CDP caused tinnitus?

I've been watching this thread with interest, as I'm a tinnitus sufferer myself. I do think a new digital source or DAC would be likely to help; in a situation very similar to yours, it did for me. I still can't listen to my iPod at even low volumes (using AIFF files and AKG K501s) because of the experience you describe, but I can now listen comfortably through my speakers and headphones--and at higher volumes than before--using a Sony Playstation One. The Playstation aside--it's all I could afford to experiment with, and it's good enough I'm sticking with it for a while--I've since also listened to a number of other highly resolving digital systems I _loved_, with no tinnitus aftershock.

Tinnitus can be temporarily exacerbated by a lot of things--from music to coffee to alcohol--but Ckoffend is right: it happens when the tiny hairs in your inner ear that convey the highest frequencies are permanently flattened over, and a "detailed" CDP or system that emphasizes--or overemphasizes--those frequencies is going to hit them harder. For me, I find myself gravitating toward--and saving for--gear that is a little gentler in its presentation. For example, I'm now looking forward to swapping my K501s for a pair of Sennheiser HD600s, which I heard last weekend at Lyric Hi Fi through an Antique Sound Lab headphone amp with a Pioneer Elite DVD as the source: THAT's the sound I'm looking for, and I didn't feel it lost anything in terms of resolution. I could have listened for hours. Good luck with the medical and audiophile aspects of this.

Acoustic neuroma is benign brain stem tumor. It grows slowly, sometimes over decades, with symptoms ranging from tinnitus to gradual/complete hearing loss to balance problems to facial nerve spasms or weakness. The tumor rests on a block of nerves that include auditory, balance and trigeminal (facial) nerves. Although it probably won't kill you, if it grows large, it can certainly mess you up. There are two treatment options: surgery and radiation. There are two very distinct schools of thought on each, and doctors who specialize in either will push their specialty and denegrate the other. I chose radiation treatments (mild, no nausea or hair loss or stuff like that)at Johns Hopkins and, knock on wood, 5 yrs later, I'm doing great, and only lost some of my hearing and can still enjoy my audiophile habit. Sorry to go off topic, but if it helps anyone, I'm glad to help. Jeff

RWBadley ... fairly convinced you're inventing scenarios ... which is too bad both for you and for those who suffer from tinnitus ... mine began several years ago ... in no way associated with music or loud sounds ... and today floats between noticeable and not-noticeable regardless of what I've been doing or am doing ... anecdotal on my part, and most certainly so on yours ... give it up, please

As someone who has had tinnitus on/off for several years, mine was only really noticable at night when I was trying to sleep. It had the sound of "motor hum" a lower frequency noise. Interestingly enough it has been less noticable in the past year. I never noticed that listening to music made it worse. In fact many people need a bit of background noise/music to help reduce the effect.
I've never hear that listening to music made it worse. If that is the case then I suspect that you have more of an inner ear issue.

Gerardff,

I also have the low freq motor hum. This one comes and goes and I haven't yet figured out the cause. Feels like around 70-100 hz maybe.

The issue I've most suffered is a high freq sound. I don't know the freq range, but seems like is more on the order of 6-8khz or like that. It becomes more intrusive during some music playback. It will then be more pronounced for a period of time then subside again.

I have time available in the next week and will be getting an overall health checkup. At that time I'll see if there may be a systemic cause or what.

Thanks to all for your well thought out replies.