Hearing safety and system limits
The sound exposure limits Tonaleve follows (WHO, NIOSH), the safety controls built into the audio engine, the warning signs that call for immediate medical attention, and what the app does not do.
Last reviewed: August 2026
First, the most important part: when NOT to use an app
Tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease. Before any sound program, there are signs that call for direct medical attention — some of them, urgently:
- Sudden hearing loss (over hours to days): an otologic emergency, see a doctor now.
- Pulsatile tinnitus (beats in time with your pulse).
- Unilateral tinnitus (one ear only) of recent onset, or with asymmetric hearing loss.
- Tinnitus accompanied by vertigo, unsteadiness, or ear pain.
- Discharge from the ear, fever, or a history of trauma.
- Sudden changes in the character of the sound or a severe impact on mood.
If any of these apply, the right path is an ENT specialist, not an app — ours included.
Sound exposure limits Tonaleve adopts
Listening to sound for several hours a day means taking acoustic dose seriously. Tonaleve adopts international standards as its reference:
- WHO — Make Listening Safe / ITU-T H.870: a safe listening budget of 80 dBA over 40 hours per week. The exchange rate is 3 dB: each +3 dB halves the safe listening time (83 dBA → 20 h, 86 dBA → 10 h).
- NIOSH (1998): a recommended occupational limit of 85 dBA as an 8-hour time-weighted average, with the same 3 dB exchange rate.
The program’s design operates well below those ceilings: sessions are set in dB SL (sensation level above your threshold), typically in the 4 to 34 dB SL range — soft-conversation levels, not risky exposure levels.
Safety controls built into the audio engine
These controls are implemented in the playback engine, not brochure promises:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Brickwall limiter | Safety compressor (20:1 ratio) always active on the output: no stimulus can exceed the configured ceiling. |
| Configurable level cap | An adjustable global “ceiling” that no generator can exceed. |
| Panic button | Spacebar or on-screen button: total silence in ~10 ms, with an anti-click ramp. |
| Low-volume start | The app always asks you to start at low volume and raise it gradually. |
| Session auto-stop | Sessions automatically stop after 60 minutes. |
| Daily dose reference | The program uses 180 minutes/day as a dose reference and logs your accumulated minutes. |
| Anti-transient ramps | Every stimulus fades in and out with smooth envelopes: no clicks or level jumps. |
The system’s limits, stated plainly
Being serious about this means also publishing what we don’t do:
- Tonaleve is not a medical device. It doesn’t diagnose, treat, or cure any condition and doesn’t replace evaluation by a professional. It is framed as a general wellness product (in line with the FDA’s General Wellness framework for low-risk software): it generates personalized sound to help you relax, sleep, and mask noise.
- Levels are relative (dB SL/dBFS), not calibrated absolute SPL. Without a measurement microphone and lab calibration, no consumer app can guarantee absolute dBA at your ear; that’s why we operate with conservative margins and relative level control.
- Calibration is not equivalent to a clinical audiometry (ISO 8253 / IEC 60645) — see the full methodological limits.
- The educational content does not replace CBT or professional counseling, which are the interventions with the best evidence for tinnitus distress (evidence).
- No cure claims. If anything of ours ever sounds like a cure claim, that’s a mistake: please report it.
Good usage practices
- Always use the same headphones and the same settings (consistency improves comparability between sessions).
- Start each session at low volume; the right level for most modalities is just above your tinnitus, never “maxed out.”
- If you notice discomfort, listening fatigue, or your tinnitus keeps getting worse, stop and see a doctor.
- Keep up with the periodic recalibrations the program suggests: they’re what make your progress data meaningful.
References for this page are in Sources and bibliography.
