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Hearing aid question

Decades ago I at least thought of myself as a bit of a "Golden Ear"; my Quad ELS/Pyramid supertweeter combo and associated electronics were a source of pride and joy. (All gone over the years, alas.) In recent years I have learned that I have essentially lost the top three octaves of my auditory frequency response, whether through natural aging or some other process I'm not sure; I also have a fair bit of tinnitus at this stage, but that has proved less of an issue in being able to enjoy music. So now I've gone from enjoying the transparent reproduction of great music to struggling to resolve the sibilants in my wife's speech. (In the overall scheme of things, the latter is arguably more important, at least in maintaining peace at home.) I still very much enjoy listening to music, but the high-end losses have somewhat diminished the joy of it.

I am of course starting to think about taking the leap into hearing aids as a genuine quality-of-life enhancement. I was wondering if anyone out there has dealt with similar issues, and perhaps formed opinions about which of the many available solutions has worked best as both a general lifestyle aid and a boost to their enjoyment of live and recorded music. Many thanks in advance.

ericrhenry5488
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,385 posts
 

All the hearing aids I tried made my system sound like a tin can telephone.  I refuse to spend 3K+ on a hearing aid that may or may not help me enjoy the system a little more.  I am not afraid to use the treble control on my preamp, and at +4DB helps tremendously. 

sgordon1
425 posts
 

Eric, make an appointment with a trusted audiologist for an exam.  If you ARE willing to make an investment in better hearing, you WILL be happy or you will get your money back.  I got my test locally and saved money buying Widex 440 from Direct Hearing (find them online).  In addition to more enjoyment of music, properly programmed, user adjustable hearing aids will improve speech intelligibility and reduce tinnitus.

lloydc's avatar
lloydc
751 posts
 

@stereo5 is more or less correct.  Except for the Widex (which has its own limitations, but I might be tempted to try them eventually), aids are not designed for music.  The behind the hear aids for mild to moderate loss are designed primarily to improve speech recognition by boosting sound in the 2-6 KHz range.  

the best ones cost around $3K each.

they do help you hear the swish and clang of cymbals and so on, but it soon becomes tiresome.

Hearing aids are primarily miniature equalizers (with some processing, like compression, built in.) Audiophiles migrated to extremely simple preamps decades ago, for good reasons.

I have no idea why wives expect you to hear them talk from another room, in a quiet voice .  Facing the listener, speaking clearly, enunciating properly, getting the listener's attention before speaking, adjusting your volume for the circumstances - I don't know why communication skills are so little taught in schools.     

larsman's avatar
larsman
1,931 posts
 

You can get top level hearing aids at Costco for about $1500/pair. I just did that a few weeks ago (I used to pay about $3000 each for the same quality). I've been wearing hearing aids for over 20 years, and the improvement it has made in music listening and everything else is superb; I'd no more go without them than without my eyeglasses. I also have tinnitus, but that's not what my hearing aids are for.

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