....and if the repartee' gets redundant....
You can shut them off.
"....pardon, my aids need charging...."
"Huh? What?"
🙄
Results of Actual Hearing Test and Next Steps
Like probably many on this forum I’m getting into that post 60 age where hearing may not hear as well as it once was. To baseline where I stand today, I arranged a professional assessment. Results:
- 10dB loss at 2K Hz
- 20dB loss at 4K Hz
- 20dB loss at 8K Hz
- Word recognition 100% at 70dB
- Sound tolerance to 110dB (that’s loud)
Summary; mild to moderate loss at higher frequencies; muddled conversations in group settings. No urgent need for hearing aids but higher volume may be required for media.
I listen to music mostly at the 70-85 dB range; most theatrical movies and concerts can go as high as 95-100dB which is too loud for me. My McIntosh MA352 has EQ knobs which I rarely use. I prefer direct sound without boosting and play mostly vinyl. Also have EQ in my car.
I tried enhancing EQ settings at 2K and 10K Hz and found it did add more detail; at least it was an agreeable sound. My hope is to avoid hearing aids for as long as possible and still get maximum music enjoyment.
Anybody else encountering this or have some workarounds to suggest?
- ...
- 43 posts total
I can totally understand why you wouldn’t want to get hearing aids. I got one (I only lost hearing in one ear) a few years ago, and I rarely wear it because it distorts the sound so badly. It does help me understand what others are saying, but at the expense of “normal” sound reproduction. I would never wear it to listen to music, although I sometimes wear it if I’m trying to hear others in a noisy room. I would say try to find the best combination of settings with your equalizer, and then decide whether you like it better that way or without any enhancement. Personally, I’m pretty happy with my system with no enhancement, but in the end, it just comes down to what sounds better to you! |
@cheeg , and I can understand why wearing only one would be 'off-putting'....no pun intended. When my right earpiece punk'd out for awhile, I preferred to not wear my left one. It was weird to hear clearly with my left, and felt like my right was AWOL.... In the interm, I just defaulted to running eq 'up' to compensate, since I know my 'basic curve' of correction. I use this curve with 'real' headphones, since it's a bit much having 'phones into aids' which creates an over-correction... You might try the 'dj running with 'phones on one ear' to see if that's a comp that works...🤷♂️😎... |
I've posted on this before as I am in similar position. If audiologist told you that it's all fine in frequency but simply lowered, for music you'd simply use the volume control. If you found you had loss in the left, you'd could just use the balance control. Let's be clear: I'm not referring to daily living, just music listening. If you have freq loss why not use an audiophile solution like a quality EQ. Why on Earth would you pass up on an audiophile solution by having your $$$ audio go thru a miniaturized device that is small enough to well, fit in your ear. For TV, family, socializing, public, by all means use aids. In your audio room, why not use your system. But like Mahgester says, if it seems fine to you it's because you've adapted. So simply start adding back as you like. FYI, it's my understanding that the audiology dB scale isn't the same as spl dB. |
20 dB is normal for your age in the medical world. You did not state what it is after 8 k on the audiogram.most men lose thier hearing in the higher frequencies hfsnhl high frequency sensory neural hearing loss called presbycussis. That is where the women's voice is alot at least my excuse.there can be a conductive hearing loss such as fluid behind the eardrum that can cause hearing loss of up to 30 dB. This is acute and most likely why some people get thir hearing back because the fluid goes away after a while. A tympanogram is a great way of testing for fluid behind the drum.you audiogram should have that in the report somewhere.idought you have a conductive loss more like nerve loss due to aging. Long term loud noise exposure without hearing protection leads to high frequency hearing loss..again need to see you hearing in higher frequencies on the audiogram. I would not recommend hearing aids for a 20 dB loss but I'll bet you have more in the high frequencies.digital aids now can be programed frequency specific.of course we have to give the disclaimer of see your local ent md.ive been doing it 30 pluss years.enjoy the music |
- 43 posts total