Fit your mix to your ears

If you've already put in years at the console and suspect that your hearing is not what it once
was, you may be overcompensating in your mix by adding too much high frequency boost, or too
much overall level. It is even conceivable that a volume level that sounds "loud but comfortable"
to you is actually "painfully loud and shriekingly bright" to your audience.

Ear Q allows you to determine whether your frequency-dependent perception of loudness is
similar to the general population, so that you can make accurate mixing decisions. Using
algorithms derived from Etymotic Research's FIG6 formulas, Ear Q quickly and easily gives
you your own Graphic EQ settings for your ears at several listening levels--"soft" (65 dB--
which may not be correctable with EQ only); "comfortable" (80 dB) and "loud but
comfortable" (95 dB).

"WHOA! That's better!" Each of these EQ settings is an averaged approximation of "what other
people hear." Having this information gives you the option of intelligently compensating in your
own studio for your own ears. Plus, Ear Q does not automatically impose any of these sonic
adjustments on you. It's your choice whether or not to implement this equalization in your
playback system. Finally, the suggested EQ settings are intended to be high-Q, broadband
adjustment of tonal balance.

We need to caution you about this strategy, however: this technique does have its limits. It turns
out that if you excessively amplify frequencies that you don't hear so well, the likely result is
going to be some distortion due to overloading of the inner ear. This is particularly true of the
high frequencies. In addition, if you have already EQ'd your system for your room, introducing
another set of compensation values might have an unpredictable outcome--like overdriving your
power amp, for example. So once again, we have to warn you that there really is only so much
correction you can make, if you badly damage your hearing!