Fun and interesting show on quirks of sound

Hearing Aids
#1

I’ve watched several Youtubes of Dr Derek Muller on a wide variety of topics. Today’s show was all about audio illusions. With my own cinderblock ears and being profoundly deaf, I’d first of all hear NOTHING without aids - no illusions there!

But with my Phonak Lumity Life aids streaming this show, it was as if I had headphones on - which Dr Muller recommends for those listening to this show. In that regard, I was able to test out the audio illusions better than my husband, who has perfect hearing but was listening to the show through the TV speakers. I was intrigued by both the nuanced sounds I was able to hear, and those that just didn’t cut it with my aids, no matter what Dr Muller professed.

The show opens with a short tour of one of the most MONDO organs I’ve ever seen in my life - a fixture at the Sydney Opera House. I was BUGEYED to see the size and number of all those pipes. But Dr Muller also explores how our brain + ear + eye can either fool us or deduce correctly an audio frequency. Not only the tones, but even the direction. He mentions the “cocktail party” effect (OH YEAH, I invented that term - along with the exclamation point!) and how that had implications for air traffic control towers.

Check out some of the early sound amplification devices used dating back to WWII and be forever more grateful for the SIZE and light WEIGHT of your own aids!

Enjoy!

Well, if you have time on your hands, and are curious about EARS, check it out! :robot:

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#2

I shall check this out. Have you seen “The Sound of Metal”? I understand there’s many inaccuracies in it, but I thought it gave a great insight into severe/profound deafness.
Peter

#3

OW. That movie looks intense. I will need a double martini in hand to watch it. Thanks for sharing!

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#4

@1Bluejay
It is pretty intense! The first scenes remind me of 2009 when I contracted glue ear (in both ears). The 2nd ear shut down when I leant down to plug my guitar in, at a gig. I remember it like yesterday. It totally isolated me, and started my journey to a life with hearing aids. Now retired, it has also become a hobby :slight_smile:
Peter

#5

OMG!!! I can’t even imagine the stress that would accompany double-glue ear! In fact, I had to look that term up, cuz that is exactly the condition I’d have as a child. It all makes sense now.

I’d have frequent, VERY PAINFUL ear aches accompanied by that ear being full, and therefore NO hearing. I’d even “hear” my heartbeat in that ear thumping away as if the fluid was magnifying the sound - like being in a submarine and hearing distant sonar sounds.

When I was 14, I had glue ear in BOTH ears for a good 2 weeks or so. Fullness, no pain, just that heartbeat thumping, jokes about my NOT hearing flying over my head, and all of this seemed to come on after I took Coricidan for a cold. I wish I knew then what I’m learning right now, cuz no one mentioned “glue ear” to me.

And here I am … decades of 24x7 tinnitus that never left since my bout at 14 yrs old.

You seem like a DIYer who takes control of the devices and accessories to manage tinnitus! That’s dancing to your own drumbeat. :upside_down_face:

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#6

@1Bluejay

I realised about 18 months ago, that the only person who can sort my hearing out properly, is me. This forum, is by far the best resource on the internet, for anyone considering self-programming. Without it, I’d still be either asking people to repeat themselves, or even worse, withdrawing from socialising.

I was told that Glue ear only normally happens to children, I was 49! I was lucky to have a private health policy with work (very rare in the UK at the time) and was seen in a week. I was diagnosed with moderate/severe loss, as that was where my conductive loss was. In the 4 week, I had tubes (grommets) fitted, andcthe nightmare was over. I did buy a hearing amplifier (like a neck loop, with ipod phones), and I managed to work through it. I took holiday for the first week. I was fine when the tubes were fitted, as I was used to that level of loss. Hearing aids came a few weeks later.

All good fun :slight_smile:
Peter

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#7

100% agree, hearingtracker has put a lot of effort to get where they are today, there’s nothing absolutely nothing that comes even close to the resources available.

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