Inspired by the "Too much bass"-thread in the SUB-forum, I thought it'd be interesting to shed some light on the differences there most likely is between our individual experiences of hearing.
So - do you have a particular frequency range that most often annoys your ears?
Personally, I find 2-3 kHz (the "gak") most troublesome, both when mixing myself and especially when attending other concerts. I must have a lower threshold for pain in that range than some if not most sound engineers, because I very often find vocals and guitars painfully loud right about there, when not mixing the show myself. Also the 'beam of death' from most guitar amps is not a friend of mine.
But I have no problem at all with 4kHz, which is an area I often hear others complain about. I rarely find annoyances there, not in other people's shows nor sound sources hiding under my own faders.
At one theater gig I was setting up for, I was playing a few tones at, what I considered to be, very moderate levels. When around 800Hz a stage tech who was in the room commented on how painfully loud that was, while it was very far from annoying me, while he didn't seem too troubled with 2-3kHz.
Btw. my hearing checks out fine at the ear specialist.
What are your thoughts and experiences of this?