Almost better than Neuromonics – tinnitus help Review

This app is almost better than the expensive ($4,000 USD) Neuromonics device that I tried for a month. The build quality and frequency response on the Neuromonics device are poor and the thought of carrying yet another electronic gadget and wired headphones was very unattractive. Worse, the Neuromonics system stopped masking my tinnitus within hours of getting home with it. I believe the demo sound files were a better fit for me than the custom files I got to take home. Getting retested and updated sound files from the audiologist was a slow and expensive process and I gave up without ever getting a good set of files. This app does not solve the 'two device' problem since the app does not function with the iPhone in sleep mode and it does not run in the background on iOS 4.x. Check your email, read an ebook, or preserve battery life and your tinnitus therapy will stop cold. When this is improved I'll add a star or two to the review. This app provides lots of options for creating a useful masking sound. I have never been able to get a frequency match, no matter what the tool or testing procedure. The pink, red brown, and white noise generators in this app are proving to be very useful in my case. On top of that you can layer one of 12 nature sounds and one of only two simple instrumental music tracks. The resulting therapy isn't exactly like Neuromonics. In that process they apparently do not simply 'layer' sound on top of sound but use a subtractive process that results in the music having rapidly spaced gaps that allow the tinnitus matched sounds to peek through. The instructions for setting maximum volume are poorly written / translated into English but are close enough. With no way to run the app in the background or sleep the device, touching the screen accidentally or putting the iPhone in a pocket will likely stop the sound. It currently seems impossible to set the iPhone volume with sufficient precision using the hardware rocker switch on the side of the phone. The app really needs a master volume control that will make it easier to fine tune the therapy volume to levels between any two adjacent settings on the iPhone. For example, between 'mute' and the first lowest volume setting on the iPhone is a large jump if you use noise isolating earphones. I'd like to set the app volume to levels between the steps available on the device. I was determined to call the audiologist on Monday after struggling with another sleepless night but am glad I did an app search (yet again) for a Neuromonics replacement. With endless options to tweak the masking sounds in this app, it should be easy to keep the tinnitus well masked. I doubt that any app or Neuromonics have true value in treating tinnitus but this app can provide some peace.
Review by RRhinos on tinnitus help.