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

I'm glad you made this post, and feel enlightened as to how many listeners are experiencing this.  I have had significant tinnitus and hearing loss in one ear for over twenty years (the other ear is going strong).  It was a radical paradigm shift: My initial response was increased anxiety and agitation at having a constant array of noises, swooshes, clicks, etc.  That goes away as you become accustomed to it.  Do what your doctor says, in order to minimize future changes in your hearing.   Unless they tell you to give up alcohol and caffeine.  In that case, nod your head and ignore them.

The biggest impact on my life has to do with human speech.  I avoid certain loud environments, because background noise interferes with my ability to decipher speech. 

A much rarer issue is bouts of vertigo which come every 5 years or so.  Those are debilitating, but only last for 24 hours.

As an audiophile, I would say the pros/cons are that I can't hear the noise floor of my system.  That saves a lot of money right there.  I can get by with $15,000 instead of $50,000.  I still perceive imaging, but it is noticeably weighted to one side; still there and beautiful, but different.  However, one ear functions perfectly, and I still have no tolerance for crappy equipment.  I really, really enjoy full range speakers, regardless of one side of my head being wonky.

 Coffee-jerk:  I too had bouts of vertigo at the time that I lost a good deal of hearing in my left ear.  That is a symptom of Meniere's disease, I believe.  Had I caught it in time, my audiologist said I might have been able to stop some of the hearing loss.  

The good news for our OP, from these posts and my experience, is that you can still enjoy music and an excellent system even with some hearing problems.  

@b_limo  If you can safely do so try a week without the aspirin. My ENT told me aspirin can make in worse in some people. 

Yes, I suffer from tinnitus. Differs in intensity, but I still enjoy listening to music. I’ve learned to tune it out over the years. When I read this post- I started hearing the ringing, haha.


I know two people with Meniere’s, nasty stuff. One recovered with some hearing loss. The other, despite going to a specialist in Houston, has been losing some of his hearing due to the treatments. The ‘drop’ attacks are frightening from what they tell me..

I have hearing loss in both ears, no tinnitus. My ENT doctor has been monitoring it for some time and this year my hearing test indicated it was time for a hearing aid. I knew my hearing had deteriorated significantly, as I was unable to hear the true timbre of a violin, cymbals had all but disappeared from some of my favorite jazz trios, and so forth. The hearing test identifies the degree of loss by frequency. I tried a pair of high quality Widex hearing aids and the difference was nothing short of astounding. Most of the sound I had been missing is back.

The audiologist showed me a graph of my hearing loss, which begins at about 2k Hz, building to 20 dB of loss over 6k Hz (a lot), pretty similar in both ears. The hearing aid boosts the signal between 2-6k Hz, but doesn’t do much above that. There is software you can download to your Android or iPhone that has different baked in settings for normal use, music and crowds. Plus you can listen to music and create your own settings for different types of music if you choose. There are also manual volume and balance controls.

Clearly the hearing aid is an audio device that has some effect on the signal you are processing, just as your audio equipment does. But if you find you are significantly missing something in your listening by all means try a pair quality hearing aids after consulting with a good ENT or audiologist. Where I live state law gives you a trial period during which you can return the devices if you don’t like them.

I am enjoying my music so much more now that I can hear instruments and a presentation that sound more lifelike and natural.