Rasta is right about the condition described as a constant ringing "in the ears," as is Mint604. I've had it for 7 years, and sometimes it will all but disappear while other times it's constant and troublesome. My wife has it, too, and she has never been a loud-music person; nor have I, actually. I'm now using tubes (Almarro), high-sensitive speakers, listen to both CDs and SACDs, have once again started listening somewhat exclusively to instruments, whether classical or contemp acoustic, as well as jazz. I still like some vocals (Peter Gabriel on SACD is quite nice, in fact, as is the "Gaucho" by Steely Dan, and even have 400-500 vocal CDs), but I never did try to blast down walls with any kind of music, even though I've generally had the equipment to do so. My tinnitus probably didn't result from loud music, though I can't know this, but it is a med condition that has existed for centuries, perhaps for 1000s of years. I can barely notice it as I type this, in fact. Well, back to the music.