Tinnitus sufferer: is it the speakers or the 24bits/192kHz


I have tinitus and have had it for 30+ years.  There is no cure and I know the best way to handle it is to ignore it.  But lately my tinnitus has been going off the scale.  The "lately" seems to have coincided with streaming Qobuz Hi-Res and listening on a PS Audio DirectStream DAC and pulling my Magnepan 1.6 out of storage.  Now I have been known to play too loud on "A" song- but by and large the volume is down to where I could easily speak to somone in the room.

I have thought about maybe changing to to Harbeth, Dyn, Sonus Faber or other speakers more focused on midrange.  But have also wondered if it is the high quality of sound that I am listening to that is perhaps stimulating my very high pitch ringing?

So, any fellow tinnitus folks out there with an opinion on this? 
mocktender

Showing 1 response by christian

I've had mild tinnitus since birth, but fortunate enough that it really hasn't bothered me in the fifty years I've had it.  I have similar experience as keithr in that metal tweets really bothered me in my 20s - before I really knew what was going on.

Now that I've come to know the nature of this ringing between my ears, I agree with most everything posted.  I've experienced that listening at moderate levels at the frequencies where my tinnitus is sensitive actually helps.  I've also found I can sense the tinnitus more easily when I'm in an extremely quiet environment; otherwise, my brain just blocks it out.  However, I think there's a problem if you "overstimulate" that frequency area (liken it to people without tinnitus experience ringing in their ears after an extremely loud transient sonic event).

I'm actually thinking of moving over to speakers that emphasize the treble region (currently on a pair of Dunlavy SC-III.As which I am loathe to move from - love the sound), since as my hearing ages - I'm losing treble sensitivity, and couple that with the ringing - I feel I'm missing more and more detail in the upper registers...