Tinnitus masker The ear has a resonance frequency (highest frequency response) at 3,000hz and rolls off at a very steep 26db/octave on the high frequency side. Unfortunately, most tinnitus is associated with hearing loss, and most hearing loss and tinnitus is high frequency. Most maskers are limited to about 6khz of effective output. Higher frequency output results in increasing distortion, and may cause rejection of the device. The minimum masking level (MML) is the minimum amplitude of narrowband noise centered on the tinnitus pitch (or frequency range) necessary to completely mask the tinnitus. Tinnitus maskers are commonly used by tinnitus sufferers when
Tinnitus masker tinnitus sounds and background sound. More advanced software based tinnitus maskers can use a combination of natural and synthetic sounds or a filtered noise generator tailored to mask the specific frequencies at which the tinnitus signal is experienced. Some sufferers require masking at all times. These people may employ wearable hearing aids which amplify ambient sound, generate low level wide band sounds such as white noise, or combination devices that mix both functions into one device. A standard hearing aid may be used for tinnitus masking; the tuning and amplification characteristics are different than when one is used in compensation