Comments on Profile Post by Tachikoma

Have you already ruled out a tiny piece of earwax or so stuck to the eardrum?

@Serious Yup, have been to an audiologist.

I can't claim my experience is universal but when I first got tinnitus, I thought I'd no longer be able to enjoy listening to music. I got really depressed. Over time, I've come to adjust to it. It's still there. But it's nowhere near as intrusive or bothersome as it was, and much of the time I'm oblivious to it.

I still have a hard time with quiet passages, especially piano sonatas. And stress and fatigue make it much worse. Eating well and being well rested help a lot. It took a year or two to get used to it. I'm still enjoying the hobby as much as I did before getting tinnitus.

I'd discuss it with Quinto on HF. (If you don't know him, tell him I sent you.) He got tinnitus by listening to string quartets on GS1000, which is very V-shaped. What happens when you EQ the bass down? You might have to EQ the treble down to compensate for any brightness. I'm hoping that finding a good EQ will help.

@Tchoupitoulas My tinnitus is a weird sort, it scales in volume with what I hear (including internal sounds like yawning and ear rumbling), and the more I try to put up with it, the more my ear feels clogged up.

Basically, I'm only allowed to listen very quietly from now on.

@Tachikoma, I'm so sorry to hear it. I hope you can find a solution.

Another idea is to try listening to pink noise for some length of time even at low volumes, if you can stand it. It's used to break in headphones, so there's an off-chance it might help with ear problems.

But it's possible your body is "telling" you to take a break from listening altogether for a while. That doesn't *have* to be a bad thing. I couldn't use my dominant hand for what turned out to be 14 months. After a few weeks, I realized that I had to teach myself to write with my non-dominant hand. I wish you a complete recovery.

Definitely don't lose hope! Tinnitus can have remedies (like pink/white noise, tones, even certain meds or supplements) and many simply haven't tried them. My brother says he got a custom retainer to fix his jaw clenching thing and it improved his tinnitus.

Fellow tinnitus listener here. I find great satisfaction listening at low volumes (around 65 dB) in near field. There should be some way you can find to still enjoy music, but it might take some time to find the right combination. Maybe some bookshelf speakers with a decent LF rolloff and a chair rumbler so you feel bass, rather than hear it?