Objectively identifying an acoustic characteristic of tinnitus of a subject. The subject is exposed to a sound pattern having a background acoustic signal preceding an audible silence. The background acoustic signal has a selected acoustic characteristic. An electrical response of the subjects central nervous system to the exposure to the sound pattern is measured. The measured electrical response has a first portion representing the electrical response of the subjects central nervous system to the background acoustic signal, and a second portion representing the electrical response of the subjects central nervous system to the audible silence in the sound pattern. The first portion of the measured electrical response is compared to the second portion of the measured electrical response and a determination is made as to whether the subject has tinnitus with an acoustic characteristic similar to the selected acoustic characteristic based on the comparison.
