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Is a hearing aid the best possible tweak for 50+


Is a hearing aid the best possible tweak for anyone over 50?

New Digital Hearing Aids With Music Programs.

I am 55 and I have a slight hearing loss (it was first noticed when I was 50 and I had my hearing checked for free at COSTCO).

I recently purchased from COSTCO a Bernafon Chronos 9 hearing aid (Swiss manufacturer) that has a two preprogrammed MUSIC settings. This is the only new digital hearing aids that I found that have these settings.

I was skeptical thinking how can this little microphone, amp and speakers in the hearing aids work with my expensive stereo system.

However COSTCO gives a 90-day money-back guarantee so I decided to give them a try.

WOW was the result for music (typically vinyl), I heard instruments I haven't heard in years. Poor recordings suddenly sound good. Good recording suddenly sound great. All of a sudden Led Zeppelin sounded good to near great as I could now hear Jimmy Page's guitar.

For less than $3,000.00 for the hearing aids I now truly had an outstanding stereo system as follows:

Grado Statement Sonata1 Wood Body Phono Cartridge

JLTI Phono Preamp (Swiss Made and very good)

Linn LP-12 (Valhalla) with a Hadcock 242 tonearm

Sunfire Theater Grand 5 Preamp in Bypass Mode.

Modified and Upgraded Behringer DCX2496 active crossover for Emerald Physics CS2 speakers.

Sunfire Theater Grand 5 matching five channel amp (TGA-5200, 200-watts per channel) for the four channels needed for the bi-amp requirement of the Emerald Physics CS2 speakers (the amplifier’s rear output ("Voltage Source") are connected to the woofer input terminals, the amplifier’s front "Current Source" output to the speaker’s upper range input terminals.

Please note the hearing aids did little to help my overall hearing (except for music) as my hearing aid loss is only slight (I believe it is sloping down to 20 db down at 10,000 hertz). My main complaint is that I cannot hear conversations in load restaurants, movies are fine, etc. t
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chayro
2,996 posts
 
Costco gives a free hearing check and sells you a $3K hearing aid. They're not as dumb as they look. BTW, the hearing aid will sound better with an upgraded power cord and teflon caps.
mosin
410 posts
 
Branislav said,"Explains why so many bright and aggressive systems at audio shows are still highly regarded."

That is exactly what I was thinking.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I believe it is sloping down to 20 db down at 10,000 hertz
Ouch! Glad you found a practical solution. I'm blessed with less loss than average. 58yo and still hear test tones to ~15kHz. My 54yo partner has bat's ears, he hears tones @ 20kHz+.

Who cares if you can't hear conversations, you can hear music. Best of both worlds. I think I would pay $3000 not to hear most conversations. lol

Only eat at places with good music!
LOL! So true. We've walked out of quite a few restaurants playing unlistenable crap. The music in some restaurants seems to be chosen as revenge for the food in some concert venues.

Explains why so many bright and aggressive systems at audio shows are still highly regarded.
+1 Ever notice that it's mostly old guys with money drooling over the $1M system that sounds like fingernails on slate? They're applying Acman3's advice, tuning out conversations naturally and while hearing all the music. More power to 'em, as long as I don't have to listen. ;)
sjsanders
4 posts
 
"...as my hearing aid loss is only slight (I believe it is sloping down to 20 db down at 10,000 hertz). "

I am an audiologist by profession and a stereo nut by fate for decades now; and what you describe is in fact, normal hearing as the range of normal, for an adult is considered down to 25 dB HL (a scale based upon "average" normal hearing). Most commercial audiometers do not measure beyond 8 KHz as well, as the primary concern is for speech understanding, not music. Another point to consider, is that only relatively newer hearing aids are even designed to amplify beyond 5-6 KHz, and they have extremely weak outputs by the time you approach 8-10 KHz (approx 60 dB spl which is likely not audible for anyone with even moderate hearing loss in that region, let alone conveying any dynamic range at all). Yet another fallacy is that an online app can measure hearing sensitivity at 13 KHz with anything resembling accuracy.

Basically, if it sounds better to you, then great... enjoy the music. Music programs in hearing aids generally disable the extra signal processing used to attempt to enhance speech, as well as noise-reduction. There are many things going on in modern hearing aid circuits, and the algorithms may enforce very different levels of compression depending on the frequency of the sound. Sometimes, the patient knows best. There is one manufacturer, who has a interactive programming app that allows the patient to modify many of the fitting parameters by moving the mousing cursor around the computer monitor (while listening to music through the hearing aids if desired). I find that this is extremely beneficial when my patients need to "fine-tune" their settings beyond my best attempts.

Sorry for the long response, but I could probably go for hours on this.
manitunc
795 posts
 
The best bet for over 50 listeners is to get their ears professionally de-waxed and cleaned.
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