Listening to music with loud feedback as a tinnitus sufferer


I discovered the Jesus and Mary Chain in 1985 when they were the big new thing. Fabulous stuff. A strong sense of melody, bathed in feedback, it sounded new and fresh. Nostalgic and original at the same time.

Nearly 40 years later, and my tinnitus is playing up today. A constant sine wave inside my skull. Some music makes it less bothersome. Dark Ambient drones especially. But today I’m finding Jesus and Mary Chain insufferable. The feedback just mixes with the ringing inside my head and sounds like a noise https://19216801.onl/ . 

Any other tinnitus sufferers feel the same way? Aging is a privilege denied to many, and I try to bear the aches and pains with good grace. But when they come between me and my music, it’s so frustrating.

jirkal

Long time sufferer. Yes, I too have the horrible burden of trying to enjoy music with the Monster 'T'. I worked on and near jet engines in the Navy and way too many Rock concerts back in the days when there was no seating arrangements, but you just crowded as close to the stage OR the Hugh Bass horns on the floor.
Mine is roughly 8200hz constantly in both hears, but I only suffer slight loss in hearing in the left side. I went through the VA's tinnitus program, which was more informative and not much to fix the problem. BASICALLY I was told to turn up any kind of sounds just slightly over the Tinnitus volume. Too Much more will actually make things worse. so whatever you do keep the volume at a limit . I have found that ,at least in my situation I can still enjoy All of the finer points of quality music, but have to learn to ignore that constant droning of the squeeeeeel.

“A constant sine wave inside my skull.”

Yup. That’s how I experience it.

“I try to bear the aches and pains with good grace.”

Same here, jirkal.

It’s a cruel affliction.

Doubly cruel to audiophiles something like poor Beethoven going deaf.

Triply cruel: every time I think of my youthful thoughtlessness at rock concerts and with power tools, all the times I didn’t protect my hearing, I feel guilty.

Quadruply cruel: I dream of a quiet place in the country and it will not be quiet because I no longer experience pure quiet.

Strangely, with tinnitus and hearing loss, I can still judge sound and soundscape; I know when I’m hearing a fine system vs a ‘lesser’ system.

I suspect that the brain’s audio processing apparatus adapts.

And I’ve wondered - even thought of starting a thread - if anyone else has a decibel meter front-and-center as part of their system.

It helps to more accurately judge one’s sound exposure.

My tinnitus sounds just like tape hiss or FM radio inter-channel noise. Not debilitating, but annoying.