Tinnitus masker sensation level (SL), is how much louder the tinnitus is above the ambient noise of the environment. By raising the ambient level of noise (playing white noise into the ear), the apparent loudness of tinnitus is reduced. The noise level is close to and usually somewhat louder than the perceived loudness of the tinnitus. The generated noise is designed to be a calming, less intrusive sound than the ringing or hissing of tinnitus. Depending on the loudness of the noise, tinnitus may be fully or partially masked. Tinnitus masking cannot reduce or eliminate tinnitus, only reduce awareness of it. The
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