Hearing Different Pitches

[Pablo]

Hi,
As crazy as it sounds, I was amazed yesterday noticing that I hear different pitches for the same sound depending which ear I'm using (My AN ear hearing loss is about 30dB) . i.e. Dial tone in my country is in A4 tone (440 Hz). When I hear the dial tone with my healthy ear, it sounds the way it should be, but if I hear it only with my AN ear, then I hear it in a semitone lower in pitch.
I was always under the impression that hearing loss is associated with perceived  loudness and if the hearing loss is pitch dependant, then I may hear the sound with different timbre characteristics but not at different pitch  .
Has anyone experienced the same thing and knows why? I'm a musician and this is not actually helping me at all 
Thanks   

[tony]

Yes AN type hearing loss is not just absolute in terms of vol level
- descrimination one sound to another, distortion/clarity levels are
also affected - one reason why (only) simple tone audio tests are so unreliable
for this condition.
For example I now hear better (except, directionality) with one goodish ear
than I did 18mths ago with one goodish and one bad - the distortion of the one bad
masked the useful performance of the good.
I find AM speach almost impossible to understand - but the FM version is fine.
Finally on a technical point, all sound has its own pattern - with a harmonic version of itself
at a 10th/20th (?)  of the vol level of the orginal sound
I suspect your good ear can hear the additional harmonics - the bad one cant.
Best regards
Tony

[teasely]

Hi Pablo.  I experienced the same thing right after Cyberknife treatments 3 months ago.  Luckily, it seemed to be a side effect of the treatment and went away after about a week.  It reappeared for a day or two some time after, but since then all is well.  The technical term for this is diplacusis, although there doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there on this condition (compared to hyperacusis, or extreme sensitivity to sounds, which has its own internet support group). 

My understanding is that people have natural differences in pitch perception in both ears, but after a certain threshold level of difference is crossed, it becomes noticable.  As a musician, you are doubtless more sensitive than most.  For me (non-musician) strings and piano gave me the most trouble.  Human voices were not affected at all.

I sincerely hope that after your treatment, you will see this phenomenon diminish!

[Pablo]

Thanks to both for the very useful information. I could have never guessed that. I'm planning for a FSR treatment soon after dozens of hours spent in references, research, statistics, doctors and everything you all probably are familiar with. I decided this type of treatment primarily because I want the chance to keep my useful hearing, I play, compose and record music myself, and even if I don't make a living out of it I still feel it as a part of who I am since I was a kid.
Thanks again for the useful feedback. Now I know that I'm not hallucinating.

[Pablo]

 I just found  a good article about this condition in case someone is wondering the same.
Regards

http://www.mmk.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de/persons/ter/top/diplacus.html

[Crazycat]

Hi Pablo!

        My name is Paul and I'm a musician as well. Have you had surgery yet? My left ear is 100% deaf with loud tinnitus. Still playing though!
It seems to me that hearing loss effects different areas of the frequency bandwidth; therefore, frequencies that are noticable in one ear, do not exist for the other ear. What a horrible situation to be in for anyone, nevermind a musician!! I protect my good ear with an earplug. I can still hear everthing going on that I have to.
       I remember, years ago, before my A.N. diagnosis, I was at my girlfriend's house. She lived by a lake. One night we were sitting outside and she exclaimed, "Wow, that was a big fish!" reacting to a huge fish that jumped out of the water and splashed back in somewhere on the lake. I said, "What fish?" not having heard anything. Those frequencies are gone for me. The same thing happened early one morning in the spring or summer. The windows were open and the birds were in full chorus. She commented on it. I, on the other hand, coudn't hear a damned thing until I got up, walked to a window and stuck my head outside. I used to be able to hear a small clock ticking on the opposite side of a huge room. Those days are gone for me............


                Paul

[Pablo]

Hi Paul,
What you are telling is so familiar to me. I'm scheduled to start FSR treatment very soon. I have a 2.5cm x 3.3cm AN in my right ear, and I discovered it after two sudden deaf episodes (separated by 11 years!!) waking up in the morning not hearing almost anything. The second time it happenes to me I cut all the cold and congestion craps given by most of the stupid doctors around and ask for an MRI. I guess 12 years ago my AN was already there and nobody sent me over for tests (other than audiometry and just indicating there was a problem with the audtive nerve).

Anyways, my current hearing (with also tinnitus)  is about 30dB in the frequency range of 4 KHz through 7KHz (Below that it falls within the 20db acceptable band) and of course the high frequencies around 14 KHz about 40 dB . Since I compose, record, mix and master my own projects it has been a challenge however I learned to compensate for those frequencies based on how reference commercial CDs sound in the right channel.

I get also very upset not hearing the tick of the clock in bed if I lay on the side and hearing it so loud with the healthy ear) like you, but I know that my condition for the moment is relatively good. I decided for FSR since I didn't want to lose all my usable hearing and also because I'm frightened to death about facial paralysis. I'm willing to take the chance with the treatment and hope for the best. I have spoken with a orchestra director that had an FSR for a 3.5 cm AN and the treatment succeeded pretty good. He indicated that not only the tumor has shrinked but also his hearing has been improving the last three years by about 10 dB which is very encouraging.
I will never leave music alone and I also hope you don't ever quit on it, it's one of the things I mostly appreciate life for.
I hope the best for you in the future.
Pablo