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I am having a problem and hoping someone here can help...


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I have had a low grade case of tinnitus for a while now, I know why and if you think it's important, I'll share. It isn't loud rock concerts though. Recently, due to some unhappy circumstances, I have had the funds to do a pretty serious system upgrade, and at the same time have switched to headphones for the time being as my primary means of listening to and enjoying music when I want to listen to it, not have it as background music. So what's the problem? My new, amazing, and ridiculously expensive headphone system aggravates my Tinnitus to the point of being extremely irritating and preventing me from listening.

 

Nothing has changed recently that would cause this, so either the culprit is some new health problem that I yet to see any other symptoms for, wax build up in my left ear, which has been a problem in the past, or the new headphone system... If I turn the music off, the ringing will eventually calm down.

No electron left behind.

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2 minutes ago, GregWormald said:

My tinnitus is also elevated by headphone listening--so I rarely do it any more. Digital sources also seem to elevate it more than analog.

 

I have had some relief by using a technique found online--finger whacking on the bottom of the skull. (Sorry, can't remember what it's called. A youtube search should find something, there are lots of treatment videos.)

 

 

I am a bit hesitant to google "finger whacking". Ha.  I'll give it a look, thanks Man. I wish I could go to a Dr and let them check for wax build up, but I just don't think that's it.

No electron left behind.

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43 minutes ago, bobflood said:

Sounds like something from a SNL skit. :)

 

Seriously, Headphone listening can be very dangerous from a hearing loss point of view. I rarely use mine anymore. The tendency is to listen at too high a level for way too long. The proximity to the eardrum makes any high frequency transients potentially damaging. If you are getting tinnitus after headphone listening, your body is trying to tell you something (like please stop). 

 

I normally listen at -50 to -60db, it really doesn't seem too loud at all. However, if I have to I will go back to speaker listening and say goodbye to my wonderful headphone system...

 

In fact, in the lower right you can see my volume setting in Roon/HQPlayer

-55db

Screen Shot 2020-05-15 at 11.08.31 PM.png

No electron left behind.

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28 minutes ago, bobflood said:

Lay off the headphones until it stops! You could be risking permanent hearing loss. Consider taking a magnesium supplement daily. I have taken one for years and it slowly has gotten rid of the high pitch ringing I used to have. Also, I had to be on an IV antibiotic for three months several years ago for a severe staph infection and my doctor said then that the ringing could have been related to that treatment. Have you been on one for anything? Some antibiotics but not others may cause it. Please see a specialist if it worsens. I don't mean to sound draconian but this is serious stuff.

 

yeah, there is no headphone listening at the moment... That makes me very sad.

 

My friend was able to get me in to see an ENT this coming week, so we'll get to the bottom of this. There has been zero trauma, zero medication changes, nothing at all that would have precipitated this. Which is exactly why I had a small hope it was just wax build up, as that was a problem in the past.

No electron left behind.

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1 hour ago, davide256 said:

I've had tinnitus for several years. Two things aggravate it

 

1) fatigue, either from a long day or 6 hr plus listening session

2) high frequency  distortion products. 

 

volume levels have never been a cause, but bright/distorting headphones are.  The least fatiguing (aggravating) good headphone I've ever listened to

are the Mr Speakers Ether Flow, light on the head, crystalline clear in the highs and neutral in sound signature.

 

 

 

I have Susvara headphones, and a very high quality SET amp. Bright and distorting is not what I would call either of them. Both are incredibly clear at all frequencies.

 

I also take breaks in-between albums to do other things, get water, decide what to listen to next, etc...

No electron left behind.

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Just now, bobflood said:

Of course. I just wish that more people would measure actual SPL because there is so much potential for permanent hearing loss with headphones. And, don't get me started on IEMs! Both put high frequency energy so very close to the eardrum. I got religion about this after reading some medical literature about people who suffered permanent hearing loss and/or tinnitus after just one exposure to high energy high frequency sound via headphones. One was an Air Traffic Controller who got a blast when a piece of equipment malfunctioned and she became virtually deaf in that ear and had tinnitus as well. We all tend to think that it is long term exposure to high SPL (the Rock Concert effect) that will degrade our hearing but even one time can do it. This hobby is not much fun if you are partially deaf.

 

Do you have a recommendation of SPL meters?

No electron left behind.

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Do you think its possible that the new Headphones, Amp, and DAC are capable of producing higher frequencies than my previous system was capable of, and that it is that which is causing the tinnitus to flare up? I am trying to figure out the mechanism here that caused the tinnitus to act up without any other changes that I am aware of other than a new listening set up. And even that didn't happen immediately, it took perhaps a month to aggravate.

No electron left behind.

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4 hours ago, 4est said:

This might sound crazy, but I had a HDD on an iMac on my desk that induced tinnitus. It was barely audible, and the tinnitus subsided after replacing the drive. I am not suggesting that that is what is happening here, but in that there may be other factors at play.

 

Interesting... I do have external spinning drives here on my desk...  I should start looking farther and wider for the culprit.

I really am not keen on getting rid of this equipment.

No electron left behind.

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17 minutes ago, bobflood said:

I remember that you said that you were a battlefield doc. If you were exposed to extremely load noise from say nearby gunfire and/or concussive energy from an explosion, then remember to tell the ENT that. I have read that sometimes these incidents can cause problems later in life. And, Thank You for Your Service.

 

Please let us know what the outcome of your visit is to the extent that you are comfortable.

 

Yep, that's what caused the initial tinnitus that I have been dealing with ever since. What led to the sudden massive increase though, I have no idea. I have some guesses, but right now I don't know for sure.

 

I appreciate the sentiment of thanking me, but I really don't need it and don't really feel comfortable accepting it.

No electron left behind.

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3 minutes ago, bobbmd said:

I wasn’t being a jokester if you  are on steroids then the anti-inflamatory effects of thc/cbd  might be be beneficial and safer BUT I do hope this getting better best wishes as always BTW- I am seeing my first patients since March 9th-these specialists are just itching to restart elective procedures especially ophthalmologists and orthos 

 

have to make the payments on the Porsche somehow... 😉

 

No electron left behind.

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