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.

ericrhenry5488

Showing 2 responses by stevencason

One more thing.  The hearing aids I have have 48 frequency bands for the audiologist to adjust hearing with.  I got mine though my insurance and they are a rebranded signia hearing aid which is why the price is relatively low.

I have a similar hearing loss.  Hearing is normal up to about 2 k then falls sharply after that.  About 5 years ago I purchased my first set of hearing aids.  My current devices are Signia AX.  I have 6 hearing settings universal, noisy environment, television, recorded music, outdoor sport, and stroll.

 

My audiologist had tweaked the universal profile to boost upper frequencies by about 2 db to help with hearing conversations.  The recorded music profile takes the 2db boost away.

 

If I listen to music on the universal profile highs will seem a bit bright and harsh.  On the recorded music profile it clears it up immensly.

After going to the hearing aids my quality of life and enjoyment of music has increased.

 

I have seen some people here fretting about the da converters in the hearing aids and so on.  Never occurred to me to worry about that.

 

The cost of the hearing aids was very reasonable at about $2100 for the pair.  For me this is a great investment.

 

Do they sound the same as my original equipment (ears) no but getting the harmonics back through the hearing aids has given me plenty of enjoyment.

 

Just my 2 cents worth.