Why customizable sounds beat presets for tinnitus masking

Most tinnitus masking apps work the same way. You open the app, scroll through a list of preset sounds (rain, white noise, ocean waves, cafe ambiance), tap one, and adjust the volume. Maybe you can layer two sounds together. That is the extent of your control.

For some people, that is enough. But if you have spent any real time searching for the right masking sound, you already know the problem: presets are someone else's guess at what your ears need.

Tinnitus varies wildly from person to person. It varies for the same person from morning to evening, from a quiet room to a noisy office, from a good day to a rough one. A fixed library of sounds does not account for any of that variation. You are stuck browsing, hoping something in the catalogue happens to land close enough.

There is a different approach, one built around customization rather than curation. Instead of choosing from a menu, you build your own sound environment from the ground up, with control over pitch, volume, layering, and effects on every individual layer.

This post makes the case for why that matters.

The problem with preset-only apps

Preset-based apps are not bad. They are just limited in a specific and important way: they assume that a pre-built sound will match what you are looking for.

Here is why that assumption breaks down.

Tinnitus is not one sound

Tinnitus presents differently for nearly everyone who experiences it. A meta-analysis in JAMA Neurology estimated that 14.4% of adults worldwide experience tinnitus, with a wide range of perceived pitches and sound characteristics (Jarach et al., 2022). Some people perceive a high-pitched tone. Others hear a low hum, a buzzing, a hissing, a roaring, or multiple overlapping sounds. The pitch, texture, and character of the perception can shift over time, sometimes within the same day.

A preset library, no matter how large, is a finite set of fixed sounds. It cannot adapt to the specific frequency profile of what you are hearing right now. You might find something that partially overlaps, but partial overlap is a compromise, not a match.

Volume is not enough

Most apps that do offer mixing limit your control to volume. You can make the rain louder or quieter. You can turn the white noise up or down. But volume alone is a blunt instrument.

Consider what volume control actually does: it makes the same sound louder or softer. It does not change the character of the sound. It does not shift its frequency content. If a preset sound does not sit well against the pitch of your tinnitus at its default frequency, turning it up just makes a poorly-matched sound louder.

This is the core limitation. Volume adjusts intensity. It does not adjust the spectral relationship between the masking sound and your tinnitus. Research by Perez-Carpena et al. (2021) found that narrowband noise centred on the individual's tinnitus pitch produced higher rates of temporary tinnitus suppression than broadband noise, suggesting that frequency targeting matters more than volume alone.

Browsing is not building

There is a fundamental difference between scrolling through a catalogue and constructing something yourself. Preset libraries put you in the role of a browser, evaluating options that someone else designed. Customization tools put you in the role of a builder, shaping sound to your own specifications.

This distinction matters because the person with the most information about what they are hearing is you. No sound designer, no matter how talented, can anticipate the exact combination of pitch, texture, and layering that matches your specific situation on a specific day. Only you can do that, but only if you have the tools.

What real customization looks like

When we talk about customizable tinnitus sounds, we do not mean "pick from 20 presets instead of 10." We mean granular, per-layer control over every dimension of the sound you are building.

Per-layer pitch control

This is the single most important customization feature that most apps lack. Pitch control means you can take any sound (white noise, a tone, rain, a texture) and shift its frequency up or down independently.

Why does this matter? Because frequency matching is one of the most studied concepts in sound masking research. Moore, Vinay, and Sandhya (2010) found a strong correlation (r = 0.94) between tinnitus pitch and the audiometric "edge frequency" where hearing loss worsens. The relationship between the pitch of your masking sound and the pitch of your tinnitus determines how the masking sound interacts with your perception. Being able to tune each layer's pitch means you can explore that relationship precisely, rather than hoping a preset happens to land in the right range.

Independent multi-layer mixing

Layering is not new; plenty of apps let you combine two or three sounds. But the value of layering depends entirely on how much control you have over each layer.

With independent volume and pitch controls per layer, a five-layer mixer becomes an instrument for building complex sound environments. You can set one layer of broadband noise at a specific pitch, add a second layer of a different texture at a different frequency, introduce a third layer for depth, and fine-tune each one independently. Research on enriched acoustic environments supports this approach: Norena and Eggermont (2005) demonstrated that structured sound exposure after noise trauma can counteract maladaptive neural plasticity in the auditory cortex.

DSP effects

Digital signal processing effects (things like reverb, filtering, and modulation) add another dimension of control. They let you shape the texture and spatial quality of your sound layers beyond what the raw source sounds provide.

A large sound library, used differently

Having 95+ sounds available is useful, but the purpose of a large library changes when you have real customization tools. In a preset-only app, a big library means more options to browse through. In a customizable app, a big library means more raw materials to build with.

How to think about building your own sound environments

Start with one layer and your pitch

Choose a single broadband sound and use pitch control to explore the frequency range around your tinnitus. Move slowly. Pay attention to where the masking sound starts to interact with your perception in a way that feels right to you.

Add layers for depth and coverage

Once you have a primary layer dialed in, consider what is missing. Does the sound feel too thin? Add a layer of lower-frequency noise. Does it feel too static? Add a layer with a different texture.

Revisit and adjust

Your sound environment is not a set-and-forget configuration. What works in a quiet room at night might not work during the day. What works on Monday might need adjustment by Thursday. Tinnitus perception fluctuates with stress, fatigue, noise exposure, and time of day (Pan et al., 2015). This is exactly why customization matters more than presets.

Why this is the approach siasola was built around

Siasola Tinnitus Masking Sounds exists because its creator, Justin, has tinnitus and could not find an app that gave him the level of control he wanted.

The result is a sound customization tool with 95+ sounds, a 5-layer mixer with independent volume and pitch controls on every layer, DSP effects, a sleep fade mode, and a dedicated pitch exploration tool.

If you have been browsing tinnitus masking apps and feeling like none of them quite give you what you need, the issue might not be the sounds themselves. It might be the lack of control over those sounds.

More presets is not the answer. More control is.

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References

1. Jarach CM, Lugo A, Scala M, et al. Global prevalence and incidence of tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Neurology. 2022;79(9):888-900. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.2189

2. Moore BCJ, Vinay, Sandhya. The relationship between tinnitus pitch and the edge frequency of the audiogram in individuals with hearing impairment and tonal tinnitus. Hearing Research. 2010;261(1-2):51-56. doi:10.1016/j.heares.2010.01.003

3. Norena AJ, Eggermont JJ. Enriched acoustic environment after noise trauma reduces hearing loss and prevents cortical map reorganisation. Journal of Neuroscience. 2005;25(3):699-705. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2226-04.2005

4. Pan T, Tyler RS, Ji H, Coelho C, Gogel SA. Differences among patients that make their tinnitus worse or better. American Journal of Audiology. 2015;24(4):469-476. doi:10.1044/2015_AJA-15-0020

5. Perez-Carpena P, Bibas A, Lopez-Escamez JA, Vardonikolaki K, Kikidis D. Systematic review of sound stimulation to elicit tinnitus residual inhibition. Progress in Brain Research. 2021;262:1-21. doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2021.01.020

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siasola Tinnitus Masking Sounds is a sound customization tool. It is not a medical device and does not claim to produce any health outcome. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition. If you have concerns about tinnitus, consult a qualified healthcare professional.