Anyone with tinnitus or hearing loss who is into "high-end" audio?

Thank you guys.  I guess this is the kind of stuff I need to "hear"!  When you first get tinnitus, for whatever reason, it can become very all-consuming.  My next step will be to go to a hearing specialist.  What I worry about the most is having the sound and music from my rig sound "unreal" when, and if, I need a hearing aid (primarily my right ear which has a very high frequency whine...sometimes less and sometimes really annoying).  But I sincerely find some solace in the above comments...you are  correct Millercarbon, I wouldn't want to be the next guy!

I have tinnitus, but no hearing loss. Worth going to a hearing specialist - at least once. Also worth figuring out what makes your tinnitus worse. But I have not lost any of my appreciation for music and I have made no changes to my rig.

I've had tinnitus for years, with intensity varying thru the day My hearing drops after 7khz.

Consultation(hearing aids) reading everything about it, and evaluating lifestyle to see if anything affects it seem to be the best you can do at the moment.

Compared to other conditions I live with, it's minor.

pfeiffer,

I have had bad tinnitus since the 90’s. It waxes and wanes in intensity (or how aware I am of it). I’ve also struggled with bouts of hyperacusis - hearing sensitivity where sounds can hurt the ears - which is frankly much worse when it comes to this hobby than tinnitus.
My experience: The tinnitus very, very rarely ever affects my listening.When it’s really bad, again this is rare, it can be loud enough to "ride over" the music so I hear it while listening. In such cases if I can’t ignore it, I would just retire from listening that night. But..again...super rare.Otherwise it doesn’t affect my listening or the sound quality at all.

When my hyperacusis flairs up - which has been very rare over the years EXCEPT that I had a recent bad flair up that I’m having treated - it could make the sound of my system too painful to listen to. That was the most disheartening.

In both cases what I’ve learned over the years, at least for me, is that not succumbing to the issues works best. That is: if I notice my tinnitus seems louder one day I don’t really change what I’m doing, I just go on (listening to music or whatever) and it fades in to the background soon enough, within a day or two. Concentrating on it or worrying or tip-toeing around it trying to find quiet doesn’t help, doesn’t make it go away any faster, so just "getting on with life" has been the best approach.

BTW, despite having tinnitus and sometimes hyperacusis, the upside is that I’ve been protecting my ears from loud exposure for so long I’ve avoided the hearing frequency damage that often comes with age or loud noise exposure. Audiologists always comment "I can’t believe your chart is this good, it’s like the hearing of someone 15 years younger or more!"

Ear plugs work!

I've had the condition in my right ear for over 30 years. The intensity varies every day and is usually loudest at night. It basically lets me know I'm still alive. It hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for my hifi rig or live music shows. So, run some sounds in your bedroom at night ( I use a fan) and you will adapt eventually to living with it.