Sound relief for tinnitus
Two honest tools: masking noise to take the edge off, and personalized notched noise built around your own tinnitus frequency. Free, private, no miracle claims.
1 Find your tinnitus pitch
Press play and move the slider until the tone matches the pitch you hear. Use headphones at low volume. Most tinnitus sits between 3 and 8 kHz.
2 Play your personalized notched noise
We generate noise with a narrow band removed exactly at your frequency (the approach studied as "notched sound therapy" since Okamoto 2010). Your ears get the soothing masking — without feeding energy at the pitch that rings.
Tip: A/B it — play plain white noise from the bottom bar, then Notched White here. If your tinnitus sits in the notch, the difference is often audible immediately. On spike nights, many people do best with Notched Rain at low volume.
3 Set the volume at the mixing point
Lower the volume until the noise and your tinnitus are both faintly audible — that's the "mixing point" used in tinnitus retraining therapy. Drowning the ringing completely feels tempting, but partial masking is what supports habituation over weeks. Then set a timer in the bar below (30 min wind-downs work well) or let it run for sleep.
What sound can and cannot do for tinnitus
Tinnitus is a brain phenomenon — usually the auditory system turning up its gain after hearing damage. Sound therapy helps two ways. Masking gives your brain competing input, so the ringing stands out less, especially in quiet rooms and at night. Habituation is the longer game: with time, consistent gentle sound helps your brain reclassify the tinnitus as unimportant background. The evidence for masking as relief is solid; the evidence for notched therapy specifically is promising but mixed — we offer it because it is free, harmless and personalized, not because it is magic.
If your tinnitus is new, one-sided, pulsatile, or distressing you — please see an audiologist or ENT. Tools like this page work best alongside professional care, never instead of it.
Frequently asked questions
Does white noise cure tinnitus?
No — and any site claiming that is overselling. What sound therapy does is masking (making the ringing less noticeable against a neutral background) and, over time, supporting habituation (your brain learning to file the tinnitus as unimportant). Those are real, well-documented benefits for many people, but they manage the perception, not the underlying condition.
What is notched noise?
Noise with a narrow band removed exactly at your tinnitus frequency. The idea, studied since Okamoto et al. (2010, PNAS), is that listening to energy around — but not at — your tinnitus pitch may reduce the neural activity that sustains it. Evidence is promising but mixed across studies; it is a reasonable, harmless thing to try, not a guaranteed treatment.
How loud should the masking sound be?
Aim for the "mixing point": just below or at the level of your tinnitus, so both are faintly audible. Fully drowning the ringing feels good short-term but works against habituation, and loud playback through headphones can itself harm hearing. Quieter is smarter.
My tinnitus pitch seems to move around — is that normal?
Very. Pitch matching is approximate and can vary by day, ear and fatigue. Get close, not perfect — the notch we generate is about two-thirds of an octave wide, so nearby is good enough.
When should I see a professional?
If your tinnitus is new and sudden, one-sided, pulsatile (beats with your heart), or comes with hearing loss or dizziness — see an audiologist or ENT promptly. Also go if it is distressing you: modern tinnitus care (TRT, CBT, fitted sound therapy) is far more effective with professional guidance. This page is a free tool, not medical care.