Compressed music

One way to treat hyperacusis is through music, either as the tool for conducting sound therapy or as part of sound enrichment. However, for it to be effective, a wide variety of works (and styles) must be listened to, because if we limit ourselves to a small number of pieces, we will not be adequately stimulating the full frequency spectrum.

The pink noise I provide does not have this problem, as it already covers the entire frequency spectrum audible to humans (although high frequencies are less present due to the characteristics of this type of noise). But this is not the case with a musical work, where frequencies corresponding to the key of the piece, the tempered tuning system, and the instruments used are more stimulated. For this reason, the most suitable music to treat hyperacusis is orchestral music, which covers a broad frequency spectrum—from the lowest sounds of the tuba or double bass to the highest like piccolo or glockenspiel. If we have works in different keys, even better.

Although pink noise is the most effective sound for treating hyperacusis, by itself it is insufficient. Those with hyperacusis must be exposed to all types of sounds, as mentioned in the sound enrichment section. Moreover, music has a property that no other sound has: it produces feelings of pleasure and joy, which help brain plasticity. Pink noise or nature sounds can never give us goosebumps like a song from our favorite band. It is therefore not surprising that music is used in protocols to treat misophonia caused by hyperacusis.

Once we have a good music collection, a problem arises for those with hyperacusis: the different volume levels of multiple tracks. In a healthy person, this only causes the inconvenience of adjusting the volume frequently, but in someone with hyperacusis it has two main disadvantages. First, we may be surprised by a volume higher than our tolerance, causing ear discomfort. Second, the stress from constantly adjusting the volume, combined with fear of encountering a too-high volume, is not conducive to overcoming our condition.

Volume is not only a problem between tracks from different styles, performers, or albums; it can also occur within a single musical work. A clear example is orchestral music, where dynamic changes are almost constant. Until our hyperacusis improves sufficiently, it is advisable to avoid the shock of sudden shifts from pianissimo to fortissimo. Avoiding this is the purpose of this post.

The solution to the volume problem is sound compression. This should not be confused with the data compression used to store a digital audio file, like an MP3. Before explaining compression, the concept of dynamic range must be clarified.

The dynamic range of a sound, explained simply, is the difference between its highest and lowest volume. Therefore, a musical work with a very large dynamic range can contain both very loud and very quiet sounds, with multiple levels in between. This occurs in classical music, where nearly inaudible passages can suddenly lead to a loud crescendo.

Sound compression is the process of reducing a sound's dynamic range. The difference between the loudest and quietest sounds is decreased, so in a musical piece, the volume difference from a quiet passage to a loud one is smaller. This reduction also lowers the overall volume, so gain is applied to the output signal to compensate.

Compression is widely used in music radio and TV stations, which is why you rarely need to adjust the volume when different songs are played.

Compression should not be confused with normalization, which adjusts the loudest volume of a sound to a specific value while maintaining the dynamic range.

I am not aware of any portable music player or sound system capable of sound compression. I have also checked a long list of mobile music players; this feature is generally not available in free versions. On computer music players, some offer normalization, but as mentioned, this does not make different tracks sound at the same volume—it only sets the peak volume to a uniform level.

The only player I know capable of effective sound compression is Winamp, thanks to its ability to extend functionality with plug-ins (small programs that add features).

There are various Winamp plug-ins for compression. My choice is Audio Stocker Pro, as it provides very natural compression. To install, copy the files (downloadable here) into the 'Plugins' folder inside the Winamp installation directory.

After copying, start Winamp, go to 'Preferences' via the context menu or Ctrl+P. In the DSP/Effect Plug-ins section, find dsp_audiostocker.dll. Select it, and the default settings are ready, though I recommend clicking 'Configure active plug-in' and using the settings shown below:

Now the limitation is that the music can only be played on the computer, which may be inconvenient. There is a solution: using the File Writer plug-in, you can convert the compressed music to audio files like WAV or MP3, playable on any device. Install it as before, then configure it under 'Preferences' → 'Output of Plug-ins' and click 'Configure'.