Tinnitus anyone?

Sad subject;different source. For 100's of years my main passion was Motorcycling -dirt and street.We would race for hrs at 100+mph/you get off the bike,your ears would be ringing for hrs after.Same for in the dirt.Even with the soft ear plugs.So when I read some of these posts/about 2 subs/105 decible level listening by the younger guys--- Well maybe just one might read this.

Yes, right ear, mostly continuous. I grew up on a farm in N.D. and routinely operated all sorts of REALLY LOUD farm machinery-- all day long. Later, electric guitars, chain saws, dirt bikes, dune buggies, firearms-- both army and recreationally, and many power tools. Both .357 and .44 Mag. revolvers are famous for causing tinnitus. In short, throughout my life I've been hard on my ears. BTW, when shooting, I used double ear protection (except in army). Despite the right ear tinnitus, I do have good hearing in both ears in "the presense region", but I can't hear the top octave or so-- but then I'm 57 years old. I just hope my hearing lasts another 10 years. I have not noticed what I would call "brittle sound", but then perhaps I've "tuned" my system to avoid this. HF hearing loss may also explain the importance of excellent bass to me, ie I can,t hear high the HF tones. Yeah, you young people out there-- protect your hearing, especially if you love music. Craig.

I have almost perfect hearing in my left ear (at least to 18Khz) and a sharp drop (almost nothing above 7Khz) in my right ear. It doesn't interfere with music listening much (I do remember the duo full-range days, however). As for Tinnitus, I've heard this can be caused by too much caffine & alcohol. It may be just the luck of the draw. I've worked in a large machine shop, played in hard rock bands, hit full rolls of caps with bricks and hammers (as a kid), played with small to large firecrackers, etc. and have just a teeny amount of "constantly radiating" noise (in the left ear). My Mother, who hasn't done any of these activities, has a much larger tinnitus problem. As for the hearing loss: I think it's from a dirty little coward, in south Chicago suburbs around 1975, who cold-cocked me in the ear when I wasn't looking. Also, it could be from wisdom tooth roots crushing the ear nerve (kids: Get your wisdom teeth plucked AS SOON as they appear!). Lastly, NEVER put anything up your nose (you know what I mean). Happy listening!

Working around heavy machinery, shooting guns, riding motorcycles, drinking too much coffee all contributed to my having mild tinitus. Luckily, my hearing doesn't seem to be diminished, though my girlfriend claims I have a slight case of "male selective hearing." Wonder if it's related? In any case, a little tinitus is like a bit of tube rush; it's just a sign the equipment, though maybe not state of the art, is still "the good stuff."

Not specific to tinnitus, but there was an item in the recent S'phile (I think) about the Audio CD from Digital Recordings (digital-recordings.com). This is a self-administered hearing test from 20Hz to 20kHz (audiology tests normally stop around 7k). I ordered it and, let me tell you, it is very easy to use, fun to use, and the results are nice information to have. I recommend it. Would like to have another discussion at some point about the implications of our varying hearing for the systems we build.