A new wife or a hearing aid? Huh? Just kidding, happily married for twenty four years until now. The wife says I'm going deaf and making things up when I say I can't hear her or twist around what I think I hear. Any one else having this problem? Are you using a hearing aid? Does this have any effects on the quality of sound by using them? Which kind of aid is most preferred? Which one should we stay away from? Where can we get the best pricing, service and products? I figure a hearing aid is cheaper than a new wife. Ha! Lastly concerning comments on equipment. Would the Eggleston Andra I be huge improvement over the Paradigm's? Your input is appreciated.
Denon 8300 integrated Parasound preamp Sony CD player Denon DVD player Pioneer DVD/Tivo play Paradigm Reference Studio's 100 Paradigm Reference Studio 450CC
I can only relate my wife's experience. Thankfully, my hearing is still excellent at 53. She has a new set of Siemens Acuris Life digital behind the ear aids. The electronics are in a very small & light behind the ear capsule, the amplified sound is directed into the ear canal through a tiny silicone tube that is suspended in the ear canal by something that looks like a flattened small silicone badminton birdy. The beauty of this design is that the ear canal is open, no hard plastic squished into the ear, very comfortable she says. Traditional in the ear aids drove her crazy because when both ear canals are occluded, one's own speech sounds distorted and eating isn't fun. As to audio fidelity, I obviously can only relate her impressions. She feels these are in a new league compared to what she used before and readily discerns changes in cabling or commponents in the audio system that are fairly subtle. I guess the fact that she says she never thinks about having hearing problems when they are in says a great deal. They retail at about $3k per ear, but she got a really good discount as an early adopter when they were introduced to the market.
My husband thinks that I need to adapt to everyone else when I tell them that I can't hear his conversation to me with the radio on and the kids screaming right behind me. Is there a name for this? Do I need hearing aides? What should I do? I feel like I'm going crazy because I can't understand (hear) what a person is saying unless I look at their lips to read them with noise (parties, etc.) going on.
Fat- You better keep that FAR away from your teenage children (if you have any). They will make your life miserable if they ever see that headline. Scrambled brains, indeed.
Today, I found the following bit of information stored and almost forgotten on my hard drive:
Background Noises Can Scramble the Brain
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (United Press International via COMTEX 10/03/2004) -- U.S. researchers said background noises actually may scramble brain activity as well as make conversations more difficult.
The discovery could explain why even perfectly loud speech can be difficult to understand in a noisy room, University of Florida researchers said.
The researchers studied how alert rats' brain cells responded to specific sounds while one of three standardized noises played in the background. They discovered that brain activity actually decreased in the presence of background noise.
Background noise did not simply cover up sounds, they said. It interfered with the brain's ability to process or interpret information about a sound, even though the sound was heard. Essentially, they said, the brain could not understand what the ear was telling it.
The phenomenon could play a role in an auditory processing disorder first noticed in children in the 1970s. The lack of coordination between the ear and brain that characterizes the disorder is thought to be widespread, although it is difficult to diagnose.
The findings could influence the design of hearing devices, MP3 music players and virtually any audio transmission technology, the researchers said.
Mejames, I hear you...pun intended! I find that I can follow ANY sound in a recorded mix, be it a microphone opening on the control board, or even a door closing in the studio. But I do sometimes have trouble following an individual conversation with a lot of background noise, especially if the background noise consists of multiple conversations going on at once (party or nightclub setting).
I believe that hearing aides are non-linear. They emphasize the human speech vocal range especially between 1 and 2 kHz. Please correct me if this last statement is in error, though.
Has anyone tried hearing aids from etymotic research www.etymotic.com? Etymotic is a hi-fi company known for their vibration isolating earphones, but they also make high-fidelity hearing aids which they claim to be better than regular hearing aids. The also have a FAQ on hearing loss and hearing aids.
I cant really speak to the issue of hearing aides of present. As a child I had the misfortune to wear them. Huge bulky things-embarrassing to wear. I believe they are the main reason I got interested in Audio, odd as that seems. Still, I can speak to the issue of yelling at people who are hearing impaired. It may be a relief to wives and other loved ones all over that raising your voice is rarely helpful to someone who has impaired hearing. Much more effective to face the person you speaking with, to speak slowly and clearly. Being expressive does not require huge amounts of volume, just thoughtfulness. Sometimes just getting a persons attention to begin with -by putting yourself in their view or by touch, will go along way to clear up misunderstandings. My parents did not understand deafness and were embarrassed by my inability to understand what was being said to me. I hated- truly hated to ask people to repeat themselves- would read their expressions, and would try to pretend that I understood. On the bright side, because my inner ear was somehow malformed it could be corrected.My hearing loss was secondary to a primary cause which could be corrected. Now My hearing is-while not perfect, reasonably good. I would challange the idea that having golden ears would necessarily equate have an audiophiles sensibility or experience, anymore than having excellent eyesight would qualify a person to reccommend what the true components of art are or the perfect reproduction of color. These things may be measurable to some extent-by some standard, but they are also interpretive.
my hearing is perfect but I find if the stereo is playing I can't hardly hear someone talking directly too me I guess my attention is so focused on the music is the reason why. Anybody else experience this?
The smaller the hearing aid the higher the cost. Quality, however, rides with the large ugly ones that hang outside the ear. They work much better than the smaller ones and cost significantly less. You pay dearly for the miniaturization, but lose in the end. I teach the blind and visually impaired, but many in my program teach the deaf, as well. This is where I get that info.
My wife and I have very good hearing but at times suffer from difficulty in communicating when competing with other sources. You have some great suggestions listed above and I suggest that after you've had your hearing checked you pay attention to those. Living with someone allows you to develop bad communication habits that you don't use with other people. Addressing someone by their name/endearing term, looking at each other and defeating the competing sources solve most of these types of problems. We found that both of us, while walking away, would say a short sentence. This shows either a comfort level or a type of agression that we would never do to a friend or coworker. As we age our voices grow weaker too. Talk and change your habits. Your marriage will be better for it.
utilizing hearing aid to listen to Hi-end system? Will it have an effect on what you hear? Are you kidding? Plain old unadulterated truth: hearing loss does not mix well with Hi Fidelity. Would you purchase a pair of speakers on someone's sayso, who has, even a minor hearing loss? What was that? peace, warren
All kidding aside, I too am interested in the answer to the question about hearing aids, as I've lost a bit of hearing in one ear due to an infection in there a number of years back. One of my former partners got a special hearing aid for his ear that is in the ear canal and helps in that it is unaffected, relatively, by ambient noise but helps him hear people speaking directly to him. Might be what I need, though I understand it is pricey.
On your question about the Andras, my only thought for you to keep in mind is that you'd need a home audition with your electronics. Sometimes a more revealing speaker tells us more than we want to know about the limitations of the equipment feeding it. I'm not that familiar with your equipment, but I have seen people try to drive very expensive Sonus Faber floorstanders with home theater receivers with very unsatisfactory results. So be careful; system synergy is often more important than the price or quality of one component.
I hear ya! There ought to be rules for spouse speak:
1. Before speaking, address your spouse by name, or pet name, to get its attention. 2. While speaking, try being in the same room as the addressee, and if possible, point your voice apparatus in the intended direction. 3. Expect the recipient to hear the words you speak rather than the thoughts inside your head. 4. Should you choose to respond, raise your voice at your own peril. 5. When all else fails, mutter and mumble incoherently.
Albert- Are you sure you're not married to my wife's twin? Although on the third try now, its about 50/50. Sometimes she says never mind (can you hear Emily Latella aka Gilda Radner); sometimes she shouts it at me. Either way, it makes me nuts. Although I will admit my hearing in terms of sensitivity is sub-normal. Any hers is super-normal, esp. to the pitch that us guys mutter in ;~).
All kidding aside, I am interested in the answer to this question, myself.
My wife has the uncanny ability to speak 10 DB below the ambient sound level I am nearest. Regardless if music, clothes dryer, kitchen vent or other people speaking.
When I ask the third time (after reducing the source of other sounds) she replies, "Never mind," and refuses to repeat again.
Must be something I did in a past life. No hearing aid would remedy this situation, even if I needed one.
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