I’ve started a tread about my first experience with hearing aids a few weeks ago but I was hoping to get feedback on the hiss I’m hearing so I’ve started this new thread…
I’ve been wearing Widex Passions (Mini BTE RIC) for about six weeks. They’re my first pair of HAs. My hearing loss is mild to slightly moderate with my loss being at the higher frequencies. (the audiogram looks like what people call the ski slope)
For the first few weeks I had the dispenser turn down the amplification because I found the all the high sounds annoying. Now that I’m getting used to them I asked him to adjust the amplification to the prescribed levels. When I got into my car I noticed a little feedback so the dispenser ran a feedback suppression program. He said he hadn’t run it initially since the amplification of my HAs is not very strong. The feedback suppression seems to work but I still hear a hiss. I don’t know if it’s the sound of all the things around me or if it’s the hearing aids themselves.
I only have a couple weeks left on my trial period. If the hiss is a problem with the HAs I might have to try another type. If it’s just the sounds around me that take getting used to, I’ll keep 'em.
Do you hear the hiss all the time, no matter where you are and what you are doing? Do you hear it no matter which program you are using? Does the audiologist hear the hiss when he uses a stethescope type device on your aids? Assuming you are wearing two aids do you hear the hiss in both aids?
I just had this issue with someone in my office. She only heard it in one ear and it was all the time. It was an open fitting with a ski slope loss. There was however a little bit of low frequency amplification still coming through. I turned the gain down in the lows 2db and it took it away.
It was a different manufacturer than widex but I’ve dealt with this same issue from many different manufacturers.
With the Passion devices, I almost always reduce the “IG Soft” (insertion gain for soft sounds) 2-4 dB to address this issue. As HearAgain suggested, it may just be the low frequencies that need to be turned down, especially if your hearing is normal in that range.
If that doesn’t work you might also ask the dispenser to run a “self-test” on the instrument(s) to be sure the components are working properly.
Thanks for the responses. Over the last day I’ve been listening very closely to my HAs, taking them on and off in different places to see what difference they make.
One thing is for sure, being in a room with computers and mechanical things does make a difference. My dispenser has a computer in the small room where he sees his clients. The hard drive on his computer makes a whooshing sound which becomes more pronounced with my HAs in. Plus, I spend most of my work day near my computer and there’s a small refrigerator in the room, with my HAs on I hear the whooshing sounds they make all day.
I went into the quietest room in my house to see what difference the HAs made and to see if I still hear the whoosing or hissing sound. It’s extremely subtle. I definetly have a different sensation when the HAs are in and then when I take them out, I get a completely different sensation, it’s as if I’ve plugged up my ears. This happens in the most silent room I have. The only thing I can figure out is that I’m sensing “room tone”. (I’ll put an explanation of room tone at the bottom of this post)
So, I assume that it would just take time for my brain to filter out those sounds since it seems that it’s a natural sound, not an electronic sound coming from the HA itself. I still need to decide if the benefit I’m getting from the HAs is worth it. At times I find the quieter world without HAs better. But, when I put the HAs in it’s as if the world has come to life.
*For those reading this who never heard of room tone, it’s a natural sound found in a room when no one is talking. You can experience the absence of it when you walk into a soundproof hearing testing room – when you’ve gone from a room that you thought was silent into a room that is a lot more silent. Have I lost you? Here’s an example; when a filmmakers shoots a scene where there is dialog, they record the sound of the room when no one is talking. When they edit the film, they might need to add a word or some dialog which they’ve recorded at a later date in a studio. If they cut that dialog into the film without the “room tone” it sounds artificial, the sound suddenly changes. But, if they mix in the recorded room tone it sounds and feels more natural. What makes the room tone? My guess is that it’s the low level sounds coming from electronics, people breathing, sounds from the outside that are so low that we don’t notice them. Here’s a link to another explanation: Room Tone
From a technical viewpoint…,every enclosure, surface and room has certain unique reverberant (echo) characteristics. What you call room tone is the reverberant sounds and phasing relationships for each specific point in the enclosure. Different enclosures and different points in that enclosure can sound very different even from the same source or person. Same goes for the pick up point (microphone placement).
A sound proof room (anechoic chamber) has no sound unless introduced inside the room.
Re: Hiss…every electronic device…amplifier…sound conditioner, has some broad spectrum hiss. It is low level electrons bouncing around. Normally this sound is not audible in well designed devices. Its called the noise floor.
Turn up the volume control on almost any amplifier and you’ll hear the electons (hiss). Ed
Much like ed121 said. You can turn on your stereo with no signal (no CD etc. playing) and turn up the volume and you will hear an audible hiss from the speakers.
With mild hearing losses this can be a bit of an issue as your hearing is probably normal or near normal in the low frequencies. Sometimes turning down the overall volume of the hearing aids helps. turning down just the lows, just the highs, reducing gain for soft sounds may make the ambient noises less noticeable (fans, machines etc.), increasing TK tends to help a bit as well, increasing noise reduction if possible may help as well. Take care though everytime something is reduced in the hearing aid in this way it is also reducing the signal you are getting from the sounds you want to hear.
Thanks again for the replies. It’s all very helpful. Now I need to decide if I’m going to keep the hearing aids. The world is definitely livelier with them. I hear little things I’ve haven’t heard in a long time but I’m not sure if it’s really better. I’m not really sure if I hear people more clearly or not. I’ve taken the hearing aids off in the middle of a meeting and at a party to see what the difference was like. The other day I wasn’t feeling well and I couldn’t get the HAs out of my ears fast enough.
This may seem a little nutty but, to get an idea of what it’s like to hear all the sounds I hear now, listen to the first 30 seconds of the opening credits of the Pee Wee Herman show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0bHUtpXI3o
I had a hiss when trying out one brand of HA. audi tried all sorts of adjustments but couldn’t make it go away. then changed to a different brand and it was much better
hi,and wondering how you are going?
Many of the noises are what i am finding with new widex mind 330 I am trialling.
Have you your hearing chart?
I have moderate-mild hearing loss.
I am going to try oticon agil later next week.
I am getting tired at times with excessive noise.Perhaps settings not right?
Many other maybes–so trialling a diff range.
Where are you with yours now?
and more from me!~!
I am finding traffic noise eg tyres on the road…very very noisy.
And other voices have to compete with cars.Gets very stressful,end of day with all that noise going on and as i stay near to busy intersection—rather hectic at times of day.I did not notice my last widex aids(old range from 7 years ago)-so distractful.
Very confusing as money/time/-and so much to make sense of prior to commitment of what aid would be best.I do understand the audiologists are so very very important to get settings/aids best order etc for us.