[EricRamberg]

So I recently took delivery of my pre owned Audeze´s, I was very happy of course since I got them at a good price and they where hardly used. Sadly I started noticing that my tinnitus increased already the first day I used them, I kept the volume down the entire time but still the ringing was very noticable at night. I did notice a slight disscomfort while using them though, sometimes when the music hits a high note or a strong base note it is as if the air is pushed against the eardrum and I feel it as a tickle or a "pop". Its hard to explain, I dont know if this is due to the vacum created by the pads perhaps. I really don't know what to do know, my dream of a fantastic listening station seems to have been crushed even before I had time to buy a proper DAC. Does anyone have any similar experiences with certain headphones? I use headphones all the time and have never experienced what has happpened with the LCD´s.
 
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[doughead]

I have the LCD-XC and yes, there is some 'after effects' of using them at high volume for prolonged periods. Don't know how do I describe it, its like a residual soreness (sharpish) inside the ear canal after subjecting them to high pressure/loud music. But I have that "ringing in the ears in the silence of the night" tinnitus long before I started listening to headphones. That was a long time ago but I don't seem to have that problem now. But the after effects of using the LCD-XC for me (as described above) is different from your "tickle/pop" sensation. Perhaps its just our ear's way of telling us to lower the volume and get some time-out from using headphones (be it LCD-XC or any other handphone, especially closed backs with a tight seal). I would think the pain at the top of the head from the LCD-XC's weight after prolonged listening is the bigger problem.  

 

[EricRamberg]

Thanks for your reply Doughead very interesting read! The thing I find strange is that I blast music fairly loud in my car, with my other headphones (Momentum over ear) but the tinnitus never  got this bad this fast. And I'm not even listening loud with the Audeze´s, yesterday I did a test at very low volume for two songs and my ears where ringing more than 2 hours in the car at full blast! I'm very perplexed about the whole situation, maybe its just incredibly bad timing and there is something else going on here, I should probably go to the doctor but I wanted to see if someone else have had similar exerience to these exact headphones. Would really hate to have to sell them since I absolutely love the sound of them.

 

[doughead]

You mentioned not having that problem from listening to the on-ears Momentums, so do bear in mind that the LCD-XCs are over-ears with a pretty good seal, so the pressure builds up, especially when you're blasting music within that vacuum. Anyways a trip to the doc's office would do no harm. Get some time-off the LCD-XCs and see how it goes, but sell 'em? Nah, gosh do they sound gorgeous! ​

 

[Fugue]

I also just bought a gently used pair of LCD-Xcs, but I have not experienced that problem. I listen only to classical music at moderate volumes, so that might help.

 

[Stratos24]

The first thing I'd recommend is that you make sure you don't have an ear wax build-up problem.  Many times tinnitus can remedied simply by getting rid of
excess ear wax.  There's also software products that can help reduce the ringing noise.  The mods frown upon product endorsements in forum threads
but I'll send you a PM regarding one that has helped me.  It's not a complete cure but it does mitigate the ringing in the ears effects.

 

[EricRamberg]

doughead - its actually over ear headphones, my misstake, but they certainly don't seal anywhere near as good as the Audeze's. And to sell them would certainly be a letdown as I just ordered my custom cables and settled on the DAC I want to use.
 
Fuge - I wish that was the case for me, I hope you enjoy your pairs as much as I would have if i could listen to them! 
 
Stratos24 - Thank you very much for your suggestions!
 
Yesterday I watched a tv-show, around 40 min with my Sennheizers, very very low volume. I still got increased tinnitus so maybe there is something else at play here.

 

[Fugue]

Now that you mention it, I think my tinnitus has increased a bit! Surely there isn't something in the Audeze design that is responsible? I don't play my very loudly--I can still hear some ambient sounds, such as the washing machine in the next room.

 

[Blinxat]

  Sadly I started noticing that my tinnitus increased already the first day I used them

 
I got tinnitus after a neck injury, before that I didn't even own headphones, not even phone ear buds. So I don't know if it compares, Generally I find headphones to be a great distraction to Tinnitus, I do however experience the same you do but with ALL headphones, but only after longer sessions for several days. I always take breaks, but sometimes it takes my ear 2 weeks to get back to the normal volume of tinnitus.
 
For me personally I found that headphones that are lower in level above 10Khz are the easiest on my ears. Though I do like a 10k peak coming up from 4k.
 
"Auditory fatigue – While little data exists, we know of many patients who experience an increase in their tinnitus perception following periods where there are greater demands on their auditory system. The sound does not need to be loud; it can be a situation where there is competing noise present while trying to process auditory information. This creates a greater strain on the system and can cause the tinnitus perception to be worse. In these cases, it may be appropriate to limit hearing aid use to a certain number of hours per day.
 
Reactive tinnitus – Rarely, some individuals with tinnitus report that moderately low intensity sounds aggravate their tinnitus, and that this exacerbation tends to continue for more than a day. Some ways to identify this “reactive tinnitus” may be a case history identifying prolonged tinnitus perception after exposure to moderately low level sounds, the presence of decreased sound tolerance, and a worsening of tinnitus after residual inhibition testing."
 
http://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/fluctuating-reactive-tinnitus-questions.755/
 
It is certainly real.

 

[jrfmd]

All people with tinnitus notice an apparent increase in the volume of the tinnitus whenever there is a decrease in ambient sound (a closed back headphone or even an in the ear hearing aide. Just put your fingers in your ears and you will notice the volume of the tinnitus increasing.
 
An open back headphone would probably be better for you
 
Jeffrey R Fischman

 

[wolfgango]

Interesting. I just had the same problem with my first experience with Audeze. In this case the LC2 Classics. Tinnitus greatly increased and not even listening to them loud. The sound is glorious but I ended up returning them within the 30 day return window.