Another hearing / tinnitus thread

[Audiotfoot]

Can tinnitus mask sounds that one actually hears?
According to the audiologist my hearing above 6K disappears. Playing around with pure tone generators shows that with lots of amplification an 8K tone can be faintly detected. Above that there is occasionally a faint hiss.
Tinnitus has been a companion as far back as memory stretches.
A while back a session dinking around with the parametric equalizer included with GoldWave gave some indications that I was able to pick up music above 6K fairly well. This last weekend some serious exploring was done.
The equalizer was set for ten bands. AFAIK this is a low pass equalizer. The top band stretches from 10K to 20K and can be moved so that it can cover the range above 20K to 50K. When that slider was in the 10K to 20K range and was pulled completely down all the highs disappeared. When pushed to the top what I refer to as a brittle high was present. Back to the middle music sounded, well, good.
Extensive playing around showed that once the bottom end of the band went above 13K moving the slider made no difference.
My conclusion is that tinnitus masks high frequency pure tone signals, but lets those frequencies as music be recognized. Possible?
Anybody else found the same thing?

 

[tubed]

After experiencing a harrowing Meniere's attack I lost hearing levels below 250hz and anything above 8k.
Those sounds inbetween were distorted and ugly.
The doctor informed me this was permanent.
Lucky for me doctors are basically clueless as my hearing slowly came back to very close to normal.
My hearing does wane a bit with some tinnitus, especially when stressed andor poor diet.
Interestingly, the frequency level that does roll off, can be heard by increasing volume output of those frequencies.
Some researchers believe even if the ears can't "hear", the subconscious brain does.

 

[musichal]

Good thing I'm a psycho-acousticalologist, then. My diagnosis, in these cases, is that - no wait, I'm not a psycho-acousticalologist. it was a psycho... a psycho... a psycho-something. I'll have to ask my therapist.

 

[Lapslah]

I've had severe tinnitus for over 30 years now, and mine definitely masks sounds in the 6-10k range. The audiologist says I need hearing aids, but when I ask if they can compensate for tinnitus, she says not really. but they introduce other sounds to try to mask it. No thanks. The last thing I need is even more phantom noises in my head.

 

[hjames]

You mean I'm not supposed to hear the roar of the ocean day and night?

 

[tom67]

I have posted this before....you and I have a similar problem and hearing range...mine about 11,000 tops, but require much higher volume for notes above 8K......We are in luck because most notes of musical interest fall well within our range. High female soprano voice is 1,050. The guitar is the most frequently used instrument in modern music and it is below 2K. Even an edgy violin is below 4k. The point is, you can certainly continue to enjoy music including much of the nuance......

http://www.zytrax.com/tech/audio/audio.html

 

[Audiotfoot]

I have posted this before....you and I have a similar problem and hearing range...mine about 11,000 tops, but require much higher volume for notes above 8K......We are in luck because most notes of musical interest fall well within our range. High female soprano voice is 1,050. The guitar is the most frequently used instrument in modern music and it is below 2K. Even an edgy violin is below 4k. The point is, you can certainly continue to enjoy music including much of the nuance......

http://www.zytrax.com/tech/audio/audio.html

Thanks for the link, good information to have. I consider myself fortunate, even without hearing aides the full range of most music is available. Hearing aides have helped with the upper end, violins are now clearly heard and triangles are present again at normal listening levels. What intrigues me is that frequencies above 9K aren't consciously identified, but when removed a real difference in sound is noted. I didn't expect that.
As for enjoying music, some in my family consider me a music addict. If so, what better addiction to have?

 

[SoCal Sam]

Tinnitus is the sound of over-pressurized blood coursing through your veins. OK maybe not but good health sharpens the senses and the mind.

 

[Bodyblue]

I've had severe tinnitus for over 30 years now, and mine definitely masks sounds in the 6-10k range. The audiologist says I need hearing aids, but when I ask if they can compensate for tinnitus, she says not really. but they introduce other sounds to try to mask it. No thanks. The last thing I need is even more phantom noises in my head.

Exactly my situation.

 

[Bodyblue]

You mean I'm not supposed to hear the roar of the ocean day and night?

Mine sounds like a slow air leak.........it came on so slow that I just got used to it for the most part. It gets worse when I am tired. As a result I NEVER wear headphones.

 

[Pio1980]

I use Grado 60 on a tablet with eq comp.

 

[tom67]

Thanks for the link, good information to have. I consider myself fortunate, even without hearing aides the full range of most music is available. Hearing aides have helped with the upper end, violins are now clearly heard and triangles are present again at normal listening levels. What intrigues me is that frequencies above 9K aren't consciously identified, but when removed a real difference in sound is noted. I didn't expect that.
As for enjoying music, some in my family consider me a music addict. If so, what better addiction to have?

Beethoven was hearing impaired his entire life and ultimately deaf ...obviously didn't affect his passion..

 

[Pio1980]

Coincidentally, now checking out a Beltone Audio Scout portable audiometer I found at an indoor flea market. Appears fully functional with intermittent ps cord.

 

[tom67]

Beethoven was hearing impaired his entire life and ultimately deaf ...obviously didn't affect his passion..

What intrigues me is that frequencies above 9K aren't consciously identified, but when removed a real difference in sound is noted. I didn't expect that.

Yeah, along those lines....I got back to vinyl about a year ago. I have duplicate material on vinyl and CD. I sensed something missing when I followed a song on LP with the same song on CD. I believe it was the inherent noise platform on vinyl, the noise you hear on the lead in grooves and between songs. Yet I never really heard that noise once the record was playing. Perhaps it adds a sense of "fullness" whatever that is. It may be the same with partially heard frequencies...

 

[bluesky]

Read an article in AARP last month, or this month, on Tinnitus. Nothing can be done.

 

[triode17]

You must be cautious with Audiology. Unless things have changed since the 90's when I last had tests done, they only check for the intelligibility frequencies, from 300Hz-8kHz. That leaves us a bit short.

 

[crouse]

I have posted this before....you and I have a similar problem and hearing range...mine about 11,000 tops, but require much higher volume for notes above 8K......We are in luck because most notes of musical interest fall well within our range. High female soprano voice is 1,050. The guitar is the most frequently used instrument in modern music and it is below 2K. Even an edgy violin is below 4k. The point is, you can certainly continue to enjoy music including much of the nuance......

http://www.zytrax.com/tech/audio/audio.html

That chart indicates that someone whose hearing is kaput above 5khz can still hear the harmonics of most instruments. Which goes a long way to explaining why I still enjoy listening to music.

 

[Bodyblue]

After experiencing a harrowing Meniere's attack I lost hearing levels below 250hz and anything above 8k.
Those sounds inbetween were distorted and ugly.
The doctor informed me this was permanent.
Lucky for me doctors are basically clueless as my hearing slowly came back to very close to normal.
My hearing does wane a bit with some tinnitus, especially when stressed andor poor diet.
Interestingly, the frequency level that does roll off, can be heard by increasing volume output of those frequencies.
Some researchers believe even if the ears can't "hear", the subconscious brain does.

Yeah, Drs are clueless. Are you going to claim anything else that has no basis in fact?

 

[hugo454]

What?,I can't hear you.

 

[dinger]

I'm 58 and have constant low level ringing. My upper limit is about 13.5K. Been in and out of bands since high school. Here's a good place to see where you're at. http://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/