but the processing delay is evident, the patient just doesn’t understand it.
People most often describe it as an “echo” in their own voice which is attributed to lower frequencies vibrating through the bones of the skull stimulating the ear immediately, the, 8 to 15 ms later, the signal coming through the aid.
The other places where the processing delay is problematic, especially with open fit RICs is in highly reverbaratory environments like church, or in highly complex noisy places like restaurants etc.
A healthy brain can sort this out with time and practice, but those who have needed hearing aids for 8 to 15 years before taking action have a much harder time attaining the hoped for result because of the loss of acuity in the hearing system.
OK, well, the delay then. To be pedantic, it’s not about being chopped up as much as delayed.
Own voice is an issue because you’re generating the sound. Singing, playing an instrument, sometimes speaking get dicey when the latency goes beyond 5-7ms, which it does with digital HA’s.
With closed domes, external sound latency wouldn’t be an issue because there’s no intimate referent. Lip sync latency doesn’t become a problem until about 45ms according to the ATSC, but that could be exceeded by certain kinds of signal processing.
So yes, there may be latency issues. Most people adapt to them.
As a testimonial, using my Marvel M70-R’s with moderate processing on top of the AirStream protocol from the TV Connector, I can’t detect any lip sync issue with my TV viewing.
The datasheets linked provide the following contact details (may not be working any longer):
World Hearing Organization Inc. sales@worldhearingorg.com
Phone: +1 (408) 272-2222
Fax : +1 (408) 929-6996
3945 Perie Lane
San Jose, CA, 95132
Did anyone try their product? Are there any modern, quality analog aids other than Lyric?