Tinnitus.. anyone else got it?

[JoeDJ]

Yesh, I got tinnitus in both ears but, it a bit worse in my left ear.
Judging buy some discriptions of this condition I have read on the net, I don't think mine is that bad compared to some. At least I can live with it and it does seem to minmize its self depending on what I eat/drink etc.
In addition, I do have a very hi freq hearing loss but, some is probably just due to my age which is 64. Actually, since I retired, my hearing has improved a bit.

When I was in my 20s to mid 30s, I worked as a bass guitarist in various rock bands These were the days before the use of on stage hearing protection and the widespread use of stage monitors. The end result was that my ears were really abused at times.

Also, I had a penchant for high end audio, I had a Heathkit 300w rms PC amp with a pair of "JBL L100 speakers" and a Thorens turntable with a "shure V15 tpe3 cartrige" for examples..... real high end stuff for that era. Yeah, I liked it loud at times.

In addition, I worked in noisy enviourment most of my life.

So, yeah, my ears have seen better days but, I did start taking better care of them years ago. However, some damage was already done.

However, fast forward...... recently (after retireing) I decide to get back into more than basic, crap audio. Nothing fancy but, I thought I could still enjoy music using sensible volume with a clean, balanced (for me) sound.
Yeah, I can no longer hear the super highs (most my age can't) but it can still sound good and clear with the righ components.

My one vice is now coffee and, as already stated by others, it (caffine) can be bad for tinnitus. So, it's one cup of real coffee in the morning for me and caffine free coffee if I want another cup during that day.

So, for any young peple out there reading this..... Please take care of your ears!
Sadly there was no one to tell me this when I was young.

[7n7is]

Did Einstein have tinnitus?

[eyoung]

now that I think about it 1979 0r 80 24HRS at Daytona big year for Mazda RX3SP/Cosmo/RX7... earsplitting the RX3SP coming off the trioval into the road course flames spewing several feet out of the exhaust loudest thing on the track
Porsche all varieties ,Ferarri 512BB ,BMW M1 did not hold a candle.

nothing like burning rubber,racing fuel, and hot babes from Europe hanging around the paddocks....

mE

[eyoung]

this is an electronics forum so just to tie it all together i was checking out the capacitive discharge ignition on all the Euro cars(LETHAL VOLTAGES)cool stuff...

mE again

[CanAm Man]

Originally Posted by eyoung

now that I think about it 1979 0r 80 24HRS at Daytona big year for Mazda RX3SP/Cosmo/RX7... earsplitting the RX3SP coming off the trioval into the road course flames spewing several feet out of the exhaust loudest thing on the track
Porsche all varieties ,Ferarri 512BB ,BMW M1 did not hold a candle.

nothing like burning rubber,racing fuel, and hot babes from Europe hanging around the paddocks....

mE

As for my hearing, a dozen years of racing a big-block alloy Chev in a McLaren Can-Am car (about two feet behind your ears) pretty well did in my high-end hearing. Surprisingly, the docs said I recovered much of that over the last eight years. Go figure. I celebrated by building myself a Nelson Pass F5 DIY.....!!

[tubelab.com]

this is an electronics forum

It is also an audio forum, so I can discuss SPL. Exact numbers unknown.

Loud, my 2.2 liter FWD Dodge with only a 1 foot long 3 inch diameter down pipe from the turbo pointing at the ground. Hey it was the late 80's and allowed at the track.

Louder and painful, The RX-7 equipped with a SuperTrapp "muffler" with all diffuser discs removed.

Even louder, In the pit against the rail at a Metallica concert (load tour). Music was loud, the pyro was extremely loud and hot.

Way louder. Standing on the firing line while a 50 calibre rifle was fired. Even with earplugs it was loud and the shock wave was felt.

The loudest thing I have ever heard, standing against the fence 20 feet from the drag strip when a top fuel dragster launches into a 5 second practice run.

Since this is an audio electronics forum I should explain that in 1989 at the age of 37 I decided to go to college and get an engineering degree. I was into solid state audio and microprocessors then. I was driving said FWD Dodge Charger at the time, before the "sport compact" craze and the current jiggowatt car audio systems were popular. I was designing and building microprocessor based gizmos to fool the primitive 1984 fuel injection system into allowing more boost and removing the pesky rev limiter. I also built a rather unique audio project for that car.

As with most engineering degrees you must complete at least one major project. In my case the teacher said we could do any project we wanted subject to one condition. We had to define a project and its measurement criteria up front and we would be held to that criteria. I calmly stated that I would build a car stereo system, and I stated that the teacher would hit his head on the roof of the car when I turned it on. The class got a good laugh, and my proposal was accepted.

I built an SMPS to take 12 volts and create +/- 35 volts and a second SMPS to make +/- 50 volts. There were 4 identical amps running from the low voltage supply using plastic BJT transistors that made about 50 watts each. Each amp fed its own speaker. There was one amp running from the 100 volt supply that made over 100 watts using TO3 transistors that fed the 15 inch sub in the hatchback. It worked, and I got my degree. I no longer have that car but I still have the amp and 15 inch speaker. The system was dubbed the Master Blaster.

After reading the above stories and realizing that I have many more, isn't it obvious why I have Tinitus?