Fresh ears

From DNBWiki

Haha, the idea of 'Fresh Ears' relates to the problem of hearing fatigue. Long sessions of listening to sound cause the ears to become 'tired' and unable to process sound information objectively.

In application, a higher quality. more objective mixdown can be acheived by resting (sleep is the best method) before approaching the track again.

As well as the physical aspect, hearing fatigue also occurs on a psychological level, where ones brain becomes accustomed to something sticking out of the mix and gradually ignores it.