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Regulating Sound - Earbuds, Headphones, Loops , etc

GPK26
1 month ago

I am looking for suggestions for potential solutions to one of my biggest triggers - SOUND.

I am usually ok with loud sounds such as music, aircraft (eg at an air show), concerts and the like....just as long as I am expecting / aware of the high volumes.
Certain sounds such as children screaming / shouting, sudden unexpected sound, high frequency sound are what I struggle with.

I have a pair of Engage Loop ear plugs that I wear at times, such as in the supermarket, but they are not perfect.
Having conversations whilst wearing them can be difficult as it is difficult to hear the person that I am talking with, plus my own voice is amplified internally although externally I heed to talk louder. I find that loop earplugs can irritate my ears, especially if worn for long periods. I have used earbuds for listening to music in the gym, but they also irritate my ears so I now tend to use headphones instead. 

I recently had a meltdown / non epileptic seizure during a Yoga class of all places!
What happened is we were near the end of the class during which we practice relaxation. The gym have been having problems with the sound system and on this occasion the supposed relaxing music was way too loud. I tried to get the attention of the instructor (failed), covered my ears, but it was still too much and I just lost it. Not a pleasant experience for me or the others in the class as I was laying there having a massive seizure and nobody knew what was happening or what t do.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me.
What I am looking for is a solution whereby I can

  • Maintain a noise / volume level - anything that is louder than the set level will be quietened to the desire level
  • Reduce certain frequencies (high / mid-high)
  • Engage in clear conversations with others
  • Reduce / cut out other sounds or back ground noise so that I can truly focus on what I am trying to hear (I can struggle with hearing due to tinnitus which can get quite bad at times) 
  • I haven't looked into hearing aids, but suspect that they would be a problem for me if they are worn "in ear" and I imagine that you have to wear them all day
Parents
  • 1 month ago
    GPK26 said:
    I find that loop earplugs can irritate my ears, especially if worn for long periods.

    If in-ear solutions will not work for you then your only option is bulky over ear headphones which tend to make your ears very sweaty.

    All solutions are likely to cause the internal voice to be very loud - this comes from creating an internal echo chamber effect so is unlikely to be avoided.

    GPK26 said:
    Reduce / cut out other sounds or back ground noise so that I can truly focus on what I am trying to hea

    How can you tell the headphones what you want to cut out though? Most will work on detecting voices and allowing these through while trying to eliminate anything that meets the threshold of "environmental noise".

    Also with switching between listening to music and trying to have a conversation, I'm not use the headphones can do that in the way you want - you probably need to take them off while talking to someone in front of you.

    From your other criteria, these are pretty standard so looking at something from the Anker Soundcore range should meet your requirements - best to have a good look at online reviews and shop about as there is a lot of choice of models.

    Read the reviews on Amazon before buying as I see people reporting the sweaty ear issue a lot. I don't see much coverage of being able to use them for face to face conversations either, but I didn't spend a lot of time on this.

    I also read that total silence can make your tinnitus feel worse, so it may be worth disabling the noise cancellation when you have it and allow the sound through, but dulled by the headphones physically.

Reply
  • 1 month ago
    GPK26 said:
    I find that loop earplugs can irritate my ears, especially if worn for long periods.

    If in-ear solutions will not work for you then your only option is bulky over ear headphones which tend to make your ears very sweaty.

    All solutions are likely to cause the internal voice to be very loud - this comes from creating an internal echo chamber effect so is unlikely to be avoided.

    GPK26 said:
    Reduce / cut out other sounds or back ground noise so that I can truly focus on what I am trying to hea

    How can you tell the headphones what you want to cut out though? Most will work on detecting voices and allowing these through while trying to eliminate anything that meets the threshold of "environmental noise".

    Also with switching between listening to music and trying to have a conversation, I'm not use the headphones can do that in the way you want - you probably need to take them off while talking to someone in front of you.

    From your other criteria, these are pretty standard so looking at something from the Anker Soundcore range should meet your requirements - best to have a good look at online reviews and shop about as there is a lot of choice of models.

    Read the reviews on Amazon before buying as I see people reporting the sweaty ear issue a lot. I don't see much coverage of being able to use them for face to face conversations either, but I didn't spend a lot of time on this.

    I also read that total silence can make your tinnitus feel worse, so it may be worth disabling the noise cancellation when you have it and allow the sound through, but dulled by the headphones physically.

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