I am in the process of deciding to be fitted with hearing aids. Consequently, I have been very observant of sound environments. I currently run the TV sound through a fairly high end, at least at the time I bought it, receiver. I have given up listening to the 5.1 system through a Bose speaker system, and prefer 2 channel stereo headphones. I am able to set the right left balance to accomodate the difference between ears as far as volume, and am pushing treble at +10dB in the 6.3KHz range, 0db base and mid range. With that setup I am able to reduce overall volume to a much lower level than I could with 5.1 surround and understand speech. Can anyone suggest any further tweaking?
I used a ten band graphic equalizer to invert the curve on my hearing test and clear up the high freq. sounds for me very nicely. Of course nobody else was happy with the speaker outputs tuned that way so phones were the best answer short of hearing aids.
Anything you can accomplish for your music with equalizer settings can be more that matched by the programming of hearing aids. I very much believe that you’ll like the result in the enhancement of every sound. If you can handle the investment, I highly recommend you trial hearing aids.
Best Regards,
TerryB
Thanks Terry. I am just shy of pulling the trigger on recommended Phonak Audeo S IX. I am contemplating a second opinion. I just do not know if I want to make the decision more difficult. I trialed the aids for about an hour in office, and I was amazed and left enthused. The more I think about it, the more I think the enthusiasm might not last. Then I picture myself puttig them in for “this” and then removing them for “that”. I just do not know if the investment will prove to be a good one.
I have worn HAs for 15 years now and usually wear them for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. The analogs I wore for 14 years + would occasionally come out to lower the stress level by subtracting the high freq. boost. These digital HAs have no vices, and I can let them adjust automatically to goings on or I can intervene and make manual selections. These are Phonak Ambra S FS ITE. I tried Audeo BTE form factor but immediately last fall had moisture problems with sweat getting in the aids and shutting the batteries down. The ITEs don’t have that exposure in the ear. With the feedback suppression available whenever needed, there is nothing that causes any aggravation, except of course the posibility of forgetting they are there and giving them a drenching in pool or shower.
It is possible to get tiny little “rain coats” for the BTEs, but I’m much happier with the ITEs which also give me more power range for future needs.
Regards,
TerryB
Your 6Khz wants to be a little more like +20dB and the 2-3Khz more like +10dB: which will sound tinny as hell. What you really need is a proper hearing aid system with an integrated feed for your Audio.
I tweaked the mid range which I peaked at 2.2KHz up to +5dB. I now have the bass at 0, the mid at +5 at 2.2KHz, and the Treble at +10 and 6.3KHz. Now, as I have never had hearing aids, and only have what I normally hear as a comparison, I can easily say that the phones with the equalizer tweaked allow me to listen at a lower volume level than the 5.1 surround, where speech is concerned. This is all new to me as I had not been tested in ten years, and have just become aware of how things have deteriorated.