I’m a professional drummer about to receive my first hearing aids, Widex 440. I’m getting the FM+Dex unit with it hoping this will allow me to get an In-ear-monitor feed for live performance when there is a full pro sound set-up, or from my studio mixer that I normally use each day with in-ears or headphones. Does anyone out there have any real experience using this set-up? Any problems?
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Hello! I’m a fellow musician and audio engineer. I’m also currently wearing the Widex Moment 440 Sheer HAs.
I think that you’ll find that the streaming option will not work for your ear monitoring needs. Since it uses bluetooth for the wireless protocol, latency (audio delay) will be too high for your comfort - especially as a drummer. My best advice for live monitoring would be to either use in-ears or very high isolation headphones. Work with your monitor engineer to develop an accommodative EQ curve and appropriate limiting for your hearing. This is what I’ve done for myself and other band members. It works incredibly well and my monitoring has never sounded so good - even when I was 20 years old.
I’ve made the careful decision to minimize use my HAs for performing or critical listening of music. I use them for all of my other life activities. In this way, they add value to everyday interactions and sounds of life while minimizing the inherent fidelity problems that are limits of the current technology when used with music.
I have a more detailed thread going here if you’re interested: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/lifelong-musician-audio-engineer-dives-into-trials-of-has-heres-my-story-and-experiences-thus-far
Thanks and good luck!
Chris
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I don’t completely understand what it is that you are requiring from the process, as I am not familiar with this type of requirement. It’s great to hear from fellow users enjoying or planning to enjoy the music capabilities. When I trialled the MRIC Moment 440’s (now have same in customs) I went to a concert with around 30,000 people, the base was intense and vibrating throughout me, yet the sound experience was amazing & unprecedented as there didn’t seem to be any limiting to the range. With the 440 I could also hear the speech clearly of those with me. With reference to the dex, the only experience I can feedback on is that I use the COM-DEX to stream music from my phone when out & about. When unmuted the aids are still working to hear all the sound around me & hear speech, whilst also having the music playing (a bit challenging obviously if you are playing music quite loud via streaming and trying to hear speech-as it would be for anyone). If I muted, then I would just hear the streaming music & the aids switch off their microphones. I can mute/unmute via my COM-DEX, you may have option do it via the dex or phone. I think the poster above may be referencing that if you are in streaming mode, the sound class may be different. With something really specific like this, the dispenser should be happy to seek advice from technical support if they are unsure of best way to approach this. There’s lots of ways to get it right for you. Good luck & enjoy.
How are you protecting your hearing?
This might be impractical for your situation but why not make a small traveling two or three space rack being fed by the monitor board where you have a EQ, Multi-Band Compressor and Headphone Amp. driving a set of Isolation Headphones for Drummers? I added all these components using Behringer stuff and came out about $500 USD.
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This might be of interest:
Webinar Tomorrow (Feb 2): Music and Hearing Aids,
with Marshall Chasin, AuD
unitron․cventevents․com
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I am not a musician,but an audiophile and I had tried Widex Moment 330 RIC,top of the line Phonak Paradise P90 RIC and settled on Widex Moment 440 RIC,mainly due to the Widex phone app and wax guard installer tool/dispenser,plus the Widex charger is better quality…(Phonak is cheap feeling plastic)
Back in Sept /22,I thought my listening days were over after finding out I needed HA’s.
I began a search for the best HA’s for music and listened to those I mentioned and my music listening has never been better since I bought the 440’s.I can mute the HA’s while listening to a particular song (not sure if all HA phone apps have this feature or not) and I can hear ‘real time’ how much top end I am missing in the track by switching the mute OFF and back ON while listening. Also the Widex Moment 440’s were reviewed in a Audio magazine.(Analog Planet 2020).Not cheap,but worth it to me! Huck
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