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

Over the last few years I have developed tinnitus and also have some hearing issues.  I am a long time music and audio fanatic.  Years ago I built my own Hafler amp.  Before that I had a great AR system.  Presently, I have, what I believe, is a pretty nice system in a dedicated listening room (about 60,000.00).  My question is if there are others of you out there in similar situations concerning your hearing issues as they relate to your love and reproduction of great sounding music?  What are your experiences? Have you found anything that helps and do you have any advice? I would venture to say that we all experience some degree of hearing loss, or hearing anomalies as we age...whether we realize it or not.  Thanks, Jim 
pfeiffer
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
I have tinnitus but no loss of hearing compared to average people’s hearing, a test revealed that a have much greater sensitivity and range. It’s a bit of a curse, as every noise is more intense to me than to others around me. The shrieking and squealing of children and babies is particularly unpleasant to me. On the positive side, ambient background noises drown out the tinnitus, and very fortunately, music at moderate levels completely masks it. It’s only in the very quiet moments (such as when trying to fall asleep at night) that I most notice it. 
justmetoo's avatar
justmetoo
381 posts
 
Well, same here but thankfully I also can still hear quite well to about 11kHz.
And I am quite aware if some mostly CD recordings are unpleasantly 'ear-flossing'. 
Though it's helpful to hear of the existence of more folks in audio persuits saddled with this rather unpleasant debility.
Not that I wish this on ANYONE, to be quite clear about it, please 😌
Michélle 
fynnegan
114 posts
 
Yes, I have tinnitus and some hearing loss in left ear which has gotten worse because of tension neck problems. The more I sit on a couch, the worse it gets. 
Because of it my left ear is extremely sensitive to any problems in the rig. I have found out that ribbon tweeters and DACs with very clean highs are mandatory. 
jagjag's avatar
jagjag
89 posts
 
I am one of the lucky ones I guess. I have stereo tinny. And mine is a high pitched whine, like walking into a forest full of insects.  Some serious hearing loss in the left eat due to a bad flu. But, I still enjoy music. It gets a wee bit uncomfy when the music hits the tinny frequency though. 
revreed
37 posts
 
I’m 65 and have tinnitus in both ears, a higher pitched tone all of the time. I have a vintage stereo system and listen almost daily. I refuse to let it interfere with my enjoyment of music. 
If it can be of use I found one exercise that I use before listening and usually before bed as the tinnitus will prevent me from falling asleep. I have no affiliation with this YouTube video or the Dr. but it worked for me. I do the exercise before listening and it will quiet the tinnitus for awhile ( varies in length ). Looking at the video comments and with most things YMMV.
Search a YouTube for “Stop Tinnitus: Quiet Your Brain With Your Hands - (Discovered by Dr. Alan Mandell, DC)

Good luck, enjoy your music.


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