Hearing loss? I doubt it in that portion of the frequency spectrum.
What do I think is going on? It’s two-fold.
Number 1: Your headphones are doing exactly the opposite of what that EQ curve ColdRoomStudio posted - just like he said. And that makes sense. Headphones aren’t going to do a great job at 45hz, they’re going to inflate the low mid octaves to give you the sense of low end and weight they’re missing from the 45hz-ish region, they’re going to scoop the mids to make it sound more “smiley face,” and they’re going to cut a little “harsh” (or “up-front-ness”) to make things more soft sounding. That’s what I was hearing in the Ozzy song - more deep bass, less low mids, and more aggression-and-grab-you-by-the-ears up-front-ness. Lots of hyphens, I know.
Which headphones are you using?
I was going to suggest, if you’re using good headphones, to use crappy earbuds as a second set of “monitors.” They’ll do EVEN MORE of what your headphones are already doing and probably make you want to cut back on those low mids. If you’re using crappy earbuds or some random consumer headphones as your headphones now, then you might just have to wait it out or look for a different listening option. Which brings me to…
Number 2: You need to do something that radically changes how you hear this song. Brains start to accept something as “good” simply because they hear it a number of times. The easiest way to do that is to take some time away from this song. Seriously, take three days to a week and don’t listen to it. Work on something else. Listen to other music in your headphones. Then come back to your session, listen to the reference a few times then listen to your song directly afterwards and DO NOT STOP PLAYBACK…play it all the way through. You’ll hear the problems.
Another thing you can do to hear the problems is switch “monitors.” Use a different set of earbuds. Bounce the song to an MP3, throw that thing onto Google Drive, download it to your phone, and listen to it in your car.
Something that sometimes works for me is something as simple as just swapping the left and right channels of my playback system. I use a plugin to do it (there’s going to be something free out there to do exactly that task). it’s just enough of a shakeup to get my brain to listen differently. For example, I’ll be fine with a sharp keys lead in my left ear but, as soon as I swap the left and right channels, my right ear goes “Whoa! Too much!” Brains are dumb and adapt too quickly for this particular occupation.
Regarding you being a paralyzed midget trying to help someone move furniture: sometimes people so far up their own asses with the ability to carry a chair up the stairs don’t realize that the color of the chair won’t work anywhere on that floor and it should stay downstairs. Paralyzed midgets can see the chair and the room it’s supposed to go in, AND see that it’s not going to work. I’ll often find myself fighting with EQ or compression on a track when what I need to hear is “Dude, that part is awesome/bad. Turn it up/down.”
You’ll have a unique outlook and perspective on the songs posted in BTR. We’d love to hear it!
I need to be better about participating in BTR, too. I go in spurts. My life’s been crazy lately and hopefully I can start to be more consistent in my participation!
…and sorry for the long comments! I type WAY too much!
Didn’t read others yet.