I’ve got mild to moderate hearing loss and love to listen to music. I’m also an audiophile/serious music listener. I decided to try HAs because music through my home audio system didn’t sound good any more. So I searched for an audiophile audiologist in my area but there seems to be no such thing! Apparently audiologists in my area don’t listen to music critically at all.
I finally found an audiologist who had been to what’s called CAN JAM, a kind of audiophile event for headphone users. I assumed that this meant they were just what I was looking for. I went to see the audiologist and they did a hearing test and they fitted me with HAs.
Now, two years later, I have realized that I made a lot of assumptions and mistakes.
I’m not very confidant in my audiologist now. First, they are not audiophiles/music lovers. They are not audiophiles or serious music listeners. The CAN JAM thing was just a sales/marketing thing for my audiologist. I’m having a hard time relating to them because they don’t seem to understand people like me or what I want from HAs. Finding HAs that make music sound good is critical for me.
They don’t even have any rudimentary stereo system- nothing at all, not even the cheapest besr best buy stereo. How can they help me if they can’t even play music in their office? I have no idea how to explain what sounds wrong with my HAs. they keep saying "come in and we’ll adjust your HAs but I don’t see the point. We have no common reference point and we can’t listen to music in their office.
When I first went in for a fitting they didn’t discuss different brands and models with me; they were happy to fit me with the top of the line models I requested. I had assumed, wrongly, that top of the line meant best music reproduction too. My audiologist didn’t tell me that.
Is my experience with audiologists typical?
I’m planning on trying some other audiologists but don’t know how to find ones that meet my needs. Any suggestions?