I listen to music while doing literally anything that isn’t a movie or a game that requires that i’m focused in the sound or story, but i listen a lot while reading or studying. I sometimes even make playlists per book or manga, though usually they’re pretty random. I also dedicate some time to just listen to certain songs i really like, but even then i usually end up doing something else like drawing random shit or scrolling here. There’s also those songs that i just have to stop everything and listen to them.
Hi! I also have tinnitus since a year and a half ago. I hope i can help a bit.
First of all, go to see a doctor as everyone said. If the first doens’t help, try another until you exhaust all the possibilities. Depending on the root of your tinnitus, it can be cured (sadly, most of the times it can not, but a lot of times it can), so it’s good to try that.
Second, if music doesn’t sound like it used, it can be two things: you have ear damage, which means you need to go see a doctor, or it’s psychological. Something similar happened to me, and the solution was to stop using headphones for some time. Like, 3 months or more. After that it was okay.
Third, i’ve been able to use headphones almost without issue. I need to EQ my DT 770 pro or else they make my ears ring more if i use them for too long, but with EQ it does the opposite, i think because it lowers my anxiety. It may be different for you.
Forth, find a masker that works for you. Just google tinnitus maskers in youtube and try until you find one that masks your tinnitus. You don’t have to use it with headphones necessarily, i use them a lot for sleep. Use it when you feel like you can’t handle your tinnitus anymore or is distracting you too much. To me, it helped a lot with being able to live as i did before my tinnitus.
Fifth, if it’s making you go insane, i recommend you taking therapy. Cognitive conductual is very helpful to learn to live with tinnitus. The first couple of months are going to suck, like, REALLY suck, but it does get better. Go outside, keep your hobbies as difficult as it can be, and overall take care of your mental health. If you let it take you down, it will make everything worse. With time, you simply learn to ignore it.
Finally, i insist, if you haven’t, go see a doctor. Sadly, a lot of times it doesn’t help, but others it does, and it’s important to try.