Hi all - newbie here. I had SSNHL in my R ear three months ago, (and existing hearing loss in my L), and have been trying to figure out a solution to staying in the game. All told, I have mild to moderate HL mostly in the high end. Currently in week two trialing widex sheer (moment 440), and have an audiologist (“hearing aid specialist,” actually) that doesn’t seem to get my needs, and by my observations so far, may not even know how to tweak under the hood beyond the AI setups that widex has built in. I have shown him some tweaks from articles for musicians and hearing aids, and he has said “Oh widex does that automatically.” I’ve been researching optional music expert audiologists and have discovered a few - Marshall Chasin, Julie Glick, Shelley Borgia and a few others, and might go see one of them, BUT I also see me needing to take the reigns at some point. Is it allowed to recommend musician/producer/engineer oriented audiologists here, and could someone here with direct experience offer a recommendation? I can see traveling, and getting the remote tweaking accessories and a tweak these on site, and also learning in DIY school so it’s more collaborative - which probably means I also don’t need the extensive $5500 bundle including unlimited tweaking from the point of purchase person, and could instead go with a new pair locally with replacement and repair warranty and make the tweaks, either remotely or in person an 'a la carte" thing as I get to know what they did and what is working, for future DIY. Any recommendations? has anyone here been to anyone they’d recommend? thanks!!
Can’t really help except to say you seem to be on the right track. You have identified some of the most well known audiologists who specialize in working with musicians. They are probably your best bet for recommendations for someone local to you. And, as a piano player, I definitely believe that musicians must learn to DIY in order to get the best adjustments. I do recommend that you get a good ENT evaluation just to rule out any other complications.
Also, post your audiogram to get more informed feedback
thanks you for the encouragement! I’m trying to see how to upload my most recent audiogram - is that buried somewhere? thanks
I’m a musician too. A couple of years ago I was excited to try Widex Moment after having worn Oticon Opn for a couple of years previously. Widex has a reputation as the go-to HA for musicians.
But I didn’t like them. I asked my audi if they needed programming changes and he said since I disliked them with his initial programming, changes weren’t likely to fix them for me. So I suggest trying a different brand of HAs. It might be that your audi is doing everything right, and nothing he could do would make Widex work for you. Or maybe you are right and your audi really doesn’t get it.
Don’t get pushed into something that is not optimal for you. This is your livelihood (or at least your passion) after all. And please do take @Psych1 ’s recommendation of an ENT exam seriously. A sudden hearing loss can be the sign of a condition that needs to be treated.
Audiologists can only practice in the province/state in which they are licensed to practice. So for example, Marshall is lovely and I have no idea whether he does virtual consultations or not, but you would still need to be in Ontario.
I’ve dumped 3 audiologists, had 1 great one that retired and am trying my 5th. It really helps to have an audiologist that is interested in audio. I just saw a guy whose (sp?) office was almost completely bereft of anything audiological. The guy could have been an accountant. And he sucked.
Yeah - I’m thinking I will likely go to see him. Did you have a positive experience with him, or know anyone that has? thanks
ugh - that’s frustrating. have you thought about DIY?
Thanks - what did you end up going with when the widex didn’t work? Do you still like them? yes, i saw an ENT right after the onset of my sudden HL, and did several different and aggressive treatment regimens. After all of that, the next step was hearing aids.
The only advice I can offer, and it is MY opinion, make sure you see an Audiologist vs a hearing instrument specialist. You will be paying for a top tier hearing aid, you deserve the top tier Audiologist (not a hearing aid specialist). Follow your instincts, and don’t be afraid to make sure your Audiologist understands this is a partnership and if he/she has a problem with your hands on approach to achieve the best outcome, that Audiologist isn’t the best fit for your needs, and move on.
I’m in the same boat as you so far what I decided it’s to get the best hearing aids I can afford and maybe do some DIY tweaks for casual music listening etc.
I don’t think the tech is there at the moment to depend 100% on HAs for music performance or production. What I have started to do it’s based on my latest audiogram it’s to compensate with EQ and some light compression in a master bus, basically making my home studio a gigantic hearing aid. If I was performing I would do something like that with my In-Ear monitors, I hope this makes sense.
I have yet to meet one of his patients, but I know him professionally. He’s a lovely guy, very focussed on music, musicians, and hearing conservation for musicians. Years of years of experience working on this stuff and widely well regarded. Very open and friendly, very interested in sharing information.
But where are you? There are other musician audiologists in America.
@user172 , I trialed Phonak Paradise and I liked them. They seemed a bit better than my Oticon Opn. But I ended up buying Oticon More 1 without the benefit of a trial due to an insurance issue. They are a little better than my older Opn for both speech comprehension and music fidelity, but not that much better.
I just play solo acoustic gigs and an occasional band gig, so I don’t need quite the level of musical auditory precision that you as a producer/engineer might need. I also have a more severe and complicated loss than many. I have to balance my ability to comprehend audience requests with my ability to hear clear musical tones. As an engineer you probably have less of an issue there. In any case, make sure you end up with a dedicated program on your HAs for doing your music work.
I’d say your course of action would depend on your situation: Do you make a good living producing top-tier national acts? If so, a trip to Toronto to see Marshall Chasin would definitely be in order.
If you just run a studio in your garage and record yourself and local bands more for fun than profit then I’d say try hard to find a local audi who will work with you, hopefully one who has worked with musicians before. I’ve communicated with Dr. Chasin before, and he was willing to work remotely and in real time with a patient and a local audi.
So try to find a new audi and try more than one brand. Some brands work well for some people and not for others. Most audi practices specialize in one or two HA brands and have insufficient experience in programming brands that they don’t specialize in. Also most audis know very little about accommodating the needs of musicians. It’s a bit of a niche market for them. As an audio engineer you would probably actually enjoy self-programming. Hope this helps. Good luck.
I’d be closest to charleston, jacksonville, charlotte, maybe a long drive to atlanta, perhaps a long all day drive to nashville - at which point maybe a flight to Toronto makes more sense. Not exactly in a music capital (anymore).
Hm. Heather Malyuk is in Ohio I believe, but maybe flights to Toronto would actually be cheaper. The other American AuD who jumps to mind is Cory Portnuff, but he’s way off in Colorado.
Nobody at Duke University Health? They have a reasonable sized practice.
Update - I had another follow up, and things couldn’t have gone better. It was pointed and direct conversation for sure. I asked for, and received, open domes to try, we made some tweaks in the basic programming to hear speech better, (and the other programs got better too) and chatted about policies related to having specialists tweak them, (including remotely) and/or me tweaking them myself. Everything was met with open-ness and agreeability. It was kinda like a re-set of everything (including the relationship) and the widex are sounding so much better. I even did some work on a music track yesterday and if felt the best yet, and this is still just a baseline. I do think it’s probably good to have someone local in the event there’s a repair or replacement needed, with the options I’m considering of traveling to tweak some things for music, while learning more about that, and then tweaking them myself. I hope this sense that things will be OK lasts. The support here has meant a lot.
Maybe! I don’t know everyone.
I’m having my last visit with the audi before my trial period ends and I’m still up in the air. I have the Resound Omnia. I play guitar and have a home studio although it is only recreational now I only perform occasionally and at Church. IMO they have over corrected my hearing deficit and my acoustic guitars sound like glass now. So I just turn the hearing aid down ( I only have boost from 3K up, low end is fine) and treat it like an equalizer when I’m playing. My app has 3 band tone controls that work in a limited range.
My biggest complaint is the sound of the streaming audio: there’s no bass! Even at my max adjustment no bass. I don’t think the HA can reproduce bass, just pass it through. I don’t have profound hearing loss just need clarity for speech applications. I work in health care and need clear communication. I think your best bet is to go with your own instincts.
Jeff
jeff - is your HA open dome? if yes, that’s why you’re not getting bass. Y