Excessive ringing in ears after headphone use

Mr. Wolf

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
7,162
I'm curious if any of the many headphone users have noticed their ears ringing more after a few hours. I've had some very mild tinnitus for years, so am always careful about volume levels. Yet, even while keeping the volume pretty low with games/music I've felt a pronounced increase in the ringing that continues long after I stop using my headphones. As much as I like them, I think I'm going to have to return my DT 990 and stick with speakers. :(
 
I have developed tinnitus as well and it does seem to become more pronounced for a period of time if I abuse my ears...even at volumes that didn't seem that bad three years ago. For me, I definitely notice it more after an extended session with headphones, or when listening to something heavy in bass on my home theater system

Typically I can significantly reduce the ringing with a few days of not listening to music.
 
Best to be careful than trash your only set of ears.

I've met way to many kids who trashed or are trashing their hearing way too young, unaware of exactly how loud they crank their cans/buds.
 
Best to be careful than trash your only set of ears.

I've met way to many kids who trashed or are trashing their hearing way too young, unaware of exactly how loud they crank their cans/buds.

"Tinnitus"

Be gentle to your ears , never so loud that it "hurts" , always at a comfortable listening level. Also don't use your headphones for hours and hours on end , take breaks or you can get heavy ringing for days because of the fatigue.

As usual with everything in life , everything in moderation.
 
Thanks for your responses. I'm just going to return my headphones. No sense risking any damage to my hearing. I expect to get at least another 40+ years use out of these ears.
 
I've always ben careful to not wear my cans longer than 2 hours at a time. When I was young I was blasting metal/grung/alternative/indie pop all the time and developed the ringing. I ended up having long term damage to my left ear drum but my right ear (thankfully) returned. I still crank the volume from time to time but never to the degree I used to.
 
This is the very reason I no longer use headphones. My HD650s were nice but I was starting to develop ringing :(

Speakers only now for me.
 
Be especially careful with searing treble, that is what causes tinnitus the fastest. My old Grado SR-325i mostly collects dust for that very reason.
 
Be especially careful with searing treble, that is what causes tinnitus the fastest. My old Grado SR-325i mostly collects dust for that very reason.

The DT990 is also sort of famous for its harsh treble.
 
I have tinnitus as well, and I try not to use headphones. Have to if I want to listen to music at work, but otherwise no more headphones. I'll take barely audible speakers over them any day. :)
 
The DT990 is also sort of famous for its harsh treble.

I own the DT990 600ohm version and it has extremely strong treble. I don't mean that in a bad way but if you have bad habits and listen to music cranked everyday , you'll end up with serious hearing loss in no time.

I leave mine at a lower volume than my HD650's because of its brightness.
 
I own the DT990 600ohm version and it has extremely strong treble. I don't mean that in a bad way but if you have bad habits and listen to music cranked everyday , you'll end up with serious hearing loss in no time.

I leave mine at a lower volume than my HD650's because of its brightness.
Yeah, I have the same 600ohm DT990. I guess I should have researched them a little better to find out about their treble. I spoke to my AM radio friend and he suggested the Audio-Technica A900 as possibly being a better phone for me. I might give it a try once my DT990 is returned.
 
I've generally found closed cans to be more fatiguing on my ears than open ones.
 
Just don't turn them up so loud. Hearing damage is a function of volume over time. The louder the volume, the less time you can tolerate it. Keep it to 80dB or under and you are good all day.
 
Keep volume down, EQ down the high treble if it is harsh/piercing. I've had some headphones give fatigue and others don't. Depends on voicing and EQ.
 
I've generally found closed cans to be more fatiguing on my ears than open ones.

Indeed. Opened cans are better in that regard no doubt but really its all about personal responsibility. If the volume level is actually so loud that it almost "hurts" than you need to reduce by at least 25 percent. If you find that lowering the volume makes your headphones lose lots of detail and effect than you need to buy a pair headphones with a balanced and flat response.

I tell my friends that I recommend that they get an external DAC/AMP , a decent pair of headphones and never turn it up beyond 35-40 percent. Again if you have a decent pair of headphones properly amped you'll lose none of the detail or sound stage and you'll notice a dramatic drop in overall fatigue. Another thing to consider is the clamping force of the headphones you are using , if you notice that the top of your head is "sore" or "sensitive" that means you need to ease up on tightness. You don't want your headphones falling right off your head but you want it very loose so it doesn't put down too much pressure on your skin. Also the better headphones have much better cushioning material that will feel very "light" on your ears. Even better than that are full sized cans that cover the entire ear but with some room to spare. They don't actually directly rest on them so the fatigue is even less , something to look out for.

I use to go to tons of concerts as a teenager and never wore ear plugs and for that I'm suffering for it. Sometimes the ringing in my ears is so painful I have to take heavy narcotics to deal with it.
 
Is it that you use headphones, or is it that you just use them too loudly?

I don't think returning the headphones will make a difference if you still listen too loudly on speakers.

I always folow the "turn it down as far as you can tolerate, while still clearly hearing the music/audio". Isolation headphones like earbuds help because by blocking out outside noise, you don't need to turn them up as much to overcome the ambient.
 
Is it that you use headphones, or is it that you just use them too loudly?

I don't think returning the headphones will make a difference if you still listen too loudly on speakers.

I always folow the "turn it down as far as you can tolerate, while still clearly hearing the music/audio". Isolation headphones like earbuds help because by blocking out outside noise, you don't need to turn them up as much to overcome the ambient.

It depends on the individual as we all have different tolerances levels. If you listen to your headphones at low volume then blast your stereo system until you get ringing in your ears than your defeating the purpose of lowering volume OVERALL.

Personally I can't use ear buds , they actually hurt after about 30 minutes of even lowered volume usage. Everyone is different of course but I just can't stand to use them personally.
 
Is it that you use headphones, or is it that you just use them too loudly?

I don't think returning the headphones will make a difference if you still listen too loudly on speakers.

I always folow the "turn it down as far as you can tolerate, while still clearly hearing the music/audio". Isolation headphones like earbuds help because by blocking out outside noise, you don't need to turn them up as much to overcome the ambient.
As noted in my initial post, I'm extremely careful with volume levels. My tinnitus is quite mild; certainly nothing remotely close to what Godmachine has (I feel for you, man!) I never felt even the slightest discomfort due to sound levels while wearing the cans for any span of time. I usually took them off because my ears got too warm or I was just ready to stop. It just felt like my ears were ringing a little more intensely after I stopped using the headphones. Maybe I'm being over-cautious, but given what GM deals with, I'll do whatever it takes to prevent it.

I'm still new to headphones and will continue experimenting until I find the right set. There's a lot of good info in this thread I can put to use.
 
In terms of comfort, fatigue, that is all personal and there are lots of things you can play with. Do what works for you. In terms of damage, all you have to worry about is noise level over time. If you are playing it safe, use the EU's scale which is more stringent than OSHA's. 80dB is approved for basically all day long. 85dB is the maximum recommended, 90dB you can do for about 2.5 hours.

In terms of telling what level you are at there are a few options:

1) Calculate it. You take the efficiency of your headphones, their impedance, and the output level of your amplifier (measured with a volt meter), and you can get the SPL they are producing, roughly. Bit of a pain but there you go.

2) Measure it. You can get microphones made for this kind of thing, to hit in your ears or on a mannequin. There are SPL meters and couplers made for this too. Check and see what level on your amp gives you a given volume.

3) Approximate it. Find someone who has a reference calibrated sound system (or if you have one yourself) and use it as a yardstick. Set the level to a known level on it, and get your phones to sound the same.

However if you don't abuse the volume dial, and it sounds like you don't, then there isn't a lot of worry.
 
Is it that you use headphones, or is it that you just use them too loudly?

I don't think returning the headphones will make a difference if you still listen too loudly on speakers.

I always folow the "turn it down as far as you can tolerate, while still clearly hearing the music/audio". Isolation headphones like earbuds help because by blocking out outside noise, you don't need to turn them up as much to overcome the ambient.

While you are absolutely correct about the volume part my doctor explained to me that sometimes even with reasonable levels of volume all you need to do is have pro longed use of headphones (like only using headphones) to damage your ear drum.

You just need to learn moderation honestly. Since some of these headphones have intense treble, and can have intense direction with sound, you just need to be respectful of the headphones.
 
I dont exactly know if I have tinnitus because I dont exactly fit the typical tinnitus description. One day, in a quiet boardroom, without any headphone use at all that day, the hearing in my left ear went numb, then a medium ringing started, then it decreases in volume and fades to nothing/normal in about 10-15 seconds, I've never experienced, and dont want to experience a continuous/extended ringing.

That scared the living crap out of me, and was sure it was tinnitus. I've had it happen about 7-8 times over the past 2 years, not correlated to headphone use at all, it just happens randomly. I've had it happen in either ear, but never on both ears at the same time.

After observing a pattern, it turns out my ear rings when 1) I am highly stressed at work/school and/or 2) when im under a strong caffiene buzz. i.e... the first time it happened, I've been drinking WAYYY too much coffee in a small timespan. At first, it scared the crap out of me, but then I've learnt to deal with it was a "stress" alarm, if my ear rings, I'll just stop what I'm doing, "ooossaahh", chill, and it goes away.

Does this sound like tinnitus? I've had my hearing checked out at free ear test on campus the other day, and my hearing is perfect, passed with flying colors, no loss whatsoever.

I havent been stressed for the past 8 months or so, and I've never had it happen since.
 
Actually yes, its not something that will always be on in every case and it doesn't have to include ringing. I was told if a case that one person can have it without experiencing the ringing at all, but it did later develop. I would be happy to be in your shoes as mine is constant...
 
EQ - I don't believe you have anything to worry about. Read Godmachine's post to see how bad tinnitus can be; truly brutal. I notice either a vary faint ringing or a soft sound like wind blowing when I'm in a quiet room. I consider myself extremely lucky as I was a serious music blaster in my teens and twenties. It could have turned out much worse for me. I've read stories of cases so excruciating that it led to suicide. William Shatner has a very severe case and wrote of suicidal thoughts to escape the pain.

This thread should be stickied so all members of [H] can learn and be cautious with their audio.
 
EQ - I don't believe you have anything to worry about. Read Godmachine's post to see how bad tinnitus can be; truly brutal. I notice either a vary faint ringing or a soft sound like wind blowing when I'm in a quiet room. I consider myself extremely lucky as I was a serious music blaster in my teens and twenties. It could have turned out much worse for me. I've read stories of cases so excruciating that it led to suicide. William Shatner has a very severe case and wrote of suicidal thoughts to escape the pain.

This thread should be stickied so all members of [H] can learn and be cautious with their audio.

Oh yes, I've seen the youtube videos/awareness videos of people describing tinnitus, and since I've experienced what it actually sounds like, oh man... living with that sound constantly has just gotta suck. There was this one video that really made feel bad about it, the way the guy described it, he really looked like he was going through hell, but I couldn't find it anymore. I've researched around to see whether what I had was tinnitus or not. I tried imagining living with that ringing sound constantly... ouch, that's something I've gotta avoid.

Ever since I got the first ring, I actually started care for my ears, I still do wear IEMs (from what I gather, these are the main culprit, as it pretty much blasts your eardrum up close, with no sound escape), but I do not wear them for a very extended time and not very loud, 1 hour tops. If i'm listening to music for an extended amount of time, I use speakers at home, and ipod headphones at work (yeah they suck, but I want my ears to last). I have also cut back on coffee, I've read that coffee amplifies the ringing in ears. I still have a cup a day, but I don't go nuts like I used to in the past.

The best description of the sound that I experienced is the CSS flashbang sound, but just in one ear. I remember when it happened, I was in a boardroom, and I interrupted the meeting, and asked "what the hell is that sound?!", everyone looked at me with confusion like "errr?" or "dude, are you okay?", that's when I realized that oh shit, that sound is in my head =\
 
Last edited:
Honestly if it sounded like a Flashbang went off next to your ear then you should just sparingly use headphones in general and stick to speakers at low volume mostly.

And if you haven't seen a doctor about it , consider doing so. I'm sure you could get far better information on how to deal with it or treat it and there is progress being made on it as the research is well funded.
 
It is very similar to a flashbang indeed, its so similar in fact, that when I play CSS and a flashbang goes off at the right angle/volume/tone during gameplay, I do question whether its my ear or the game itself. It has never been my ear, all the rings I had happened during moments of silence.

I actually was going to see a doctor about it, but ever since I had that free test (they were promoting ear protection et all), I don't really see the benefit of me doing so.

My ears are fine, my hearing is fine apparently, I haven't experienced that horrid ring in months, not sure what/how I would describe the issue to the doctor :S

I guess I should get it checked out by an audiologist regardless, just in case.
 
Yea , at least go and do one visit. Just to make sure , sometimes even a one time event can result in a life time of issues so play it safe :)

Good luck :)

I can tell you as well that even if you have it , you can learn to deal with it. It has its moments but its not the end of the world.
 
Back
Top