New Hearing Aids Force Changes

[Tom Brennan]

I recently got new high quality hearing aids which have improved my hearing from 1500 to 10,000 cycles. The result is that my 604Es with N15000 crossovers sounded kind'a, well, squawky. Too much upper midrange, bearing on obnoxious. So I made myself some 30923 filters using GDM's revised values for 16 ohm drivers. Living in an apartment I'm not too keen on cutting wood and such so I cobbled the networks together with solder and audiophile grade wire nuts and taped them inside the cabinets.

Subjectively the results are quite satisfactory--the mids are down in level and smooth and no longer mask the bass, which now stands out more. The highs are more easily heard and have a sheen that was lacking. My initial listening has bern to Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, Diana Panton, Diana Krall and Frank Sinatra with Count Basie.

My next move with the 604s is to get them in better cabinets; larger ones that will give better bass extension, elevate the drivers and not have an obstruction in front of the horn. But that can wait a while.

Thanks to GeeDeeEmm

 

[Thermionics]

Don't let @mhardy6647 know you didn't use "audiophile approved clip leads"

And congratulations on a ~ 7x gain in frequency response for your hearing!

 

[avguytx]

A company came by a couple days at the city I work for (network administrator) doing hearing tests and confirmed what I already knew about my hearing at almost 57. I have a 30% loss and pretty much caps out at 9khz or so...although I can hear some harmonics. They ordered hearing aids and said the could be hit or miss with me having tinnitus and I ended up not picking them up. My dad hated his and couldn't stand listening to music with them in. Kind of curious but may hold out and go to an actual audiologist locally.

 

[RDSChicago]

I’ve been wearing hearing aids for 35 years. Lost all the hearing in my right ear due to an inner-ear balance condition called Menieres Disease. Moderate loss in the left ear. At first I tried to listen to my system without hearing aids, but the volume was turned up so loud my family threatened to evict me or leave themselves! My advice is if you need hearing aids, get them! You and your loved ones will be so much happier. So much easier to communicate, and not fight over TV volume! They may be uncomfortable and annoying at first. However, like everything else in life, you adjust and adapt. Think of them as a great equalizer for your system!

 

[rogerfederer]

another positive vote for hearing aids. i knew i had loss from an earlier test and finally looked into aids. i spent a lot of $ on fancy phonaks but they have been the #1 best investment in audio i have ever made.

i got the tech to come up with a setting that is essentially flat (except that it fixes the deficits identified in my tests). this makes my very good rig sound a lot better.

one other plus: the earlier you adopt hearing aids the easier it is for your brain to figure out how to adapt to them. moreover, fixing hearing loss is supposed to help stave off cognitive decline.

 

[Andyman]

I'll join in on the hearing aids too. I've had mine for about 6-7 years now and probably should get them retuned or replaced, but it's obvious to me how things are duller when they aren't in. The first few months were odd as things sounded crisper and sharper; that took some getting used to.
I liken them to glasses; they may not let you see more, but they do make it clearer. I was told when I got mine that getting back losses over 8K was beyond their scope, so don't think they'll get you back to 20K. Much like audio, I suspect that getting anything over 8K will come at a substantial price too.

BTW, nice work on the Altecs Tom! I'm glad you were able to smooth them out.

 

[J. Frum]

I finally joined the club this summer with an $1800 pair of Jabras from Costco.

It’s been a mixed bag. On one hand, there’s all this high-frequency texture I’ve been missing. Like, Jesus, have you ever actually heard a pop can being opened, or a hoodie being zipped? Amazing! Birds and bugs and frogs??!?

Certainly it bummed me out some, being shown home how much I’ve been missing from my life. Don’t get me wrong: overall, it’s great. My wife was slightly dismayed that I still can’t pick up what she mumbles to me when faced the opposite direction in a different room.

But when it comes to actually listening to music with them? Forget about it. It turns everything into an obnoxious, phasey mess. There are some different DSP modes, including “music”, but they’re generally no more useful than the default for any given activity. This was disappointing, as they cost me more than any audio equipment I’ve ever bought.

I suspect I’d appreciate better hearing aids. “With Cash, all things are possible.”

 

[Tillerman]

i spent a lot of $ on fancy phonaks but they have been the #1 best investment in audio i have ever made.

Which model did you get?

 

[Olson_jr]

I finally joined the club this summer with an $1800 pair of Jabras from Costco.

It’s been a mixed bag. On one hand, there’s all this high-frequency texture I’ve been missing. Like, Jesus, have you ever actually heard a pop can being opened, or a hoodie being zipped? Amazing! Birds and bugs and frogs??!?

Certainly it bummed me out some, being shown home how much I’ve been missing from my life. Don’t get me wrong: overall, it’s great. My wife was slightly dismayed that I still can’t pick up what she mumbles to me when faced the opposite direction in a different room.

But when it comes to actually listening to music with them? Forget about it. It turns everything into an obnoxious, phasey mess. There are some different DSP modes, including “music”, but they’re generally no more useful than the default for any given activity. This was disappointing, as they cost me more than any audio equipment I’ve ever bought.

I suspect I’d appreciate better hearing aids. “With Cash, all things are possible.”

My best buddy just went through neck cancer treatment, they got the cancer, but he lost a bunch of hearing and taste.

He just got Costco aids, right in that money range, and his experience is much like yours. Music is very difficult to listen to (bummer as music has been a big part of our lives) but he said that all the other things he is now hearing are stunning. Birds and cicadas were the things he noticed as being much louder than he remembered.

 

[rogerfederer]

Which model did you get?

phonak audeo p90-312
they cost $6,900, of which $2,500 was covered by my insurance
they are supposed to go up to 12k hz
they make music sound great! much more detail.

 

[avguytx]

I'm not sure I really notice the 30% hearing loss since it's happened over time. I just wish there was a way to get some of the upper HF response back without it wreaking havoc with my tinnitus which is fairly sensitive around 2 to 3khz and I use an EQ to help control that. It's just about the range where listening to Alison Krauss's voice about does me in. lol I just wish there was a possibility of someone coming out with devices that could take that tinnitus frequency I hear, run it 180 degrees out of phase, and cancel it out some. You know....similar to what high end cars use to decrease interior noise in a vehicle. Otherwise, it's hit or miss having tinnitus. My dad hated his and he spent something like $10k on them maybe 5 years ago (but he died July '21); said he could hear "more" but it sounded un-natural.

 

[Spinner45]

I just wish there was a possibility of someone coming out with devices that could take that tinnitus frequency I hear, run it 180 degrees out of phase, and cancel it out some.

Great idea.
But tinnitus isn't actually sound, it's phantom nerve activity.
There is no acoustical phase to it.

 

[Drugolf]

Ugh, at 57 I dont want to talk about hearing aids but I know it's coming. Had a hearing test last year and I'm definitely down. My father is just killing me with his lack of hearing and not being diligent about wearing his aides. I went to a Dr. appointment with him the other day and he"forgot" to put in his aides. Everyone was having to repeat everything to him and even then I doubt he actually heard what was said. not a good thing when going to the Dr.

Based on what I have read about them is you need to wear them for a while to let your brain adapt before making a judgement on them.

 

[rogerfederer]

Ugh, at 57 I dont want to talk about hearing aids but I know it's coming. Had a hearing test last year and I'm definitely down. My father is just killing me with his lack of hearing and not being diligent about wearing his aides. I went to a Dr. appointment with him the other day and he"forgot" to put in his aides. Everyone was having to repeat everything to him and even then I doubt he actually heard what was said. not a good thing when going to the Dr.

Based on what I have read about them is you need to wear them for a while to let your brain adapt before making a judgement on them.

"Based on what I have read about them is you need to wear them for a while to let your brain adapt before making a judgement on them"
and the younger you start, the quicker your brain adapts

 

[old_borg]

I've been half deaf since my early childhood, having lost the conductive hearing bones in my left ear during the removal of benign tumors (cholesteotoma). Got a hearing aid at 23, which I promptly lost at a party in a junkyard - the hearing aid sucked, but not my reason for losing it.

My doctors had me try a hearing aid so as to file it out as a viable option. They had identified me as a candidate for a clinic trial (free!) for an implanted hearing aid. The surgery was successful and I've regained a lot of useful hearing in my left ear.

I don't wear my hearing aid to listen to music, my right ear is still good, but it's made speech comprehension so much easier at work and in life.

A link to the device, for curious - VIBRANT SOUNDBRIDGE Middle Ear Implant

 

[Snade]

There was a thread on the forums suggesting boomers with diminished hearing in the upper frequencies (that's where hearing loss usually begins) tend to change their views on what speakers "sound good".

In our younger days we liked speakers like Advents or Dynaco or AR - speakers with good low end, warm midrange, and the rolled-off high end sounded fine.

But when you lose the upper frequencies, these older speakers may sound "congested" or "lifeless".

So, by this theory, older guys (like me) now prefer brighter speakers like Altec or other horn speakers or Klipsch - speakers with a detailed and pronounced high end.

That's all theory and doesn't apply to everyone, but it makes some sense to me.

Cheers,

Snade

 

[Andyman]

So today I went in to have my hearing aids reprogrammed for the first time in 6+ years. I went back to my Costco with folks I had worked years with and had a nice time. I wanted to be seen by folks I had worked with as there's a certain professional respect there. It turned out my ears were too occluded to get a test today, but they did take my aids and give them the once over and worked some wonders. Apparently there are some microphone openings near the top of my KS 7.0 aids and they had becomed blocked with whatever stuff the aids get blocked with. They cleaned them all up and the aids seemed to be much better, just like they were when I got them 6 years ago. They also showed me a newer Rexton app and gave me a QR code to scan to set them up.

They sounded much better on my way home, but once I got home and worked through the app the aids really blossomed. I can hear the TV clearly for the first time in years and not have to rely on captioning for audio, I can hear papers rattling and a much better clarity on the high end and I'm hearing Cindy much more clearly than earlier today. There seems to be a bit of sibliance in the TV vocals, but it may just be normal now. Regardless, I'm going to give the Altecs a listen in a bit and am hoping I'll be enjoying them more.

Based upon this cleaning and maintenance, I doubt I'll be getting upgrades as I am very pleased with this new sound I hear. If you have hearing aids and haven't had the cleaned, especially the microphones, go in and have them checked out, you may be surprised at how compromised they may have become. I'm very glad I did.

 

[Wntrmute2]

I'll be interested in your perception of 'da Altecs. BTW, how are you feeling?

 

[Andyman]

I'll be interested in your perception of 'da Altecs. BTW, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling pretty much OK, but still tired and not a lot of endurance. I can go out and go shopping, but I don't think I could work 8 hours like this w/o some seat time.

Well I have to play with this Balance control which rolls the sound between Sharp and Soft. My initial listen to a mundane LP was loaded with surface noise, so I rolled it back and it is somewhat better now. I'm streaming the same songs now and they are much cleaner, but perhaps a bit too crisp for me. But perhaps that's what I've been missing all these years. They aids literally sound like Day One 6 years ago, but I may have too much Sharp EQ loaded into them even after I rolled back from +3 to 0. I packed an LP I sold a little while ago and the noise from the tape gun and the labels rustling was a revelation!