The Jabra Enhance Pro 20's I just got at Costco have frequency range up to 8K or more.
Hearing aid question
Decades ago I at least thought of myself as a bit of a "Golden Ear"; my Quad ELS/Pyramid supertweeter combo and associated electronics were a source of pride and joy. (All gone over the years, alas.) In recent years I have learned that I have essentially lost the top three octaves of my auditory frequency response, whether through natural aging or some other process I'm not sure; I also have a fair bit of tinnitus at this stage, but that has proved less of an issue in being able to enjoy music. So now I've gone from enjoying the transparent reproduction of great music to struggling to resolve the sibilants in my wife's speech. (In the overall scheme of things, the latter is arguably more important, at least in maintaining peace at home.) I still very much enjoy listening to music, but the high-end losses have somewhat diminished the joy of it.
I am of course starting to think about taking the leap into hearing aids as a genuine quality-of-life enhancement. I was wondering if anyone out there has dealt with similar issues, and perhaps formed opinions about which of the many available solutions has worked best as both a general lifestyle aid and a boost to their enjoyment of live and recorded music. Many thanks in advance.
Showing 7 responses by larsman
You can get top level hearing aids at Costco for about $1500/pair. I just did that a few weeks ago (I used to pay about $3000 each for the same quality). I've been wearing hearing aids for over 20 years, and the improvement it has made in music listening and everything else is superb; I'd no more go without them than without my eyeglasses. I also have tinnitus, but that's not what my hearing aids are for. |
Headphones are at just as much a disadvantage without hearing aids as speakers are; I never knew what my headphones actually sounded like until I started using in-canal hearing aids with them. @peter_s - It would be nice if you could, but no, you cannot; this is specialty equipment. There is a reason that hearing aids cost what they do, even ones from Costco. |
@signaforce - yeah, maybe in the future there will be something like that. I've worn hearing aids for over 20 years now and tend to upgrade them every 4 or 5 years. They have gotten better and most have 'music' programs and very basic Bass, Mid, and Treble EQ. No, it's far from perfect but it's the best I've heard in a long time (just got new ones a couple weeks ago), and I can also use them for speech, TV, etc etc. I will be getting a pair of in-the-canal ones for use with my headphones; I've got one pair of those now, but I don't like them that much, even though the headphones still sound a lot better with them than without them. |
My hearing loss is in the top end, too, and I've always worn custom ear molds that are not 'open ear'; there may be 'open ear' custom molds available, but I've not seen them. Domes, on the other hand, usually have openings for air and room sound to get through. If I could hear well without my hearing aids' assistance, I'd save myself a good bit of coin and not buy them. |