Distorted music/ distorted loud speech

Hearing Aids
#1

Hi guys,

I am experiencing distorted music listening on my iphone speakers. If you know, iphones have one speaker at bottom and one speaker in front. Music is very distorted but listening to the same music from tv using youtube there is no distortion.

I also get distorted loud speech. For example if 2 people are arguing and I am sitting next to them, they are distorted and it seems the aid is trying to clip the speech. Same if there are lot of excited children and they happily screeching/playing

Feedback manager I have changed from strong to subtle. Any other ideas?

#2

For me all I have to do is lower the volume of my aids to -1

#3

Hiya,

I have tried lowering volume using the app. Each click reduces by 4db but still no change. I tried with my 4 year old son and the distortion was still there. I think the correct term would be “sound warbly” or “talking in a fan”

#4

I would suggest going in to your audiologist and have your aids checked.
Other thoughts are, what aids do you have what is your audiogram, and do you have domes or custom ear molds.

#5

I have Starkey Signature AL 24, CIC with the most powerful speaker Starkey offers in custom molds. I only had these for about 8 weeks. Doing extremely well apart from the above issue. I have severe/ profound loss in left ear. Right ear is profound. I will try getting my audiogram

#6

I am going to be bluntly honest, I have severe hearing loss and wear the Oticon INTENT1 aids which are receiver in the ear with custom ear molds, and I have no feedback or grobled sound. Now to my bluntly honest statement there is no way with your level of hearing loss are you going to be able to hear as good as you wish in the CIC aids. Your microphone and speaker is too close together and the feedback cycle can’t function properly. Do yes I understand why you are having the issues.with that level of hearing loss you need the Rite or full BTE aids with as much power as you can get. And more than likely no vents at all.

1 Like
#7

Thank you for the feedback. I do believe you are correct. My aid the fitting is very tight to the second canal and I have always worn CIC’s. The only issue is the distortion. The aid does have small vent

#8

My audiogram and current settings:

IMG_7509
IMG_75091920Ă—2357 607 KB

IMG_7508
IMG_75081920Ă—1735 434 KB

IMG_7507
IMG_75071920Ă—1623 396 KB

IMG_7506
IMG_75061920Ă—1872 458 KB

IMG_7505
IMG_75051920Ă—1910 413 KB

#9

I have Audibel/Starkey RIC aids.
I had to have the feedback manager turned off to get rid of the warble.
The audiologist thought i was nuts.

#10

My audiogram is in my profile, and my receivers are 105db. They are that powerful so I can understand speech without the feedback circuit cutting out the sounds that I need. And yes I have been told by some that I don’t need that much power in my receivers and I will definitely disagree with them. I have no feedback, I now have very good speech understandimg with my aids. I can now after decades of not being able to enjoy music, enjoying music without distortion, as for as I can tell. My aids are not set for a comfortable level of sound, my aids are set for my peek hearing needs with enough overhead to prevent feedback and compression of what I hear. But it took several years of almost monthly adjustments to get me to this point. Also I only know one audiologist that was brave enough to work with me to getto this point and he is my VA audiologist.

2 Likes
#11

I have Oticon Intent 1 hearing aids and I’ve had the same issue as you with loud speech coming in as garbled and distorted. It seems that dropping the feedback control from normal to low has solved the issue as my ears were hearing the noise and then the hearing aid was also picking up the noise and cancelling it out and this caused the warble you describe. Worth a shot changing the feedback control from normal to low and seeing how you get on.

#12

If you look at my audiogram, from 1.5k and upwards there is no response. Without my aid, I can hear about 40% of my deep voice, I can hear only loud sounds like doors slamming, loud low frequencies sounds. I need a lot of gain to boost soft and moderate low frequencies speech but then background noise becomes too loud.

From 2016 to July 2024, I lived in a very quiet world. My last CIC, the gains were set very low in all frequencies as I found loud sounds very uncomfortable and I got by lip-reading. Plus the aid was very basic. It was 2nd from the entry level and it was all I could afford at the time.

The new aid has opened up a new world of sound. I don’t ask people to repeat themselves in terms of one to one conversations. I am doing better in groups, but still not understanding everything. But at the beginning, I found background sound very loud and tiring and reduced by 2db in the low frequencies

Maybe I should have brought the RIC version of Starkey Genesis but I am very self-conscious of wearing it in the open and prefer CIC’s due to its size.

1 Like
#13

Daniel, I have tried this by reducing the feedback setting from strong to subtle (low setting) but it is still there.

I tried an experiment…using music program to listen to music there is no distortion. But there is still distortion if using music program with loud speech

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#14

Do you get feedback? I get feedback if feedback manager is turned off. I am running a lot gain across the board

#15

I have closed domes with small holes.
I really do not get feedback normally.
I never get it in my left ear.
I’ll get some in my right under certain conditions.
If I put my head on my pillow a certain way or force it by putting my hand over my ear.
I can get it in my right ear if I turn the volume up to four. Not always.
A hat will cause it also in my right ear.
This is because the dome does not fit tight in my right ear.

#16

You posted an audiogram of only the left ear. What about the right? What is your Word Recognition Score (WRS) in quiet?

Have you ever considered a cochlear implant evaluation? It doesn’t obligate you to get the implant, and it would give you much more information about your hearing loss.

You can add your audiogram by clicking “My forum” at the top of the page and then “My hearing tests.”

1 Like
#17

I also agree with @cvkemp about considering HA styles other than CIC. I encourage you to at least try.

Currently, hearing aids come in various colors and can be very elegant in style. I know about this because I am 35yo and have been using hearing aids since I was 13.

Coming back to the full potential of the world of sound is worth making sure of.

#18

Hey mate. Right ear is profound and I have cochlear implant in the right side.

I am 35 too!

I was born with 10% hearing in my left ear (which hasn’t changed since birth). And healthy right ear

#19

Haha, what a coincidence! Which CI or sound processor do you have? And why do you bother about the size of the HA considering you have quite a bulky sound processor? Nothing by force, however, it can also be covered by hair like mine.

I thought you don’t have CI because of your post. Has CI not helped you? Maybe you need additional adjusting appointments?

#20

I was implanted with Medel Synchrony 2 back in 2013. I tried a whole year to get used to the sound but it did not work well for me. Everything was high pitched and all it did was improve lip reading further. Only last year, the hospital got in touch and upgraded the sound processor to Sonnet 2. I was told I will be called in for regular programming sessions but only had 1 back in March. Not surprising as the NHS is nearly on its knees