How to Deal with Conference Calls? Quality Sounds Like My Ears Are Being Stabbed

Obviously earbuds and headphones are out. My iPhone speakerphone sounds like I am being stabbed. Laptop speakers also sound grating. Curiously, my television speakers do not irritate me at all when I'm watching TV, but I can't use these for a call.

So, is there a way to make phone call quality audio not sound like I am getting needles into my cochlea? Not only does it suck in the moment, but it seems to spike my tinnitus and screw up all other sorts of shit once I hang up and go back to work for the day.

Fortunately my hyperacusis is not so acute that it is more of an annoyance than a debilitating condition right now, but calls absolutely suck.

 

Sometimes I use these 15 - 20 dB earplugs, sometimes light muffs. In either case I turn up the volume such that it's barely audible and keep the call as short as possible.

 

@Gordon Steinberg Have you tried out Jabra BT Conference speaker, or similar? Supposed to give you good sound quality, and can hook up over BT automatically when you are at home or in your office. I am planning to buy and try out one next week.

 

No but that's a great suggestion - I will give it a shot and report back.

 

I think I will opt for this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Jabra-Wireless-Bluetooth-Softphone-Packaging/dp/B00AQUO5RI

 

I can't think of any suggestions, but I'm sorry that you're going through this. Talking on the phone is really strange for me now too since I'm not used to hearing noise in my left ear.

In other words, I can somewhat relate and you're not alone.

I hope that MindOverMatter's suggestion works out for you.

 

I never talk directly in my phone anymore unless its strictly necessary. I don't use earbuds/pods either. I prefer having the sound out in the room, but it has to be from quality speakers.

 

@MindOverMatter

Does anyone know why electronic type noise sounds so grating from small speakers? Everything you say about having the sound out in the room from good speakers resonate with me, but I wish I knew WHY on a scientific basis. Before my hyperacusis became more severe I just thought oh, it's a small crappy speaker, of course it hurts my ears! But now that I take a step back, it does seem abnormal.

I know the underlying condition of hyperacusis is not totally understood, but it would be interesting to understand why one sound wave is more irritating than another by studying the sound itself. I have had minor irritation from phone calls all the way back from 2014 when I first began my professional career, and these crappy calls became the norm.

It makes me ANGRY haha.

 

For as long as I can remember speaking on cellphones when the signal is particularly garbage has hurt my ears, as does using bad quality laptop speakers, or tiny bluetooth speakers. I've always just thought to myself, bad quality speakers are cheap so of course they hurt your ears, but now I realize this is not the case for everyone.

I really want to understand why on a scientific level, cheap speakers sound so grating to myself, and others with similar tinnitus/hyperacusis.

I am at the point now where for every work call, I put my iPhone on speaker phone on the lowest volume and point it away from me. I'm FRUSTRATED, but it would be interesting to speak to others with similar conditions and discuss the cause / workarounds if at all possible.

 

@Gordon Steinberg

Regarding why on a scientific level I am not qualified to answer. Maybe someone more scholared can answer to this?

Anyhow, to me it's better with quality speakers, but in the end it all comes down to the various frequencies in the sound - music or whatever. Strange thing is the same music may sound less distorted in my ears when I'm close up to the speaker (low volume level) than on a distance.

Personally I'm starting to wonder if TTTS might be my actual problem. I came over an interesting article/study the other day - old though, written in 1979 by a Swede named Ingmar Klockhoff. Maybe the distortion actually is dysacusis and not hyperacusis? Or might be a mix. Sound distortion is common with dysacusis seems like. And the mental aspect of it is a big deal when it comes to the "healing process". Klockhoff refer to the TTTS being caused "by INCREASED PSYCHIC TENSION due to mental stress". "As regards therapy reassurance comes first: Information that the neurotizing symptoms need not signal a dangerous disease which the patients often have suspected with a circulus vitiosus as a result. The knowledge that there is a psychosomatic dysfunction due to stress is of great help....physical relaxation therapy is often found to be effective..."

Onset of my tinnitus, and with a couple of major spikes, I have had issues with some unspesific dizziness (not Meniere's) which I understand is also normal with TTTS. I can relate to what Klockhoff describe as: "The patient may feel like
he is walking on soft pillows..." Which has happened to me a few times.

I also understand that tension headaches is typical for TTTS which I have suffered a lot of from time to time.

 

I've ordered the Jabra 710 UC - which has better sound quality than 510. Will definitely be way better than phone sound or laptop sound.

 

I seldom do conference calls, but I would suggest purchasing good quality speakers to connect to your laptop.

 

@Gordon Steinberg did you ever find any resolution to this, whether via normal adjustment process or technology? My inability to handle the audio on work calls is threatening to doom my career if I can't figure something out. I've been trying to "get used to it," per my ENT and others, but that hasn't gotten me anywhere (though that in itself could be because I'm hyperfocused on it, if I'm being honest)

 

Musician earplugs, -20NRR, can make these calls a lot more bearable.

 

Can I ask, how low does the volume go on the 710? My current problem is the minimum volume on my speaker is actually still too loud. Just curious based on your experience. Thanks!

 

@GBB I have not measured the actual dB volume output at the lowest. But when volume is set low (level 1), and your computer is put on the lowest level, it's really low. Any lower than that and you can't hear anything really.

But I get where you come from. Been there myself, but at least the speaker is miles better than the horrible (on bad days) tinny sound from my mobile.

 

We use Microsoft Teams for our conference calls and I adjusted the sound on my screen to fit me and no speakers. I don't wear anything on my ears. It does not bother my ears. I use it almost every day.

 

@MBH I use Microsoft Teams too, but I need quality speakers. So using integrated speakers on the screen for instance would give me too much feedback and distortions. Especially on the worse days.

 

I always ask my manager to enable closed captions and I am also reading the subtitles. It's not perfect, but with minimal volume on laptop, I can manage it somehow.