Some forms of tinnitus are caused by the ears. This is usually from exposure to load noises which damage the hairs in the cochlea.

In objective tinnitus, you can actually hear the sound from the outside of the patient's ears. This is known as "bruit.

From Wikipedia:

Mechanisms of subjective tinnitus

One of the possible mechanisms relies in the otoacoustic emissions. The inner ear contains thousands of minute hairs which vibrate in response to sound waves and cells which convert neural signals back into acoustical vibrations. The sensing cells are connected with the vibratory cells through a neural feedback loop, whose gain is regulated by the brain. This loop is normally adjusted just below onset of self-oscillation, which gives the ear spectacular sensitivity and selectivity. If something changes, it's easy for the delicate adjustment to cross the barrier of oscillation and tinnitus results. This can actually be measured by a very sensitive microphone outside the ear.

Causes of subjective tinnitus

Tinnitus can have many different causes, but most commonly results from otologic disorders – the same conditions that cause hearing loss. The most common cause is noise-induced hearing loss, resulting from exposure to excessive or loud noises. But tinnitus, along with sudden onset hearing loss, may have no obvious external cause. Ototoxic drugs can cause tinnitus either secondary to hearing loss or without hearing loss, and may increase the damage done by exposure to loud noise, even at doses that are not in themselves ototoxic.

Treatment

External sound: