Certain speakers worse for tinnitus?

[Aled Hughes]

Is there any reason why this could be so?

I've just bought a new pair of Adam A4V monitors. However, I have some mild tinnitus and I have a suspicion that these Adams could be triggering it (though it settles down again afterwards)

I wasn't feeling too well when I first got them - a cold or something, which often makes the ringing slightly louder, so I initially put it down to that, but we'll see... I haven't listened to them for a few days, but I have an album playing now, so we'll see how my ears are tonight/tomorrow morning.

The Adam tweeters do boast a very extended frequency response, but I somehow doubt that's the cause. Is something like high THD levels more likely to cause to cause something like this* ? The monitors do sound impressively detailed - could it be distortion that's tricking me?!

Another potential issue is that the room they're in is small, (very) narrow and not yet well treated (just two side mirror-point absorbers - this is just a small room at home, not the main studio) - is it more likely to be a room acoustics issue causing a lot of reflection. It's not exactly a comfortable listen at the moment, but I doubt that's the speakers' fault.

More treatment is arriving next week, so let's hope that improves things.

Interestingly, some Google searches showed others have had similar concerns with Adam tweeters and tinnitus, but others (including the SOS review) have claimed the tweeters to be a comfortable, non-fatiguing listen.

*In case someone stumbled upon this thread, I'm NOT accusing the Adams of having high distortion levels. It's just something I'm wondering.

[Bob Bickerton]

Can't really comment on the Adams, but I suffer from low level wide-band high-pitched tinnitus (white noise), which is generally not a problem for me. But I do notice that if I have a long day in the studio, the tinnitus gets a little worse, and is certainly effected by the level at which I'm listening, which is why I tend to mix at low levels. For this reason it's critical to be aware of your monitoring levels when using headphones, which I'm sure you're aware of (but saying for those who aren't)!

In the days of providing live sound, there were events where I had little control over levels (when system tech) and I noticed I would have temporary increased tinnitus after those events, which would then settle after an hour or two - so volume certainly seems to be a contributor. In fact I often wore hearing protection when acting as system tech for this reason.

A question I've asked myself is; Can high frequencies above our hearing range contribute to tinnitus even though we can't hear them? I don't have much over 10kHz these days and always have a meter across my main bus, in case it gets busy way up high.

Bob

[Drew Stephenson]

Hmmm. My first thought would be to wonder if the new speakers are producing reflections that the old ones weren't (or in ways you've not got used to).
Might be time to hang a duvet or two up if you get time before the rest of the treatment arrives.

[Aled Hughes]

Hmmm. My first thought would be to wonder if the new speakers are producing reflections that the old ones weren't (or in ways you've not got used to).
Might be time to hang a duvet or two up if you get time before the rest of the treatment arrives.

Thanks Drew - you raise an important point that I hadn’t explained - I did not have speakers in this particular room before, which is why I’m reluctant to point a finger at the Adams before testing.

And thanks Bob as well. I do a lot of work on headphones and it’s never an issue as long as I’m careful with levels (I have preset reference levels set up for headphones - I haven’t done this yet with the speakers so I might just be listening a bit too loud…). My tinnitus is also fairly benign, just some very HF whistling/noise and one lower pitched whine that’s not always noticeable (I usually notice it when I’m in bed). I can hear up to around 17kHz (38 years old)
When it is worse, it’s quite similar to how it was after doing a fairly loud live event, be that playing or engineering.

The main studio has massive ATC speakers and it’s never a problem there, even after long days, though my listening levels are well sorted there to. Same with the Neumanns and ATCs in the small studio, and the AE22s I had at before ar home (different room… different house in fact)

This room is quite awful at the moment though. Two chunky bass traps, a ceiling absorber and two more absorbers on the front wall to come soon…

[Aled Hughes]

…I have also “corrected” the above post that stated how my tinnitus gets worse after a “fairly loud love event”

[RichardT]

I’m wondering whether listening in an untreated room leads you to raise the volume. I have mild tinnitus (it doesn’t cause any problems with music or more generally) and it does get worse with higher listening levels.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I suspect its because the room is small and poorly treated. Not only will that raise the overall volume (same direct level but much more reflected sound), all those confusing early reflections will require far more concentration and processing to resolve, and that will inevitably also draw the brain's attention to your underlying tinnitus.

[Aled Hughes]

I suspect its because the room is small and poorly treated. Not only will that raise the overall volume (same direct level but much more reflected sound), all those confusing early reflections will require far more concentration and processing to resolve, and that will inevitably also draw the brain's attention to your underlying tinnitus.

I hope so.

Hard to tell if listening to an album there last night made things worse, I think the ringing may have been very slightly worse in bed last night and this morning.

I have cheap hi-fi speakers set up there are surrounds as well, so I’ll move them to the front and listen to them for an hour or so at a similar level to see if the same happens (not tonight though, camping with the kids !). They have a very subdued top end compared to the Adams though, so might well be a different outcome.

I was aware of some uncomfortable ‘pressure’ while listening last night though, and some very prominent resonances at some notes. Hopefully this all points to room acoustics issues.

[Aled Hughes]

In the interest of fairness to Adam Audio, I'm reviving this thread.

I've since moved to a bigger room with better treatment (still much more to come!), and the issue seems to be gone, so it doesn't seem to be an issue with the speakers.

In fact, I'm tempted to upgrade the LR mains to the bigger A8H...

[Hugh Robjohns]

I would have been astonished if it was due to the type of speakers. Tinnitus is usually affected by listening volume.

The cleaner the speaker, the louder we tend to listen (partly because we rely on distortion to tell us how loud something is), which can trigger or worsen tinnitus.

Also, an untreated and reflective room will bounce more energy into the ears, and you will tend to increase the speaker volume to get more direct sound.

So, basically, and as I said earlier, the biggest problem was undoubtedly the room itself.