2. speakers
  3. 165237-156677

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
diamonddupree's avatar
diamonddupree
75 posts
 
I also have tinnitus for over 30 years. A few things. Do you use an SPL gauge when you listen to music? You can download a free one in an app store. When I first used one, I was surprised at how loud my normal listening level was. 

I have a pair of Audeze planar headphones and I find I can only listen to them for so long and at relatively low levels. 

Have you had Covid? A lot of people experience various forms of inflammation due to Covid. I personally had something called Covid Toes and it coincided with very heightened levels of tinnitus. It took weeks to come back down to normal.
mike_in_nc
1,125 posts
 
Sometimes, mine is aggravated if there is too much high treble, above 8 kHz or so. Try turning down the tweeter of the Maggies & see if that helps.
roberthz
7 posts
 
I have tinnitus and hyperacusis. These are different and many people don't know the difference.
In the real world, things like loud restaurants murder my ears.
I've found with sound systems, SPL is not the problem for me. Rather, rooms, headphones, or components with noise, distortion, or ringing trigger my symptoms within seconds. However I can listen in a well treated room to a 2.1 or HT setup at full volume for hours without issue.
birdfan's avatar
birdfan
162 posts
 
Hey Mocktender

i too have significant tinnitus and multiple speakers. I’ve found that my Maggie’s give me the fewest issues and my high efficiency speakers can trigger more problems. I agree with getting some tubes in the equation 
gbartolo's avatar
gbartolo
7 posts
 
My tinnitus bugs me every time I listen to my system. I sold my Maggie’s and purchased some PMC twenty 23’s which have soft domes. I try to listen at low volumes to not cause issues. But no go I limit my listening sessions as well. Maybe buy a pair of Harbeth’s maybe Sonus Fabers? Might sell it all and call it a journey. 
More to discover