Impaired hearing makes Doom sound better

[40oz]

A few days ago I went out to a tiny ass bar in South Philly to see my high school friend's band perform. The place was pretty crowded and the music was super loud, as you would expect from any crust punk venue. After the show my ears were ringing something fierce for about two days, and every sound I heard sounded like I was listening to it through a cell phone with really bad reception.

I'd given Doom a break for a few weeks so I could focus on other things, and I started playing it the day after that show. Apparently that's all the time one could need to question why one would ever stop playing this game for any reason at all. I was blasting through NT's and Xaser's No End In Sight wad, and being as I was home alone, I cranked up the volume to accomodate my temporary deafness. The distortion I was hearing from doom through my fuzzy ears really made Doom sound as violent as it's visual are. The blood curdling screams of zombie men and imps, the blast of the shotgun and it's reload sound, and the chaingun's leaden fury sounded especially ferocious! I don't know if that's saying something negative about Doom's soundfx if they sound better when you're deaf, but I was playing Doom today, still with the volume cranked up, after my hearing has recovered and it just doesn't sound quite as good.

Don't get me wrong, Doom's soundfx aren't bad, there was just something about hearing them loud and fuzzy that really made me feel more like I was in the game than hearing them now in their usual low frequency. At the moment I'm doing some google searches to see if there's a way to get my speakers to emulate that fuzzy over-amplified low-quality-youtube-video type sound. I got a whole bunch of fliers for other local shows this week, so if it doesn't work I can just blast my ear drums out for the rest of this month so Doom can sound as precious as I want it to. Yay Tinnitus!

[Vordakk]

Did anyone ever do a proper re-imagining of the monster sound effects for DOOM? It'd be cool to hear someone else's take on what a mancubus, Baron, or imp should sound like.

[40oz]

Perkristian made a high quality sound pack, using the actual uncompressed sounds that were used for Doom, so you can hear the sounds at a higher frequency on source ports that support it.

I did a recording of Doom and ran it through an equalizer to try and simulate what Doom sounded like to the best of my memory. Its close but it sounds a little quirky coming from my PC speakers.

http://jbserver.com/forums/attachments/8342_zzzface.zip

[Phml]

Yay Tinnitus!

Say that again when you're thirty and hear ringing in your ears every second of every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, every day for the rest of your life.

To be fair, if you already handled it for two days straight you probably wouldn't mind (although there are various sounds and stages of tinnitus, including "can't live, literally, without some freaky helmet on at all times"). I'm just bitter because *I* didn't go to loud concerts or anything equally silly. I miss silence. :P

It's funny you should post this. I liked Doom's audio better pre-tinnitus, as turning off music and hearing just the sound effects (and complete silence at times) it felt much more creepy to me.

[ReFracture]

When I saw Testament live back in February I had a similar experience.

But I wouldn't say I found even one part of it to be positive. It took nearly over a month for the ringing to stop and for things to feel normal again. The first few days were absolute agony, as I'm used to dead silence in my room. I feel for anybody who has to deal with this shit every waking moment of their life.

I will never, ever, willingly expose myself to loud noise again without proper hearing protection.

I always had the foresight to use hearing protection when shooting guns, I don't know why the fuck it didn't cross my mind when I was ordering tickets to see a heavy metal band live.

[Use]

AArgh the pain. Yes on occasion I've been to loud fucking concerts, I always regret not wearing ear protection. Take care of your ears!

[Technician]

Phml said:

Say that again when you're thirty and hear ringing in your ears every second of every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, every day for the rest of your life.

I've had it since I was twenty-two; I cannot sleep without my fan on.

Wear ear plugs, stupids!

[GreyGhost]

40oz said:

At the moment I'm doing some google searches to see if there's a way to get my speakers to emulate that fuzzy over-amplified low-quality-youtube-video type sound.

What you need is an effects amplifier that'll let you add a controlled level of distortion to the sound, much like a guitar distortion pedal.

Phml said:

Say that again when you're thirty and hear ringing in your ears every second of every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, every day for the rest of your life.

Thirded. The novelty value of tinnitus fades after a few decades.

[RestlessRodent]

Mike.Reiner said:I always had the foresight to use hearing protection when shooting guns, I don't know why the fuck it didn't cross my mind when I was ordering tickets to see a heavy metal band live. [/B]

Might be because some people say that loud music that you like doesn't hurt your ears while sounds you don't like to hear hurt your hearing. At least, that is the reason some people I know blast music and I tell them about hearing.

[StevieWolfe]

This song is a good reminder to keep ear plugs with me the next time I see a metal show.

[DoomUK]

Maybe I'm just getting old but I can't even see the appeal of playing music so loudly that it causes everyone's ears to ring for days afterwards anymore.

[printz]

Technician said:

I've had it since I was twenty-two; I cannot sleep without my fan on.

Good thing I live in the city, the cars provide enough fan noise for me :P

[Carnevil]

Wow, I didn't realize this was so common. I have it too (years of trumpets blasting in my ears in grade/high school) but I don't think it's nearly as bad as some of yours is. Usually it has to be really quiet, and then it's like "Oh, there is is." Usually I don't even notice it. I guess no more concerts for me - not that I typically go in the first place!

[Phobus]

I remember reading an article on tinnitus on BBC News recently. Made me glad that the 9-10 gigs I've been to in my life didn't result in a permenant ear-ringing!

Also made me rather glad the scars on the lenses of my eyes aren't particularly obtrusive (or even visible to me most of the time).


As for making the sounds correct - I'd imagine clipping the high range off of the sound effects and music would have the right effect? Surely the ringing must affect the higher range as it's a high-pitched sound itself.

[printz]

I'd rather go to concerts rarely enough not to destroy my ears, than cover them like a pussy. If I'm spending money to be there in the crowd, the music better be loud.

[RestlessRodent]

Sometimes I do get the occasional ringing, my ear would just start ringing at a certain tone, usually high pitched. Sounds kind of like you are getting a hearing test. But after the sound fades away the room sounds completely different.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Technician said:

I've had it since I was twenty-two; I cannot sleep without my fan on.

Good thing you're not Korean.

[Bloodshedder]

printz said:

I'd rather go to concerts rarely enough not to destroy my ears, than cover them like a pussy. If I'm spending money to be there in the crowd, the music better be loud.

It only takes a single exposure to cause permanent damage to your hearing, tough guy.

[Guest]

...and while we're at it, we could all poke ourselves in the eyes with sharp sticks, because this will totally make those pixellated Doom grafix look waaaaay better.

As someone with tinnitus, (though thankfully only slight), look after those ears. Others on this thread have said this already, so listen to 'em.

One of my good friends has got tinnitus bad enough that she has to have nature soundtracks (waterfalls, birds chirping, wind rustling etc etc) playing quietly in the background virtually all the time, or she gets brutal headaches and can't sleep and her balance goes totally to shit.

Now, I am all for enhancing my Dooming experience, but there are some hard limits right there.

[Vordakk]

Phml said:

I'm just bitter because *I* didn't go to loud concerts or anything equally silly. I miss silence. :P

That sucks man. If you don't mind my asking, how did you get tinnitus if it wasn't from concerts?

Technician said:

I cannot sleep without my fan on.

I use a fan as well, but for the opposite reason. I find that little bullshit squeaks and creaks in the night can wake me up since I'm a light sleeper, so the fan blocks them out.

[printz]

I don't get it... Doesn't the brain get used to the background noise -- in this case, tinnitus -- and stop noticing it?

[Phml]

That sucks man. If you don't mind my asking, how did you get tinnitus if it wasn't from concerts?

Work-related stress. I had to make an important phone call, spent the morning sitting on my ass not bringing myself to do it. The very night following that day, ringing in my ears. Never stopped since, symptoms only got worse until I learnt to accept it.

I don't get it... Doesn't the brain get used to the background noise -- in this case, tinnitus -- and stop noticing it?

That's one theory, and there's an entire therapy based around that, with nature sounds as Kyka mentioned. It hasn't quite worked out like that for me or anyone with severe tinnitus I've talked to. The issue is it's not always just one constant sound. For me, it's three different sounds in each ear, with various pitches, tones and even varying volumes based on the real ambient noise around me.

What happens is you either kill yourself or you live with it begrudgingly. Seems overly dramatic over mere sounds, but the way it's permanent, this constant thing nagging, nagging, nagging at you and no way to ever turn it off, even just for a second, it gets on your nerves. Well, maybe not everyone, but for some people it is hard to handle.

Throw in hyperacusis in there, which is very commonly associated with tinnitus, and it can severely cut into your social interactions as well. When the mere sound of human voices causes you physical pain, you start to avoid these situations.

I've had laser eye surgery with a two months recovery period, broke my hand, my arm, my legs multiple times, got once hit so hard in my celiac plexus I couldn't get out of bed and was hardly breathing for three days straight, and I'm sure many people have their own horror stories that could easily top off the worst I lived, but point being, given the choice I'd go through any of the worst things I've experienced or even all of it at once again if it meant my tinnitus would go away - *and* that's with me being at a stage where I can live with it.

[40oz]

KiiiYiiiKiiiA said:

...and while we're at it, we could all poke ourselves in the eyes with sharp sticks, because this will totally make those pixellated Doom grafix look waaaaay better.

Nah that would make it look all blurry and OpenGL-ly. eww.

Also I was just joking around with the Tinnitus thing. I'm sorry to hear about how terrible Tinnitus is. I'm surprised though, for how horrible it is (and how many of you have it), ya guys never said anything about it until now.

[Splatter]

Phml said:

I'd go through any of the worst things I've experienced or even all of it at once again if it meant my tinnitus would go away

Me too, brother.

If you're reading this thread and don't already own any, BUY SOME EARPLUGS. It's only a couple of bucks for a pack of the foam kind at Walgreens or Rite Aid or wherever; keep a couple on you or within easy access. If you're being exposed to loud noise, the best things to do are terminate it or get away, but if you can't, ear plugs will at least cut down 30 decibels or so along the mid-frequency range. Whatever you do, don't grin and bear it like a dumbass. "Precious" Doom sounds or feeling like you have a big dick at a concert aren't nearly worth a noise that never stops.

[Technician]

What pisses me off is my hearing checks out as normal. I've had a CT scan and blood work done to try and explain it, but to no avail. I'd pay good money to fix my tinnitus, but for now, we have to stick with it. It looks promising for the future with stem cell treatment. We just need to wait for the government, FDA, and general populace to get their collective heads out of their asses.

I've worn earplugs to every concert and excessively loud activity, but it can still catch up. Seriously, where ear plugs. I just got back from a Steppenwolf concert with no excessive ringing thanks to my friend foam ear plug.

40oz said:

I'm surprised though, for how horrible it is (and how many of you have it), ya guys never said anything about it until now.

We're very elitist.

Vordakk said:

I use a fan as well, but for the opposite reason. I find that little bullshit squeaks and creaks in the night can wake me up since I'm a light sleeper, so the fan blocks them out.

You play and have toured with a metal band, you use protection or just lucky so far?

[45th Parrallel]

I think I might have tinnitus, because when it is really quiet I can hear ringing in my ears and the worst thing is i'm 14 years old

[Technician]

sgt dopey said:

I think I might have tinnitus, because when it is really quiet I can hear ringing in my ears and the worst thing is i'm 14 years old

You can nip it in the bud while it's not noticeable. Protect your ears from loud noises and you'll be fine.

This includes ear-buds!

[Guest]

40oz said:

Nah that would make it look all blurry and OpenGL-ly. eww.

Also I was just joking around with the Tinnitus thing. I'm sorry to hear about how terrible Tinnitus is.

You actually put it better than I did. I was thinking blurry vision would make the grafix on Doom look all Open GL. Heh. And yeah, I was just being dumb anyways. Hearing and eyesight are so precious. I am all for loud concerts, sometimes the atmosphere is just amazing, and something that is virtually impossible to replicate anywhere else, but it is still worth wearing ear plugs just to take the harsh edge off some of those frequencies. Because tinnitus doesn't go away.

phml, (and anyone else with tinnitus) bro, my condolences. I have tinnitus, but as I said, only slight, and it affects me only on those occasions when there is silence and even then the effect is only annoying, rather than "Oh God kill me now" level of bad. Especially since you had it come on so suddenly, with no warning whatsoever. That's pretty harsh.

40oz said:

I'm surprised though, for how horrible it is (and how many of you have it), ya guys never said anything about it until now.

The more time goes on, the more I am amazed at the level of grief and pain that so many people endure, and most of the time, this stuff never shows up on the surface, until you get closer to them and you finally get to see it. Fuck, most of us are masters of disguise. Don't misunderstand, I am not saying we are being fake, quite the opposite. It takes a lot of character, I think, to carry your own pain without turning into someone who is a total burden on other people.

For what it is worth, my respect to you guys for silently carrying this stuff, and for sharing in a way that is appropriate and encouraging.

sgt dopey said:

I think I might have tinnitus, because when it is really quiet I can hear ringing in my ears and the worst thing is i'm 14 years old

Some specialists argue that the earliest stages of tinnitus can actually heal, given time and rest, but even then, most agree that anything beyond these earliest of stages is pretty much permanent. Opinions differ about this though. Perhaps it is even different for different people. Some can heal, others may not. Finding the root cause is usually the hardest part, as there seem to be so many different causes. But whatever the case, looking after your hearing is the only possible measure, really. 14 is so young to get tinnitus. The younger you are, the better things can often heal, so I hope it does heal up for you.

Also, avoid in-ear headphones if you can, even at low volumes, as the 'seal' they create in your ear canal can create stress due to it being much harder to equalise pressure on both sides of the eardrum.

Some basic information here

[RestlessRodent]

sgt dopey said:

I think I might have tinnitus, because when it is really quiet I can hear ringing in my ears and the worst thing is i'm 14 years old

When it is really quiet I hear a faint ringing tone also. Also, I hear a droning sound which is the sound of my blood vessels pumping blood. But the ringing is noticable.

[printz]

If it's faint and kinda pleasant, I don't think it qualifies as real tinnitus, especially the kind Phml described. Interesting that if I listen to even a bit of tinnitus audio samples from the net, my ears will suffer from that high-pitched screech, so I can imagine. The ear ringing I got after rock concerts (some of them lasting three near-full days) was constant and easy to get used to (more bothersome was the hearing quality loss), not varied and obnoxious as described, so I clearly don't understand what's the real deal, and am lucky.

Is tinnitus joined with lowered hearing sense?