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IEM's worse for Tinnitus than Over-the-Ear's?

post #1 of 7
2/10/11 at 4:34am
Thread Starter 

I have a theory, maybe? Since I bought the Miles Davis IEM's...my Tinnitus has been increasingly louder. I haven't been "blaring" the sound. When I listened to the same music, same source, on my Koss Porta Pro's...I didn't notice my Tinnitus. Now that I'm using exclusively IEM's...it's noticeably louder.

 

I do feel as if the IEM physically irritates my ear just slightly b/c I haven't worn them much in the past. I wonder if the tips are irritating the ear canal in turn causing my inner ear to be irritated or inflamed, giving me an increased sensation of Tinnitus?

 

That...or I've awakened frequencies that my brain can't deal with anymore.

 

 

 

Should I switch back to cans?

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post #2 of 7
2/15/11 at 1:30pm

good question.  I would think that there is a more of a chance with IEMs, but if you haven't turned them up I wouldn't imagine it irritating it anymore.  How long have you been conscious of your tinnitus?  Since I've noticed mine, I've listened to mine at lower volumes, but I feel like it's been increasing which I believe to be completely psychological.

 

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post #3 of 7
2/15/11 at 1:48pm

If anything IEMs help protect your hearing.  You can listen at lower levels because you don't have to increase the volume to listen over environmental sound.  It could be that you are allergic to the material the tips are made from.  The only time I get tinnitus is when my allergies are acting up.  At those times, I have problems using anything stuffed into my ear, not because of the sound, but because my ear canals swell slightly and anything in there is painful.

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post #4 of 7
2/15/11 at 3:20pm
Anything will give you tinnitus if you listen loud enough.
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post #5 of 7
2/15/11 at 3:34pm

True, but non isolating headphones, people have the tendency to crank the volume just to hear the music over the background noise.

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post #6 of 7
2/15/11 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 

I think it could have been the "fit" of the MD's versus my PortaPro's sitting comfortably on my ears. I think the MD's were a bit to "referency" for me possibly? I hated listening to rock with them. I migrated more toward smooth jazz like The Rippingtons...or stuff like Thievery Corp. They tore that stuff up! (in a good way) I quit listening to alot of genre's of music with them though. When that happened...I had to say g'bye to them. I flit around alot from this band to the next...and always had to re-EQ them b/c when I had them set for something like Enigma and moved over to say...Allison Iraheta...they were harsh. When I went the other way, they were boring.

 

I did have noticeably worse tinnitus with the MD's than with my Koss's though. Almost physically painful. I would say it had more to do with the intrusion of an object into my canals, hahaha.

 

 

 

Odd...

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post #7 of 7
2/15/11 at 6:29pm

The sound of the tinnitus was louder with the IEMs in your ears?  If that's the case, it's just the effect of blocking the external sound and enabling you to hear it more.  PortoPros provide zero isolation.  I've been able to hold conversations without taking them off.  Mild tinnitus would be lost in the background.

 

I wonder if you were subconsciously turning up the volume in an attempt to make the IEMs sound better with rock.  I also listen to a wide variety of genres.  I also listen on shuffle by album so from album to album, I can get a big contrast in genres.  This leads me to like all rounder headphones.  They might not be the best for a particular genre, but they're good in all genres.

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