Hearing Aids

A friend has tinnitus, as I do, and found a hearing aid that helped.  So I decided to try the Widex Moment also.  During my hearing test, I found that I had “severe” hearing loss above 3,000 hz in my left ear.  I’ve only had the aid (I only have one and it only addresses frequencies above 3,000 hz) a few weeks but my tinnitus seems to be improving on some days (expectation bias?) although my audiologist said it will take time to improve.

What really surprised me was the soundstage on my system.  Female vocalists are in the center of the soundstage rather than off to the right.  Same with cymbals and other higher-pitched instruments.  The point is that I didn’t realize what I wasn’t hearing.  I wish I had had a hearing test years ago. 

I restored some hearing due to excessive ear wax. MediLisk HEARING RESTORATION SPRAY.....It seems to address the real problem. Just something to try...It works for me.

I have been wearing Oticon hearing aids for close to 20 years.  I've gone thru 3-4 generations, now using the Real 3.  It is not their priciest model, but it works well for me.  I just had my annual audiologist test and I asked the tech to spend some time on modifying the "My Music" setting.  Now they sound just fantastic for my surround sound system.  I wear them all the time and switch to setting 3 whenever I do serious listening.  All settings are available on my i-phone.  

I have a very nice stereo system that has evolved over many years. Music, especially jazz, is a real passion of mine. When my hearing began deteriorating, along with incessant tinnitus, I saw an audiologist. I informed her that music and high-end stereo was important to me and that I was afraid hearing aids would somehow compromise the essence of what I might be listening to, she said that Widex was absolutely the best for music. They were not cheap but they are incredible regarding critical music listening. I am now hearing the full musical spectrum…treble, midrange and bass. If you are a discerning music listener and have hearing issues I absolutely recommend Widex. I was stunned to find out what I had been missing in my music. 

Interesting discussion and much appreciated. I’ve used Signia hearing aids for almost two years now and while they do an excellent job where speech is concerned and an acceptable job with tinnitus, they just don’t work with music. They do have a music setting but after numerous efforts by the audiologist they still make music shrill, edgy, often thin. I’ve resorted to listening to my system with no aids and just let my brain make its adjustments. Not bad, not great … I’m considering a speaker upgrade but that’s 10-15K I’m not sure I want to spend, especially since I’m wondering if my old ears can discern speaker improvements. I’m also wondering — and this is just wondering out loud as I’m not a technician or engineer— why I should expect a microphone/speaker as small as a hearing aid to be able to take the information from my system and transmit it into my ear/brain? I realize technology is amazing and vastly improved over the years, but this doesn’t make sense to me. Am I overthinking? Not thinking correctly? Not thinking at all? Still trying to figure this hearing-loss issue out…