FAQ

Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions page. You will find a list of questions with text responses and video response at the bottom of the page.

AudioCardio is an evidence-based mobile app that assesses your hearing and generates a personalized sound therapy (inaudible) designed to improve your hearing and relieve the symptoms of tinnitus. The sound therapy is delivered using headphones/earbuds/hearing aids, is completely passive and runs in the background while you do other activities.

Our technology has been clinically tested and was evaluated with an evidence level of 1a, the highest level of CEBM (Centre for Evidence-based Medicine) classification by the University of Oxford.

Our mission is to deliver an easily accessible and affordable hearing loss and tinnitus treatment without the negative social stigma while helping educate and raise awareness around hearing health and the secondary physical and mental health issues.

By understanding and determining your threshold of sound (minimum audible level) for key frequency ranges, AudioCardio generates a personalized sound therapy specific to your hearing ability. The personalized sound therapy is played repeatedly at just below the audible level to stimulate your inner ear’s cells. This causes the cells to activate and “fire” allowing them to strengthen connections to nearby cells and send the signals to the brain so they can be recognized as sound. These strengthened connections allow for sound signals to travel more easily and more efficiently. There is also research that supports the idea that low level stimulation reduces free radical-induced damage to hair cells, increases antioxidant enzyme activity, and reduces Cox-2 expression (inflammatory response) within the cochlea, helping repair the inner ear’s cells responsible for hearing.

Threshold Sound Conditioning allows you to check your hearing and create a personalized sound therapy that stimulates the cells at the just inaudible level.

Threshold Sound Conditioning stimulates the cells inside the ear in hopes of helping them connect to nearby cells to form pathways. These cells help send sound signals through the auditory pathway until they reach the part of the brain where this stimulation is interpreted as meaningful sound.

After doing this consistently, these pathways become easier to find and take so that these types of stimulation reach their destination to get processed as sound.

Yes, there have been multiple clinical studies and they were conducted at or with the following institutions: Stanford University, Palo Alto Medical Foundation (Sutter Health), Samsung Medical Center, Chung-Ang University, and Nanjing University.

AudioCardio’s technology has been clinically studied at various research institutions for its effect on sensorineural hearing loss, which includes age-related and noise-induced hearing loss. More than 70% of study participants had a significant change of 10 decibels or more in their hearing after using it daily for an hour a day for three weeks.

AudioCardio also conducted a clinical survey with third-party audiologists and speech-language pathologists from the Sound Speech & Hearing Clinic in San Francisco, comprised of 40 individuals using AudioCardio. 84% of tinnitus patients surveyed had a reduction in the severity or frequency of their tinnitus.

Hearing Loss: AudioCardio is intended for individuals with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). SNHL includes loss from; exposure to noise, aging, infection, disease, and trauma. AudioCardio is also a good fit for individuals who want to maintain their hearing and better manage and monitor their hearing health. 

Tinnitus: Although AudioCardio was not intended for tinnitus (ringing ears), many individuals with tinnitus have found relief from their tinnitus by using AudioCardio. Individuals experiencing tinnitus should pay close attention to best practices to ensure that they do not use the AudioCardio app improperly.

  1. The Pro+ subscription allows you to target 8 frequency ranges, while the Basic subscription allows you to target only 5.
  2. The Pro+ subscription targets 2 frequencies simultaneously per ear giving you better results faster, while the Basic subscription only targets 1 frequency per ear. 
  3. The Pro+ subscription includes the following 6 programs: Pro+, Frequency Targeting, High Frequencies, Mid-High Frequencies, Low-Mid Frequencies, and Low Frequencies. Learn more about the programs here.
  4. The Basic subscription only consists of 1 program (Basic program). This program targets each ear’s weakest frequency band.

Use AudioCardio daily for one hour for the best results. You can split this into two 30 minute sessions if you prefer. Similar to exercising, some daily exercise is better than none.

We recommend using AudioCardio for a minimum of four to five months, targeting each frequency range(s) for 30 days or more, and to continue using AudioCardio to better maintain your progress.

We recommend using AudioCardio for one hour per day as that is the length of time tested to have a significant effect (10 dB or more) during our clinical studies.

Selecting “Yes,” will move and lock your device’s volume to 40%. Selecting “No,” will move and lock your device’s volume to 60%. This allows the app to maintain a consistent volume for hearing assessments and sound therapies to ensure proper setup and progress reporting. We recommend giving the same response each time to better track your progress and ensure that the sound therapy is effective.

The hearing assessment calibrates and personalizes the AudioCardio sound therapy to your unique hearing ability. It also generates a new hearing score each time you complete a full assessment.

  • Connect your earbuds, headphones, or hearing aids to your smartphone or tablet.
  • Go to a very quiet room away from windows and electronics that may emit ambient noise, like refrigerators and other appliances.
  • On the hearing assessment screen, slide the lever up until you can hear the tone being played clearly and then down just past the point where you can last hear the sound.
  • Set it at the “just inaudible” level (1-3 dBr below the last audible level) and press next at the bottom of the screen.
  • You will do this 5 times (Basic) for each ear (less than 2 minutes)
  • You will do this 8 times (Pro +) for each ear (less than 3 minutes)

The “just inaudible” level is the volume level just below the last hearable sound. Set each volume slider 2 dBr below the last hearable sound for each frequency range during the hearing assessment.

No, the volume must be set and remain at the “Auto-Set” level to ensure that the sound therapy is calibrated properly so that it is effective.

Retake your hearing assessment a minimum of once per week, anytime you can hear your sound therapy, and anytime you change any one of your devices (smartphone, tablet, earbuds, headphones, hearing aids).

Always do your hearing assessments in a quiet room away.

Please set the slider to zero (0 dBr) if you cannot hear any sounds for a particular frequency range during the hearing assessment. Note: This will increase your hearing score.

Retake a full hearing assessment to get a new hearing score.

This score represents great to below average hearing. A higher score represents better hearing on a scale from 0 to 100. A high dBr value of 75 dBr would provide a lower score than 25 dBr since a lower dBr value means better hearing. Compare your first score to subsequent scores to track your progress.

The AudioCardio app records your scores on the sound therapy progress screen. Your first assessment is your baseline score. Compare your current score to previous scores by selecting the days highlighted in green on the calendar.

Pro Version: Change the target frequency ranges if you do not notice any changes after 30 consecutive sessions (and days) of targeting the same frequency ranges. Select the frequency icon in the navigation bar and select a different program from the one you have been using. We recommend starting with the low frequencies program and moving up sequentially.

Basic Version: Upgrade to pro to change target frequency ranges.

 

Your sound therapy should not be audible while it is activated. The sound therapy plays right below your hearable volume level.

No, only your hearing assessment must be done in a quiet room. You can use your sound therapy in quiet or noisy environments.

This means your hearing is changing. Great job! Retake your hearing assessment to adjust for your new hearing ability and calibrate your sound therapy.

  • The blue dot indicates a day you completed 30 – 60 minutes of your sound therapy session.
  • The green dot indicates a day that you did a full hearing assessment and received an updated hearing score. If you did a sound therapy session and a hearing assessment, the dot will display as green.
  • The red dot indicates the current day.
  • AudioCardio targets multiple frequency bands (range of frequencies) that are important for understanding speech and the world around you. We’ve listed the frequency bands below:

 

  • 1,000 Hz
    • 906 Hz ~ 1,078 Hz
  • 1,500 Hz (Pro+ Only)
    • 1,357 ~ 1,614 Hz
  • 2,000 Hz
    • 1,812 Hz ~ 2,154 Hz
  • 3,000 Hz (Pro+ Only)
    • 2,714 ~ 3,228 Hz
  • 4,000 Hz
    • 3,623 Hz ~ 4,309 Hz
  • 6,000 Hz (Pro+ Only)
    • 5,429 ~ 6,426
  • 8,000 Hz 
    • 7,246 Hz ~ 8,617
  • 12,000 Hz
    • 10,857 ~ 12,912 Hz

You may use AudioCardio if you have tinnitus. However, tinnitus affects everyone differently. Make sure the sound therapy is inaudible and comfortable for your unique condition. If you sense any discomfort, discontinue use.

You must be able to distinguish the tones being played in the assessment from the sound of your tinnitus to use AudioCardio’s sound therapy.

Yes, headphones or earbuds are required while doing the assessment and while you receive your sound therapy. Be sure to use the EXACT SAME headphones for both the assessment and sound therapy.

Almost any set is compatible as long as you use the same earbuds or headphones for your assessment and your sound therapy.

Yes, you can use Bluetooth or wired headphones and earbuds with the AudioCardio app.

Yes, you may use AudioCardio with your hearing aids. Be sure to use the EXACT SAME settings for your hearing assessments and sound therapy sessions.

You must also make sure that “Mono Audio” is turned off in your phone’s settings anytime your hearing aids are being used with AudioCardio. Please follow the steps below to turn off “Mono Audio” for most phone manufacturers.

  1. Go to the phone’s settings and find the “Accessibility” setting.
  2. Look for the “Audio & Visual” settings and select it.
  3. Turn off “Mono Audio.”

You can listen to media from other apps while the AudioCardio sound therapy is activated. Simply start the sound therapy in the AudioCardio app and then play your desired media from your preferred music streaming, podcast, or audiobook app. The sound therapy will play in the background simultaneously.

AudioCardio also supports integrations with Spotify, Apple Music and on-device media.

Yes, you can change the volume of your music within a certain range. AudioCardio has created alerts if the volume is changed outside of this range. Be sure to stay within the range to ensure your sound therapy can be effective.

Due to restrictions from other platforms we cannot adjust the volume of AudioCardio and other media independently.

Yes, you may use the AudioCardio app while using other apps. Some apps may limit the ability to play sounds at the same time. If this is the case, you will be alerted with a voice notification.

The AudioCardio sound therapy does not work if you make or receive a voice or video call on the device running the AudioCardio app. You must restart your sound therapy if a call interrupts your active sound therapy session.

Yes, many people activate the AudioCardio sound therapy as part of their nightly routine. The AudioCardio sound therapy is inaudible and will not disrupt your sleep. Remember to turn off voice notifications in the settings section of the AudioCardio app so that it does not interrupt your sleep.

The volume of the voice notification cannot be adjusted, however it can be turned off within the AudioCardio app. Follow the steps below to turn off voice notifications.

  1. Open the AudioCardio app
  2. Select the settings icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the app (gear).
  3. Select notifications on the following screen (bell).
  4. On the next screen, toggle the voice notification from on to off.

Subscribers who signed up through the AudioCardio Website:

  1. Log into your web account with your credentials at this URL, https://app.audiocardio.com/login.
  2. Click on the Welcome tab on the top right corner.
  3. Click on Subscriptions.
  4. Find your plan and click Cancel.

Subscribers who signed up via Apple App Store:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap on Your Apple ID.
  3. Tap on “Subscriptions.”
  4. Select the AudioCardio subscription.
  5. Tap “Cancel Subscription” to disable it from auto-renewing at the end of the current billing cycle.

Subscribers who signed up via Google Play Store:

  1. Open the Google Play Store app.
  2. Tap the user icon in the top right corner (Either a letter or an image).
  3. Select Payments & Subscriptions.
  4. Select Subscriptions.
  5. Select the subscription you want to cancel.
  6. Tap Cancel Subscription.
  7. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Please email us at support@audiocardio.com and someone will get back to you within 24-48 hours.

Video FAQs

How To Set Up AudioCardio

What To Do If You Can Still Hear The Sound Therapy

How To Retake The Hearing Assessment

How do I know this app is working for me?

What does barely audible mean? 

My hearing score isn’t changing. What should I do?

Should I hear anything while the sound therapy is activated?

When should I retake my assessment?

I have tinnitus. Will this still work for me?

What if I can’t hear the assessment frequencies at the highest dBr value?

Why should I use Frequency Targeting?

What happens if I start to hear a clicking sound while the sound therapy is active?