Music Still Sounds Broken

[Don Tinny]

On bad days, any and all music will still aggravate my tinnitus and hyperacusis. But I'm starting to get better days when I can enjoy low-volume music like the above. And on really good days, I can spend a little time listening to some of my old favourites again.

I am having a bad day and I thought "this can't get worse" so I heard many songs on my cellphone. Some UFO, Alice Cooper, Rainbow, old Genesis, Yes, etc. just to get "lost" in a song. Now I have some kind of pain in my left ear. It wasn't loud, but maybe too trebly. Seems like I should forget rock music.

I am really bored.

 

[FGG]

Hiya, I am still here and contribute to the forum when someone tags me or sends a message. This forum was a great help to me when I was really suffering with Tinnitus so I like to help if I can.
I am happy to answer any questions.
Thankfully my tinnitus, hyperacusis and other issues did resolve on their own but it did take a long time. I didn't do anything special apart from educate myself on how noise and decibels work, What is loud and what is too loud and how to protect my hearing as best I can.
I had a terrible time with Tinnitus and know just how crushing it can be, even reading some of my posts from that time now I can't believe I wrote them. It was a very dark time.
I remember the broken speaker period when music sounded broken and that was devastating. This was when my hyperacusis was at its worst. At the time I didn't understand what was happening which made it harder.
It is possible these things can get better on their own, it's different for everyone and even if things don't fully resolve 100% somehow we find the strength to fight on and keep going.

Did music ever sound tinny, far away and hollow to you? And like parts/instruments were missing?

 

[Mister Muso]

I am having a bad day and I thought "this can't get worse" so I heard many songs on my cellphone. Some UFO, Alice Cooper, Rainbow, old Genesis, Yes, etc. just to get "lost" in a song. Now I have some kind of pain in my left ear. It wasn't loud, but maybe too trebly. Seems like I should forget rock music.

I am really bored.

I've listened to all those bands in the past and most of their music does aggravate my ears more often than not. I found one of the first rock bands I was able to start enjoying again was Pink Floyd. Then a bit of old Genesis. Maybe some Rush. I can usually listen to them in spite of the pain being my favourite band, and I've forgiven them for the tinnitus. J/k. I do feel your pain though. I'll be listening to a favourite song and thinking "I can handle this", then the guitar solo crashes in and I'm reaching for the volume dial.

Have you tried "Acoustic Neuromodulation by Tinnitus Works" on YouTube? Sometimes when all music aggravates me, those sounds give me something to listen to which can help my tinnitus to settle. Just don't play them too loud. They should be slightly below the level of your tinnitus.

 

[Don Tinny]

Have you tried "Acoustic Neuromodulation by Tinnitus Works" on YouTube? Sometimes when all music aggravates me, those sounds give me something to listen to which can help my tinnitus to settle. Just don't play them too loud. They should be slightly below the level of your tinnitus.

I didn´t try acoustic neuromodultation. I´ll give it a try. I wonder what happens with better speakers. Maybe the cellphone is too trebly for my ears. I was happy (even with my tinnitus ringing) remembering all those songs

 

[Mister Muso]

I didn´t try acoustic neuromodultation. I´ll give it a try. I wonder what happens with better speakers. Maybe the cellphone is too trebly for my ears. I was happy (even with my tinnitus ringing) remembering all those songs

Sometimes even a cellphone can help. One thing is I was finding it harsh on my ears, till I remembered I had an equaliser app installed and enabled. When I turned it off, the phone made a less harsh sound to my ears.

PS Tinnitus Works is actually run by a member of this forum going by the handle @Steve. Hope it helps you.

 

[Tex]

I mostly had to give up music. It wasn't as much of a loss to me as apparently to you. I can do without it except for during exercise. I never have music on in the car.

 

[Bartoli]

Same but mine also sounds either slowed down or sped up sometimes too. It is *completely* devastating. I wish I had an answer.

Have you researched displacusis? It's when your ears hear different notes for the same note coming in. When you say slowed down and sped up I assume you refer to a vinyl record? Altering the speed makes the pitch change. That's why I thought of this.

 

[FGG]

Have you researched displacusis? It's when your ears hear different notes for the same note coming in. When you say slowed down and sped up I assume you refer to a vinyl record? Altering the speed makes the pitch change. That's why I thought of this.

I have heard of that but I don't think it applies to me because if I plug up one ear there is no relief from that.

 

[Jason C]

Did music ever sound tinny, far away and hollow to you? And like parts/instruments were missing?

For me music sounded literally like it was coming from a broken speaker, I couldn't hear bass, the music sounded covered with a rattle noise and was really garbled and full of water. It's hard to explain but to me that is how music sounded. I could hear people's voice perfectly but other noise like traffic or a car horn seemed crazy loud everything was so loud.

 

[Mila9828]

Did music ever sound tinny, far away and hollow to you? And like parts/instruments were missing?

That's how I just started to hear it was after a night of really bad ear fullness. Please tell me this got better for you. It scares the life out of me I don't think I have any hearing loss either but I'm going in for a test tomorrow :/

 

[FGG]

That's how I just started to hear it was after a night of really bad ear fullness. Please tell me this got better for you. It scares the life out of me I don't think I have any hearing loss either but I'm going in for a test tomorrow :/

If that's how it sounds to you, get an extended audiogram. If you have any loss, use it to get steroids from your ENT (or maybe you have a good one who will try anyway), assuming this is acute. Music sounds the same to me still, unfortunately .

How did you get your hearing changes?

 

[Mila9828]

If that's how it sounds to you, get an extended audiogram. If you have any loss, use it to get steroids from your ENT (or maybe you have a good one who will try anyway), assuming this is acute. Music sounds the same to me still, unfortunately .

How did you get your hearing changes?

I actually have no idea but the hearing test I just had a week ago made things so much worse. They did an OAE test on me and it was extremely loud and uncomfortable to my ears. I'm now certain I may have damage in the high frequencies but I'm not entirely sure :/

 

[CAgirl]

@Mila9828 I know this is an old thread, but how are you doing now?

 

[Juan]

Did music ever sound tinny, far away and hollow to you? And like parts/instruments were missing?

Yes. That is due to either pressure derived from tinnitus / hyperacusis symptoms, hearing loss (even mild or "hidden") or a combination of those.

It can sound hollow due to pressure. For instance, right now I feel like if there was something literally pulling from my ears towards inside my head. That's some sort of pressure. I have gone to the ENT on days when I have this feeling of pressure and it does not show on a tympanogram, and the audiometric test is not significantly altered.

I think these alterations in the perception of music are very likely due to nerve conduction or the brain processing of sound.

 

[Juan]

Actually, I'm okay if I listen to only piano, only guitar, only flute. But when instruments are together, it's a mess and not enjoyable at all. Don't understand. Violin sounds strange on its own.

Do you think that an audiologist would be of any help to say why this is happening? I had a hearing test in October, but then I only had a low hum and not the very high pitched sound. That developed a week after the hearing test.

Hi Kriszti! Do you hear the single instruments (i.e. piano alone) on key or off key? Do you hear the reverberation, it is like the roundness of sound, or it sounds flat?

 

[Juan]

I've only been listening to music and mainly soothing music at a very, very low volume, like the first possible one on my phone

Do not listen to music on your cellphone. Those are like the worst speakers ever, the sound is poor quality and can make your ears react.

I think the gentler sound on ears is music played through an analog radio (there is a range of qualities here, although these are old equipment). After the radio, an hi-fi equipment and speakers should be best for your ears.

As for hearing the different instruments "merged" I think this is a deterioration or a change in sound processing.

When one listens to music with healthy ears and can concentrate and focus let's say on the drum part, or on a certain instrument in a song.. this happens because the sound is delivered in a sort of "multi-layered" manner to our brains and at a certain speed.

After one develops hearing issues the sound is delivered merged, and somehow slower, and this means an alteration in sound quality.

Just another note: if you can stand to listen to music a bit louder (within normal volume levels, not too loud) it may be beneficial to you. I cannot really explain why this happens, but your ears may pop, or you may hear a beep and then the sound quality changes.. let's say that ears can adjust, they like sound, if delivered on the right way. So do not give up music and try to listen to it on a better equipment and maybe a bit louder.

 

[Juan]

Did music ever sound tinny, far away and hollow to you? And like parts/instruments were missing?

More notes on music: if you play a song on your equipment, on speakers, and start at minimum volume, and with the remote control increase the volume one step at a time, progressively, and suddenly those missing parts or instruments "appear", there may be recruitment, hidden hearing loss, and a problem with sound processing.

When one has healthy ears and increases the volume progressively the quality should be the same, but louder. It could distort only if the music equipment is really bad, or if it gets so loud that it is painful, but normally with healthy ears the quality does not change when one increases the volume of music.

 

[FGG]

More notes on music: if you play a song on your equipment, on speakers, and start at minimum volume, and with the remote control increase the volume one step at a time, progressively, and suddenly those missing parts or instruments "appear", there may be recruitment, hidden hearing loss, and a problem with sound processing.

When one has healthy ears and increases the volume progressively the quality should be the same, but louder. It could distort only if the music equipment is really bad, or if it gets so loud that it is painful, but normally with healthy ears the quality does not change when one increases the volume of music.

I have some of that but also some sounds can't be heard no matter how loud I make them.

For the sounds I do hear in music, the quality does change somewhat with volume.

I tend to think this is more cochlear because voices or environmental sounds do not sound slowed down, only music. Most other sound is relatively normal. Unless I also have damage to the ion channels responsible for "dynamic sound", e.g. Kv3.1. Which I suspect I might.

 

[Juan]

I have some of that but also some sounds can't be heard no matter how loud I make them.

For the sounds I do hear in music, the quality does change somewhat with volume.

I tend to think this is more cochlear because voices or environmental sounds do not sound slowed down, only music. Most other sound is relatively normal. Unless I also have damage to the ion channels responsible for "dynamic sound", e.g. Kv3.1. Which I suspect I might.

I thinks this is a cochlear issue, damage to the hair cells and the "electrical wiring", rather than a conduction issue.

My ENT said that cochlear damage means no matter if you turn up the volume, the sound quality will not improve. Of course, it makes sense...

I have been trying to listen to the most music I can in the last few years, in anticipation of my hearing getting worse. Also, it is hard to remember songs just looking at lyrics, the rhythm, intonation etc. It is not easy to remember if one listened to a song long ago.

For me there are also other types of music that are really hard to remember: jazz and classical music. This is way more complex than rock or pop music. For classical music, I can remember well pieces by Mozart or Beethoven, but I would not be able to remember properly many other composers. For jazz I remember very few instrumental pieces...

 

[Juan]

I have some of that but also some sounds can't be heard no matter how loud I make them.

For the sounds I do hear in music, the quality does change somewhat with volume.

I tend to think this is more cochlear because voices or environmental sounds do not sound slowed down, only music. Most other sound is relatively normal. Unless I also have damage to the ion channels responsible for "dynamic sound", e.g. Kv3.1. Which I suspect I might.

Just to add: if you can still go to a concert venue and listen to live jazz or classical music (in case you like it), give it a try. It is best to do this before you can't enjoy it anymore.

For me the textures of many compositions, the layers, the different instruments, also feel missing, merged, faded or blurred. I remember going to jazz cafes in London or Chicago in pre-hyperacusis days and it was awesome.

 

[FGG]

Just to add: if you can still go to a concert venue and listen to live jazz or classical music (in case you like it), give it a try. It is best to do this before you can't enjoy it anymore.

For me the textures of many compositions, the layers, the different instruments, also feel missing, merged, faded or blurred. I remember going to jazz cafes in London or Chicago in pre-hyperacusis days and it was awesome.

I have seen many concerts including classical and jazz. I can't enjoy any music anymore with my current hearing state and it is crushing.

 

[Juan]

I have seen many concerts including classical and jazz. I can't enjoy any music anymore with my current hearing state and it is crushing.

For me right now music is better than speech, so I try to enjoy it, even if it does not sound at all like it did before

Now I am listening to Miles Davis... Bitches Brew... kind of difficult with my ears haha

 

[FGG]

I thinks this is a cochlear issue, damage to the hair cells and the "electrical wiring", rather than a conduction issue.

My ENT said that cochlear damage means no matter if you turn up the volume, the sound quality will not improve. Of course, it makes sense...

Did you mean the opposite? Louder music is more clear with cochlear injury?

 

[Juan]

Did you mean the opposite? Louder music is more clear with cochlear injury?

No, it does not get better even if you increase the volume because the hair cells are just gone, they won't be activated by a louder volume.

 

[FGG]

No, it does not get better even if you increase the volume because the hair cells are just gone, they won't be activated by a louder volume.

For mild outer hair cell loss amplification helps. By the time you get to very severe to profound, amplification has less of an effect. Hearing aids wouldn't help with speech otherwise.

"Sound quality" may be referring to the contribution from the synapses and inner hair cells as well but amplification definitely helps less severe OHC losses.

 

[Juan]

For mild outer hair cell loss amplification helps. By the time you get to very severe to profound, amplification has less of an effect. Hearing aids wouldn't help with speech otherwise.

"Sound quality" may be referring to the contribution from the synapses and inner hair cells as well but amplification definitely helps less severe OHC losses.

My hearing loss is mild, maybe leaning to moderate in high frequencies, and I don't notice much the benefits of amplification.

Actually my ENT ruled out any hearing aids because with this limited degree of hearing loss it does not make sense to try them.