Big surprise for me. Age related hearing loss.

[Multicore]

Last week I measured my left side tinnitus at 65 dB SPL and 9.7 kHz with a masking test using headphones with known impedance and sensitivity.

Also last week a pro audiologist clocked my 8 kHz hearing loss at 45 dB HL left and 25 right and then an ENT NP opined that the hearing loss causes the tinnitus and that the asymmetry is enough to warrant an MRI to look for a tumor. Apart from that, they got nothing.

The tinnitus got worse so rapidly this year that I'm alarmed to consider what it will do to me in coming months and years. As such the possibility of a brain tumor with surgical treatment that fixes the asymmetric hearing loss and the tinnitus is the more hopeful option.

 

[EJ3]

@respice finem
Dr. VERY good.
I went to high school with some that became Dr.'s.
One was mine after he did such.
and one that did most of what I did (as we did most of it together) until, at the age of 27, he decided to become a medical Dr.)
But in the 70's, few, knew what is generally known now.
& I am a huge advocate of using all that is available to keep hearing loss from happening to begin with.
So, I applaud your getting this out and spreading the word.
Too few people do that.
And too many people get the knowledge too late.
It is something that should be taught in early grade school: loud noise & long term not so loud noise WILL
(not MAY) harm your hearing.
I just accept that mine has been harmed by my own activities (and a lack of knowledge).
When I can't understand people's voices, I'll research what steps can be taken to mitigate that.
By the way, I thought you where trolling, the way you worded things.
I was just stating facts about my experience's.
It's hard to interpret just the written words intent many times.
I am blunt & to the point, most times.
That puts many folks off.
With 14 trips through the Panama canal, a couple of Degree's, but mostly been all over Europe,
Asia & the tropics of the Indian Ocean & Western Pacific Islands (Home for 20 years),
I've never been called a troll. Interesting.

 

[EJ3]

Last week I measured my left side tinnitus at 65 dB SPL and 9.7 kHz with a masking test using headphones with know impedance and sensitivity.

Also last week a pro audiologist clocked my 8 kHz hearing loss at 45 dB HL left and 25 right and then an ENT NP opined that the hearing loss causes the tinnitus and that the asymmetry is enough to warrant an MRI to look for a tumor. Apart from that, they got nothing.

The tinnitus got worse so rapidly this year that I'm alarmed to consider what it will do to me in coming months and years. As such the possibility of a brain tumor with surgical treatment that fixes the asymmetric hearing loss and the tinnitus is the more hopeful option.

I hope that their is no tumor & that things don't get worse. And that if there is a tumor, that there is a wonderful outcome.
My tinnitus is more in my left ear, which seems odd, as shooting rifles (outdoor) while being only a small part of my "Loud & Constant Noise" life, would logically have the right ear worst. But, there was a lot of noise from the other side, too, so...
Time length of exposure, attacks by flesh eating bacteria & who knows what other things have effects that may or may not be an issue to the hearing.
But more & more things can be medically fixed these days, so, there is hope.
More can be done now than before, & even more will be able to be done in the near future.

 

[Mort]

I still hear bass so I'm happy.

 

[Peterinvan]

Yeah, sad... I really don't want to know. I'm old and I know I've got some high-frequency loss but I still enjoy music.


From what I've read, hearing aids are mostly to improve the hearing of speech. A regular audiogram only goes up to around 8kHz. But some hearing aids have a "music" setting.

...It's kinda' funny to me that most "Golden Ear Audiophiles" and high-end reviewers seem to be old guys.

I remember when Neil Young was promoting high resolution audio. Even most young rockers have hearing loss, especially in the high frequencies.

I am in my 70s and I did not treat my ears well when I was younger. I gave myself tinnitus during a long listening session with some DIY speakers, where I had forgotten to attenuate the tweeter . It's not too bad, and I still enjoy music.

I now depend on my Loki+ tone controls to give me the "best" musical sounds for my ears.

I am a proponent of all audiophiles that write reviews noting at the outset what their audio gram shows, and what upper frequency hearing limitations they have.

 

[Joe Smith]

Last week I measured my left side tinnitus at 65 dB SPL and 9.7 kHz with a masking test using headphones with know impedance and sensitivity.

Also last week a pro audiologist clocked my 8 kHz hearing loss at 45 dB HL left and 25 right and then an ENT NP opined that the hearing loss causes the tinnitus and that the asymmetry is enough to warrant an MRI to look for a tumor. Apart from that, they got nothing.

The tinnitus got worse so rapidly this year that I'm alarmed to consider what it will do to me in coming months and years. As such the possibility of a brain tumor with surgical treatment that fixes the asymmetric hearing loss and the tinnitus is the more hopeful option.

I had sudden onset tinnitus right before I turned 65, end of 2023. Slight hearing loss in right ear, between 1 khz and 4 khz. Constant noticeable ringing in my right ear that is mostly noticeable in quiet rooms. I was worried about a tumor, but the brain scans were clean. It was a surprise to me for sure that even modest hearing loss can bring on the tinnitus. It's good that you are getting checked out, will give you peace of mind, hope yours is also not due to a structural issue. I mitigate by sometimes using an inexpensive OTC hearing aid and using masking noise at night. When music is playing, I am much less aware of it, fortunately. It's a real annoyance, and I continue to hope that all of the research into this area eventually brings forward some genuine treatments.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I wear hearing aids in both ears. I'm nearly deaf in the worse ear and moderately impaired in the other. With the hearing aids the highest frequency I can hear at reasonable volume is about 8KHz. The hearing aid in my bad ear makes me able to understand speech pretty well. I first noticed HF loss when I was about 30 and noticed I had trouble hearing a watch tick when I held it up to the bad ear. I didn't get to the officially needs hearing aids level till I was in my late 60s.

 

[Rit]

I’ve noticed that the sounds of crickets in the background can mask the tinnitus hiss/ringing sound, helps me sleep. YouTube has many videos.

 

[four_strings_good]

Even the old DIN 45500 Hi-Fi norm was (IIRC) 40-12500 Hz. But what can we all do when our hearing is not compliant...

And the old IHF range was 50 Hz to 12 kHz.

 

[pablolie]

Very little musical content exists above 12-15kHz. We obsess about 20-20,000Hz a bit too much, IMHO. I can hear up to 17kHz with a test tone, but if frequencies above 14kHz are cut off while listening to real music, it doesn't impact my enjoyment at all.

 

[EJ3]

And the old IHF range was 50 Hz to 12 kHz.

Some of my older speakers were rated 50 Hz-15 KHz.

 

[olds1959special]

I'm 45. I can only hear up to 12k in my right ear, and 8k in my left ear. I'm not really sure the exact reason for the extra hearing loss in the left ear, although I do have a wax buildup problem on that side sometimes so I'm going to get my ears cleaned and test again.

 

[olds1959special]

Today I tested with my iPhone using the OP’s provided videos and with the volume maxed I could hear up to 15k in both ears but yesterday I used earwax remover drops and got a small chunk of wax out of my left ear. However, I accidentally scraped my eardrum with a q-tip and it bled a little.

 

[Bwaslo]

I have age related hf hearing issues in both ears, falling below the "mild" impairment area starting around 8kHz, pretty similarly on both sides. Hearing aids help, but can get uncomfortable and can have odd effects (feedback, resonance, occasional alias-like distortions).

I have a Wiim Ultra running my audio system and found that it is pretty easy to incorporate the needed correction curves into its PEQ along with other customizations. Fortunately, my partner has similar impairment to mine so the modified setting works well for both of us. We don't need subtitles on video anymore, and music sounds great this way.

I don't boost hf as much as my measured curves would indicate, as that sounds too bright (and I don't need to correct to match a 5 year old's hearing anyway!). I have it about 3 or 4 dB below a correction to approximate normal.

When visitors are here, I switch to an EQ setting that doesn't include the hf boosts, and put in my hearing aids. That sounds quite similar but not as clean or clear. The Wiim EQ controls make swapping cutved really easy to do, selecting between eq curves is just a few taps on my phone.

 

[Robin L]

Took the "Earful" test. My upper limit is 10 kHz, which is better than my previous test. I'm 70, so I'm not gonna complain.

 

[Talisman]

I'm 42 years old. I just started this thread today and started playing at 16,000 without hearing anything. I thought, "Oh well, YouTube's video compression probably cuts out these frequencies..."
Then my 4-year-old son asked me what that noise was, and all my hopes went down the drain.
Luckily, I discovered I can still hear 15,000 just fine, so all in all, I'm doing well for my age.
My 45-year-old wife, on the other hand, can't hear anything above 11,000.

 

[EJ3]

Took the "Earful" test. My upper limit is 10 kHz, which is better than my previous test. I'm 70, so I'm not gonna complain.

I'm 5 months shy of 69, can here 14K (depending upon various factors) and I have ZERO hearing (at least at any level I dared to test) between 7K & 8K in my right ear. Above and below, while it has a different DB's at different fequencies than the left ear, at least I hear something.

 

[Robin L]

I'm 5 months shy of 69, can here 14K (depending upon various factors) and I have ZERO hearing (at least at any level I dared to test) between 7K & 8K in my right ear. Above and below, while it has a different DB's at different fequencies than the left ear, at least I hear something.

I lost most of that top octave at a Neil Young concert nearly 50 years ago.

 

[EJ3]

I lost most of that top octave at a Neil Young concert nearly 50 years ago.

Mine is mostly from mechanics (mostly the few idiot ones) reving up turbo charged diesel engines with the exhaust stacks aimed at an aluminum ceiling in a pole barn with a concrete floor.

 

[Joeyd33]

I had sudden onset tinnitus right before I turned 65, end of 2023. Slight hearing loss in right ear, between 1 khz and 4 khz. Constant noticeable ringing in my right ear that is mostly noticeable in quiet rooms. I was worried about a tumor, but the brain scans were clean. It was a surprise to me for sure that even modest hearing loss can bring on the tinnitus. It's good that you are getting checked out, will give you peace of mind, hope yours is also not due to a structural issue. I mitigate by sometimes using an inexpensive OTC hearing aid and using masking noise at night. When music is playing, I am much less aware of it, fortunately. It's a real annoyance, and I continue to hope that all of the research into this area eventually brings forward some genuine treatments.

Same here. Did the scans too & came out of nowhere. I wonder if planar headphones had anything to do with it too or if it was just a coincidence. I'm in my early 40s and all my hearing tests say that I only have 5% hearing loss and I can hear up to 16khz.

Did your sensitivity go through the roof? I've always been sensitive to sibilant and 2-3khz area. But now I'm a bit overly sensitive to the smallest sounds & repeating sounds. Instead of going deaf it seems to have made me too aware of sounds. I am trying to buy some speakers too, still debating & I saw the JBL 308s for sale and I wanted to get a pair but that hiss.. When I had the 305s I could hear it across the room. I wish the tinnitus would mask it cause I'm fighting not to buy the 308s for 400 a pair.

It's also ruined my life. Whatever tinnitus did to my brain it's ruined my joy of just about everything. Been trying to find speakers to help me get more engaged into movies or music... Although music has been totally wiped out. I can't believe I rarely listen to music anymore, but the JBL 305s sure did help a bit. Maybe the Kali Audio in-8 v2s might be a massive help or some other similar speaker.

But to anyone out there,take care of yourself. Cause beyond the hearing damage from tinnitus it can also change other stuff like it did to me. The before and after for me is like a completely different person.