“Tips” for Listening to Speakers, Talking on the Phone, Watching TV, etc?

For my job, I have to talk on the phone and use my laptop for virtual meetings a lot. I noticed the high-pitched noise of the speakers triggers my hyperacusis.

Does anyone have any “tips” to help with this? Are there special speakers I should use?
I already stopped using a phone headset, and I always use speaker setting while on the phone... I also discovered “closed captioning”

 

Wondering the same thing for Zoom calls. Not even the lowest volume does it for my pain hyperacusis.

 

@zozil_radical Can you go into more detail about closed captions?

I'm also interested in the subject you raised. I invested into some better speakers, because I had old ones.

I tend to use my laptop more nowadays, since it's more quiet and use the PC to do tasks that demand more performance. Also, my stock CPU cooler is rather loud when under load so I think investing in an aftermarket cooler can help reduce background noise.

 

You can use your PC on your laptop remotely https://parsecgaming.com/

On local network it will feel like native experience.

Thank me later.

 

Which speakers do you use?

You need good quality speakers, especially if you have hearing issues like hyperacusis.

 

When I watch videos on my computer/phone/TV, I turn on closed captioning so I can read what they’re saying.

 

@zozil_radical Yeah, but captions aren't always available. I thought you found some speech recognition software that does captions automatically.

@Snake I just tried Parsec today and it's awesome! Thanks!

 

You can go into BIOS and set "Silent Mode" for all fans. Helps a lot, but if you have high overclocked CPU it's not a good idea because of high temperatures.

 

Check out Jabra conference speakers. I use one every day at the moment in my office. 10-folds better sound than from phone speaker.

I use this version:

https://www.amazon.com/Jabra-Wireless-Bluetooth-Softphone-Packaging/dp/B072WTV8XP

 

I was having terrible trouble with Zoom and got a pair of speakers where you can adjust the bass/treble on the speakers. (I put treble all the way down.). I put them on the floor on the side of my less bad ear, pointed away from me. It has been a game changer!

For TV, we did use closed captioning for awhile with lowered volume. It’s helpful to try to watch TV and listen to music at a volume you can tolerate. Gradually, you will be able to tolerate more and more.

 

The other thing I would add here is that proximity to the problematic sound is a VERY big deal. I had trouble listening to music from our stereo, but realized if I just sat on the other side of the room, farther away from the speakers, it made a huge difference in my reactivity to the sound.

 

Ya, I'm not sure why this is but I've noticed it as well. I've never, even at my worst had difficulty listening to reasonable volume audio from our TV in the living room, which is at minimum about 10 ft away, but similar volume audio from my laptop can still be troublesome.

 

Yes, but I do think that is also bc the laptop speakers are crappier. I’ve gotten terrible effects just from the speaker on my phone. Sound quality is also a significant factor.

 

For me, my phone is one of the best options because it doesn't have any additional noise like the fans of a PC and it has only one speaker meaning I can point it wherever I want. If the phone is not cheap I don't think there should be problems with the sound quality and there's not going to be any distortions since I listen at low volume. I'm no musician, so I am satisfied with the sound.

 

Are cell phones really that bad for the ears at low volumes? I try to use mine at the lowest allowable volume if I can. However, in a noisy room or in the car I may have to turn it up a bit. Used to talk on the phone for over an hour or more a day in previous years and not sure what types of volumes I used back then.

Also, is it uncommon to hear voices much differently in each ear? I've noticed that I can't seem to hear voices and music with the same detail/clarity as my left ear. So I've used the left ear as my "dominant ear" for talking on the phone for some time. Also, when I tilt my right ear to say a laptop speaker it seems like I also hear more details and less muffle in the left ear.

 

Hi, after 3 years of tinnitus, what works for me is keeping the iPhone at the lowest volume, and the TV at slightly higher than low volume. Good luck.

 

As already mentioned, try a jabra where you can control the volume and keep some space between your ear and the sound source.