page 1 of 1

Author:	Bojcha [ Thu Feb 06, 2025 6:01 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
Quote: I'm the person who posted about this last year; I've never figured out a solution. The nearest I can tell is that it MIGHT have to do with the flat band tops, since, if you turn them off you see a curve that's similar to what I think I hear across the board - bumped up lows and very top end. I've tried turning these off and manually redoing the EQ, but then nothing ever really sounds great on the top end. I had my hearing checked several years ago and while I have strong ability left (I'm in my 50s) on the top end, my middle range has an enormous hole in it around 2k I didn't realize I had. I've wondered if this is ultimately why StereoTool is very fatiguing to me, it's irritating the place in my spectrum that isn't there, or is deficient. My wife, a Berklee grad, can't hear the problems nor apparently can most of the users of the software. So why do a few of us find it painful and we're not able to find ANY settings that work for us? I've been trying for at least two years! First, proper settings cannot take into account peoples hearing ability. It needs to follow some basic spectrum rules with some tricks here and there. But, if you know where are "holes" in your hearing then just bump those freqs to compesate. I recommend to do that from pEQ.

Author:	AMFMAllthatjazz [ Wed Feb 12, 2025 5:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
I've made some progress since my post last year. I've found the hearing discomfort (the sense of a pressure on the ear) is more noticeable on laptop speakers rather than full range hi-fi speakers. I had assumed the problem was too much low end bass, but you obviously can't hear that on laptop speakers. I have found, that turning off the peak limiter removes the problem. You then get level trying to go above 0dBFS so I need to work out how not to push that limiter so hard. There doesn't seem to be a way of adjusting how hard that final limiter is pushed. Although I haven't solved it completely, it does seem to come from pushing everything too hard, especially that final limiter.

Author:	mkpetrov [ Thu Feb 13, 2025 8:02 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
Quote: I've made some progress since my post last year. I've found the hearing discomfort (the sense of a pressure on the ear) is more noticeable on laptop speakers rather than full range hi-fi speakers. I had assumed the problem was too much low end bass, but you obviously can't hear that on laptop speakers. I have found, that turning off the peak limiter removes the problem. You then get level trying to go above 0dBFS so I need to work out how not to push that limiter so hard. There doesn't seem to be a way of adjusting how hard that final limiter is pushed. Although I haven't solved it completely, it does seem to come from pushing everything too hard, especially that final limiter. Yea I've noticed most presets are are far too loud and advanced clipper (And even bass clipper in some of them, giving bass tones completely unnatural sounding) removes too much. I am not an expert and may be wrong, but i think in a well made preset the peak remover basically shouldn't do anything, the bass clipper shouldn't be used and the advanced clipper should only be fixing minor peaks here and there.

Author:	AMFMAllthatjazz [ Mon Feb 17, 2025 6:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Fatiguing sound / ear ache
I thought i'd share my preset in the hope others will hear what is wrong. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xcAUNM ... sp=sharing I'm using v10-30. I hear the problem on lots of built in presets, but this the sound I like so it be great to work out what causes the ear discomfort. Thanks all.

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