7 ms·

For me what helped was creating a long white noise sample, then filtering it to have a peak around the frequency of my particular tinnitus and playing it in a l

For me what helped was creating a long white noise sample, then filtering it to have a peak around the frequency of my particular tinnitus and playing it in a loop at barely audible levels from a good stereo in my bedroom. I'm not exactly sure why that works but to me it seems like having an actual irregular audio signal entering your ears prevents your brain/ear from maintaining a self-oscillating tinnitus.

triyambakam 3y ago
Wow, super interesting! How did you find the right frequency of your tinnitus and how did you create the track?
- owyn 3y ago
  My comment also contains the phrase "super interesting". Now I wonder where that comes from. However, technically to find the frequency in question you could take a white noise generating sound source and connect that to an EQ with an audible dB boost in a narrow range and sweep that through the entire frequency range until you tune it to match the noise in your ear. To create a filtered noise track you could apply a high pass filter and a low pass filter in combination to "bracket" that range and create a narrow band of noise. Enjoy the silence, and check out Aphex Twin (start with: selected ambient works 2). :)
- zogomoox 3y ago
  For that I used Reason (digital audio workstation), create a single sine wave synth and played on the keyboard until I found the right frequency. I already knew my tinnitus was a low one for me (sounded like a mains hum) so was looking in the 20 - 200 Hz range. You don't need the exact frequency really, just create a white noise sample in Audacity. The filtering just helps to allow playing the noise at the lowest overall level possible while still being effective in suppressing the tinnitus. I think I could have achieved the same filtering using one of those hi-fi equalizer modules that were all the rage in the 80s and 90s.
  - EvanAnderson 3y ago
    I tried to do something similar, but I discovered that my hearing range ends at a lower frequency than my tinnitus' apparent frequency. It's interesting that my body is synthesizing a signal higher than I can actually hear.
owyn 3y ago
That's super interesting I'm totally going to try this! I have mild tinnitus. I was in a band. I always wear ear plugs at other people's shows but did not wear ear plugs at band practice or our shows. I guess in hind sight, the situational need to be in the zone and hear everything overrode the common sense notion of "oh yeah of course I should always be wearing ear plugs". Anyway, the tinnitus does sound somewhat like noise with a peak at a certain frequency. I guess I just think of it as "blood noise". Susanne Vega reference? Anyone? Okay, I'll leave the room now. (great song, check it out)
- meindnoch 3y ago
  If both the audience and the band members have to wear earplugs, then how about simply not playing so fucking loud?
  - owyn 3y ago
    I mean, I don't know who you are or what kind of concerts you go to but Fuck you I'll take the bait on this one. Maybe Tiny desk concerts are for you. Stadium shows need volume. Every show needs some amount of volume to create an experience for that genre of music. Back then I had to haul hundreds of pounds of gear in a van to create that sound for my band and now I'd just have to bring a suitcase and plug in to the house system. These days on stage is pretty quiet and the bands all have in-ear monitors but you have to move a lot of decibels to create an experience for any genre. It was behind the band on stage then and killed your ears and now it can be in front of the band and just point at the audience and I think it's better for everyone. It's always a physical experience and the sound volume is part of it. Have you ever been at a show where your favorite band was playing your favorite song and people are talking over the band and thought that was kind of annoying? Somewhere in between is a range of venues and experiences. Yes, it's bad for your ears but you're not going to sit around in a quiet lounge by yourself. Live music is loud. Yes it's probably too loud. My ears are fucked. Thanks for your comment! Sounds like you have a lot of useful insight for the whole concert industry. Have you run sound at a show? Sounds like you are qualified to hand out ear plugs and that's about it. I would gladly exchange my tinnitus for your bullshit snark.
RetroTechie 3y ago
Yeah. It's just a hunch, but I suspect the brain has a tendency to create signal by itself if 'outside' drops below certain levels. Such self-generated signal may be more annoying than low level external noise. Over the past summer, it's been mosquito sound for me. There'd be a few, I'd kill 'em, and then sound of the last one would keep 'ringing in my ears' even though I cleared the space of mosquitos. But hearing is complex. Things like diet, exercize, blood pressure, history of exposure to loud noise, drugs, age etc all play a role.
dekhn 3y ago
I have occasional tinnitus and I really got a lot out of https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNoiseGenerator.php https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNoiseGenerator.php which has a wide range of noise generators and lots of knobs.

triyambakam 3y ago

Wow, super interesting! How did you find the right frequency of your tinnitus and how did you create the track?

owyn 3y ago
My comment also contains the phrase "super interesting". Now I wonder where that comes from. However, technically to find the frequency in question you could take a white noise generating sound source and connect that to an EQ with an audible dB boost in a narrow range and sweep that through the entire frequency range until you tune it to match the noise in your ear. To create a filtered noise track you could apply a high pass filter and a low pass filter in combination to "bracket" that range and create a narrow band of noise. Enjoy the silence, and check out Aphex Twin (start with: selected ambient works 2). :)
zogomoox 3y ago
For that I used Reason (digital audio workstation), create a single sine wave synth and played on the keyboard until I found the right frequency. I already knew my tinnitus was a low one for me (sounded like a mains hum) so was looking in the 20 - 200 Hz range. You don't need the exact frequency really, just create a white noise sample in Audacity. The filtering just helps to allow playing the noise at the lowest overall level possible while still being effective in suppressing the tinnitus. I think I could have achieved the same filtering using one of those hi-fi equalizer modules that were all the rage in the 80s and 90s.
- EvanAnderson 3y ago
  I tried to do something similar, but I discovered that my hearing range ends at a lower frequency than my tinnitus' apparent frequency. It's interesting that my body is synthesizing a signal higher than I can actually hear.

owyn 3y ago

That's super interesting I'm totally going to try this! I have mild tinnitus. I was in a band. I always wear ear plugs at other people's shows but did not wear ear plugs at band practice or our shows. I guess in hind sight, the situational need to be in the zone and hear everything overrode the common sense notion of "oh yeah of course I should always be wearing ear plugs". Anyway, the tinnitus does sound somewhat like noise with a peak at a certain frequency. I guess I just think of it as "blood noise". Susanne Vega reference? Anyone? Okay, I'll leave the room now. (great song, check it out)

meindnoch 3y ago
If both the audience and the band members have to wear earplugs, then how about simply not playing so fucking loud?
- owyn 3y ago
  I mean, I don't know who you are or what kind of concerts you go to but Fuck you I'll take the bait on this one. Maybe Tiny desk concerts are for you. Stadium shows need volume. Every show needs some amount of volume to create an experience for that genre of music. Back then I had to haul hundreds of pounds of gear in a van to create that sound for my band and now I'd just have to bring a suitcase and plug in to the house system. These days on stage is pretty quiet and the bands all have in-ear monitors but you have to move a lot of decibels to create an experience for any genre. It was behind the band on stage then and killed your ears and now it can be in front of the band and just point at the audience and I think it's better for everyone. It's always a physical experience and the sound volume is part of it. Have you ever been at a show where your favorite band was playing your favorite song and people are talking over the band and thought that was kind of annoying? Somewhere in between is a range of venues and experiences. Yes, it's bad for your ears but you're not going to sit around in a quiet lounge by yourself. Live music is loud. Yes it's probably too loud. My ears are fucked. Thanks for your comment! Sounds like you have a lot of useful insight for the whole concert industry. Have you run sound at a show? Sounds like you are qualified to hand out ear plugs and that's about it. I would gladly exchange my tinnitus for your bullshit snark.

RetroTechie 3y ago

Yeah. It's just a hunch, but I suspect the brain has a tendency to create signal by itself if 'outside' drops below certain levels. Such self-generated signal may be more annoying than low level external noise. Over the past summer, it's been mosquito sound for me. There'd be a few, I'd kill 'em, and then sound of the last one would keep 'ringing in my ears' even though I cleared the space of mosquitos. But hearing is complex. Things like diet, exercize, blood pressure, history of exposure to loud noise, drugs, age etc all play a role.

dekhn 3y ago

I have occasional tinnitus and I really got a lot out of https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNoiseGenerator.php https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNoiseGenerator.php which has a wide range of noise generators and lots of knobs.