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Dang it, I'm Deaf....

The worse thing that can happen to an audiophile, I'm totally deaf (technically profoundly deaf) in one ear. It all happened in about one year's time. My retirement plans for getting a huge statement system are gone with my hearing. So, I went ahead and got a cochlear implant but it is not the same as a hearing aid, it's a last resort for those that have no hearing. I can't use it when listening to music. Fortunately, my other ear is pretty good. So I experimented with my system today. I ended up with both loudspeakers about 3 feet apart and sort of favoring my bad side. It's working out pretty good. I get some hints of depth but of course no wide soundstage. I'm also experimenting with mono vs stereo. I've had the music on for most of the day.I think I'll still be able to enjoy my music but in a slightly different presentation. 

Anyway, I was wondering if anybody else with single sided hearing loss has any tips? 

russ69
noromance's avatar
noromance
10,185 posts
 

Nothing to add but commiserations. I've tinnitus and my dad went somewhat deaf in his late sixties. So far so good but I dread the day. I will say that 50s and 60s mono recordings can be superb. You could even go the mono route and save a fortune on amps and speakers!

dadork
633 posts
 

Though there are worse things that happen in life losing one's hearing is a fate I would wish on no one. I have tinnitus and it's bad enough.

emrofsemanon's avatar
emrofsemanon
292 posts
 

russ, can you please describe how the cochlear implant makes music sound? i'd heard that they have invented new algorithms that can be programmed into older implants that give them a more "FM" kind of sound quality. i also heard they invented something called a "hybrid" implant that maximizes one's remaining hearing range with a powerful amplifier, and the rest of the range reproduced with the implant.

4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

My best to all of the responders here, who realize that things change, sometimes at the worst possible time. My hearing got slapped pretty good at the hospital where they administered an antibiotic too rapidly. My head felt like a balloon. That was years ago, and I miss what I lost, so damned much. It isn't just music. It is what I enjoyed most about life, i.e., listening to it.

russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,579 posts
 

russ, can you please describe how the cochlear implant makes music sound?

I have the latest and greatest implant from Cochlear America. It sounds like a cheap transistor radio with a bad signal and a busted speaker with speech by a robot.

"hybrid" implant that maximizes one's remaining hearing range with a powerful amplifier

That is for people that have some hearing left, I have nothing on that side. 

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