Find My Quiet Sound
Open the app

Learn

Understanding tinnitus frequency

Tinnitus frequency (or pitch) is the frequency of an external tone that sounds most like your tinnitus. Most people match it somewhere between about 3,000 and 8,000 Hz, often near the edge of a hearing loss. Knowing it roughly is useful; treating it as a precise number is not.

Last reviewed 22 August 2026 · Sources listed below · Not medical advice

What the number means

Hearing is measured in hertz (Hz). Speech sits mostly below 4,000 Hz; "ringing" tinnitus is commonly higher. When you match a tone to your tinnitus you are finding the external frequency that feels most similar — not measuring something inside the ear.

Why it is often high

Tinnitus frequently accompanies high-frequency hearing loss, and the matched pitch often falls in or near the region of loss. That is one reason a hearing evaluation is the standard first step when tinnitus is persistent: it puts the pitch in context.

Octave confusion

A tone and the tone an octave higher (double the frequency) sound similar in character. People matching their own tinnitus frequently choose the wrong octave; clinic procedures include an "octave check" for this reason, and Find My Quiet Sound’s Find My Tinnitus Sound does too.

Noise-like tinnitus

If your tinnitus is a hiss rather than a ring, a pure tone will never feel right. Narrow bands of noise are used instead, and the matched region is wider.

What you can do with it

Explore with the frequency generator.

Sources

  1. NIDCD — Tinnitus (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
  2. Self-administered tinnitus pitch matching versus a conventional audiometric procedure (2017)
  3. Evaluation of iPod-based automated tinnitus pitch matching (2015)
  4. AAO-HNSF Clinical Practice Guideline: Tinnitus (2014)

Important: Find My Quiet Sound is designed for sound masking, relaxation and tinnitus management support. It does not diagnose, treat or cure tinnitus and is not a substitute for professional medical care. If your tinnitus is new, in one ear only, pulsing with your heartbeat, or comes with hearing loss or dizziness, see a doctor or audiologist.

Written from the sources above by the Find My Quiet Sound project; no clinician has reviewed this page. See Research & Sources and the medical disclaimer.