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Could faulty headphone drivers be the cause of mild tinnitus? (Sennheiser HD25SP)

post #1 of 7
9/22/11 at 11:45am
Thread Starter 

I've been using a pair of Sennheiser HD25SP headphones for casual listening + gaming (never high volume) since 2002. These phones have had literally 1000s of hours use.

 

At the end of 2010 I started noticing mild tinnitus (only at night when it's totally silent). So natually I thought I was over doing it with the headphones, plus the closed back design of the HD25SP wasn't helping. So I bought a pair of Goldring DR150s (open back, more natural on the ear), I used these exclusively and the tinnitus gradually disappeared after a month or so.

 

Fast forward to now and the DR150s had to get sent back because the headband was cracking. So I started using the HD25SPs again, and the tinnitus has started returning within about 2 weeks. 

 

Is it at all possible the HD25SP drivers have malfunctioned somehow and are emitting spurious high frequency noise?

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post #2 of 7
9/22/11 at 12:03pm

Closed back designs generally are more fatiguing. I think SPL may be higher too, but I think the Sennheiser HD25SP has a treble spike in its frequency response which is probably causing the mild tinnitus. The Goldring probably doesn't have such a prominent treble.

 

 

hd25sp.png

 

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post #3 of 7
9/22/11 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 

Is that treble spike an intended part of the design?

 

I used those phones for so many years without issue, and only now it crops up.

 

It'd be interesting to compare the frequency response of a well used headphone to factory fresh model, would you expect it to vary with age/use?

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post #4 of 7
9/22/11 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by norm View Post

Is that treble spike an intended part of the design?

 

I used those phones for so many years without issue, and only now it crops up.

 

It'd be interesting to compare the frequency response of a well used headphone to factory fresh model, would you expect it to vary with age/use?


Not much, and probably not enough to suddenly cause tinnitus.

 

I think what happened is, after all these years, your ears developed tinnitus on their own (or maybe you play too loud smile.gif). It's only now apparent enough that the treble spike bothers you.

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post #5 of 7
9/22/11 at 12:30pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by norm View Post

Is that treble spike an intended part of the design?

 

I used those phones for so many years without issue, and only now it crops up.

 

It'd be interesting to compare the frequency response of a well used headphone to factory fresh model, would you expect it to vary with age/use?


Yes, I think the treble spike is intended. Many monitoring headphones have that treble spike. How bad is the tinnitus? There was a Heller and Bergman experiment that showed that 94% of people that participated in their experiments experienced symptoms of tinnitus when in a totally silent room. Supposedly, neuron electricity can be sensed.

 

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post #6 of 7
9/22/11 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah it sucks really, because I really appreciate the noise isolating aspect of the HD25SPs, but I'm not prepared to damage my hearing.

 

I bought a pair of HD555s now. I'll see how I get on with them.

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post #7 of 7
1/14/12 at 11:13am
Thread Starter 

Been using the HD555 since the time of my last post and the tinnitus I experienced with the HD25SP has virtually disappeared, so I am still partly convinced the drivers on the HD25SP broke because if I compare the high frequencies they seem flatter/duller on the HD25SP which I'm pretty sure wasn't the case when I first got them. Or alternatively my ears became averse to the closed back design.

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