Measure my tinnitus, or yours?

[Multicore]

I searched (casually) and it seems audiologists are Measuring Tinnitus (American Tinnitus Assoc.) as I would imagine:

• Tinnitus sound matching: The presentation of common tinnitus sounds back to patients, to help them identify their specific perception of tinnitus. The health professional may adjust the pitch and layer multiple sounds to create an exact audio recreation of the the tinnitus. Sound matching provides an important baseline for subsequent tinnitus management therapies, which are often customized for each patient.
• Minimum masking level: The volume at which an external narrowband noise masks (or covers) the perception of tinnitus. Determining the minimum masking level provides an approximate measure of how loud a patient perceives his/her tinnitus and can be used in subsequent tinnitus masking and sound therapies.

I thought it might be fun to learn to do this at home with headphones. What would seem to be missing is

• in-ear SPL calibration
• test protocol

I figure we could come up with a protocol together. Not sure about calibration. Can we combine @amirm 's headphones' sensitivities with voltage measurement to estimate SPL?

Then we could have a jolly old thread where we mess around and compare our tinnitus numbers.

 

[Saponetto]

In my humble opinion, yes.
The tinnitus pitch seems to be a quite repeatable thing and it is often similar, even for different subjects.
The masking should also be subsequently defined with a certain grade of approximation.

P.s. good idea!

 

[Multicore]

With software like REW or a DAW we can generate test tones. With a suitable resistor (e.g. 100 ohm) and a multimeter we can measure voltage at a given dBFS and given amplification setting (e.g. knob position on my MOTU M4). Then, knowing measured impedance of the headphone and its sensitivity in dB SPL per milliWatt, we can calculate an SPL from the generator's dBFS level.

Right?

 

[richardm]

I'm puzzled by people who can find the frequency of their tinnitus tone(s). I've used tone generators to try and identify my own but they're higher than I can hear. My high frequency perception rolls off around 7k. I kept adding gain and going higher but gave up after +20db or so.

I don't know what this says about my condition...

 

[Multicore]

I'm puzzled by people who can find the frequency of their tinnitus tone(s). I've used tone generators to try and identify my own but they're higher than I can hear. My high frequency perception rolls off around 7k. I kept adding gain and going higher but gave up after +20db or so.

I don't know what this says about my condition...

Idk. What does it should like to you?

I hear what sounds like tones around 11kHz. Most of the time I can live with it but it's been getting worse in recent days.