DIY CHEAP MASKER

[swindonian]

Hi everyone, I thought I would share this on the forum because it works for me and might just help the odd person. I should add that I did not wear hearing aids until 2 days ago and I know that many tinnitus sufferers do not having hearing loss. I have tried various homemade maskers over the years with varying success, usually it was a personal cd player or walkman linked to headphones or earplugs. But they were all clumsy and I could not wear them in bed and the players were too large to fit in a pj breast pocket. Sometime ago I learnt on this forum about sleep headbands and that resolved the sleeping problem, however, I was never going to wear a headband whilst out shopping. I suddenly had a eureka moment whilst trawling the internet, on Ebay I found a very tiny mp3 player and next I found a single headphone type earpiece (not a plug) and I now had a masker I could use for 24 hours either with the earpiece or headband. Up till then I had only used the BTA white/brown/pink and purple noise cds on continuous loop and of course I loaded those from my computer onto my new digital mp3 player using a USB cable link. I was delighted to find that my new tiny machine played consecutive tracks without break, so by loading any one track 8 times I had enough to get through the night. I had another fantastic break when I found a website (mc2method.org/white-noise/) which allows free downloads for personal use of white noise and 50 other sounds such as streams, waves, rainfall etc. I now have a huge library of sounds and the volume controls on this machine are great. I only use this now at night because my new aids have a 4 programme sound generator in each aid.

If anyone is interested you can be up and running for less than £20. Look for Rechargeable Digital Sound Recorder 8GB Voice MP3 Player Sound Recorder for £11.95 and Single Mono Headphone Earpiece 3.5mm Mono Jack £5.55, these are on Ebay. The headband costs around £12 from Amazon, not expensive as I also use it as an eye mask.

[Ruud1boy]

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will be along in due course, but just a note of caution about trying to permanently mask the T noise - if you can't hear the noise, your brain doesn't get the chance to re-evaluate it and (eventually) habituate to it. Certainly listening to a masking device can help, but don't have it set to completely cover the T.

[whywouldi in reply to Ruud1boy]

Spot on

[ade-the-pade]

Well done to you! !! A lot cheaper than the private ones.

Ade

[whywouldi]

Hi,Swindonian Hope this device works for you,the best masking site i have found online is (My Noise) clever clever guy runs this site Allows you to mix and match so many possible sounds it will amaze you,I go to this site when the going gets tough..the site is free of charge,although i donate a fiver once or twice a year..regards Jeff