Studio Monitors + Tinnitus

[ringing]

My new problem is that I just invested in some high quality studio monitors (speakers) and they may be dangerous for my hearing. Okay, they sound amazing, but I noticed a new ringing in my left/central part of my range of hearing while listening. Very slight, but I'm concerned that these new monitors will make things even worse in the long run.

Even at the lowest volume level to where the whole frequency spectrum is audible - I can feel them messing with my ears subtly.

At this point it is time to decide if I am going to return them - I'm not even sure what the seller's return policy is. I know for a fact that the volume level I'm setting them at shouldn't hurt my ears... But something is up.

It's ironic that I spent so much money and was so excited to finally have them shipped and set up, and now they are possibly hurting my ears again. What do you guys think?

 

[ashley]

Is it only when you're listening to them? I'm assuming they're speakers, not headphones right? My old old tv used to send off a very soft high pitch when it was on its way out... Then again it was old and these speakers are new. Maybe, if they're headphones, put the right on the left side and left on the right just to double check... Maybe something is wrong with their equipment.

If it's not the headphones... Maybe the timing is just a coincidence and you have a very soft case of tinnitus? It could be possible that if it's very mild, you normally don't hear it, but when you got your new headphones you are really focusing on listening to the sound quality so you realize it then. Any change in diet, medicines, stress, alcohol/nicotine/caffeine intake? All of these things have a strong correlation to tinnitus.

Overall, this is super interesting! I can't wait to hear back from you and find out more!

 

[yonkapin]

What monitors? I use two sets of monitors for everyday listening and music stuff, the Adam A7Xs and the Alesis M1 Active MIIs. I set the the output on the cabinets very low and control the volume through my audio interface, haven't run into any problems. I wouldn't think monitors would cause any problems because they are designed to provide a neutral/flat frequency response, whereas normal speakers generally hype certain frequency bands to sound nice.

That's strange that they are messing with your ears though, are you sure it isn't something to do with the monitor itself? I know my A7X's tweeters like to hiss, which isn't unusual and I had a pair of Mackies that produced some weird whine type noise that I had to return. Maybe your hearing some resonance produced by the monitor, or the acoustic space in your room/studio? Play around with them a bit and see.

If it's your ear though, you might be experiencing some form of frequency distortion, I know that I was experiencing high frequency distortion in my right ear for a few months - it felt like someone slapped an EQ on my right ear and was driving 16khz+ into the red, so when I was in the shower or somewhere with a lot of action in the high frequency range I could hear a really metallic sounding sort of resonance. It was annoying but it resolved itself relatively quickly.