You might have been right all along. As far as I know, many people who don't have tinnitus are able to experience such auditory hallucinations in a sensory dep

You might have been right all along. As far as I know, many people who don't have tinnitus are able to experience such auditory hallucinations in a sensory deprivation tank or similar. If that assumption is right then the difference between tinnitus sufferers and others is of degree: the level of background sensory input at which consciousness of such hallucinations might kick-in. Hence, tinnitus or not, lower auditory input tends to lead to greater likelihood of auditory hallucination.