As a person with tinnitus what you describe very much sounds like tinnitus. Tinnitus has many causes and or is a symptom of many things such as hearing loss, medication, blood pressure, diet.  My understand is that the brain is trying to adapt to a sound it expects to hear. In a odd way tinnitus is the sound of no sound.

researchers say that the absence of sound caused by hearing loss in certain frequencies, due to normal aging, loud-noise exposure, or to an accident, forces the brain to produce sounds to replace what is now missing. But when the brain’s limbic system, which is involved in processing emotions and other functions, fails to stop these sounds from reaching conscious auditory processing, tinnitus results

That said you aren’t wrong to pay attention as the ‘volume level’ will change, for example when something induces a change in blood flow, so changes in sound can be revealing with regards to how the current situation is influencing you.

For many people who have tinnitus however that act of paying to close attention to the ringing is enough to increase “volume”, which leads to anxiousness, which leads to louder ringing, repeat, until you feel like your going crazy. So, if you can train yourself to pay attention and remain calm it could become part of a spiritual practice.

For myself my tinnitus has acted as a warning when I’m out of the moment (attached to the moment, fear, desire..) and to stop and ‘calm’ myself.