Obviously this can be highly subjective. The fundamental problem with high frequencies is that they are extremely piercing and unpleasant when loud.jancivil wrote:I don't know what this aversion to highs is around here, I've seen it before but I don't have it.
A loud bass sounds loud, a loud high pitched whine can be painful.
Headphones and particularly earbuds can make the highs a lot more pronounced too. Stuff that sounds fine on my speakers is painful to listen to on earbuds. It's the nature of the beast.
Then there's the fact that we all hear differently. And the older you are, the less you're going to hear these annoying frequencies. I've heard very annoying and painful high frequency stuff in mixes done by someone ~15 years older than me, and it's obvious that he can't hear that stuff any more. He boosts the highs, so he can hear them, and then it's way too super-loud for everyone else.
On my speakers, the high frequencies sound piercing, but intentionally so in your track. But I would be wary of listening to it on my $10 earbuds based on prior experience. To me, you were still within the acceptable boundaries, but the sound is definitely edgy. I think it works well in the context of the piece here.
