Hearing Aid Confusion

I have Oticon Intiga aids. yes, hearing aids will improve your stereo listening experience. they are just very samll equalizers, which compensate for loss of sound above 4khz. they can restore proper balance and the highs you have been missing. The bad news: the best ones cost $6K per pair.

unfortunately, if you have mild hearing loss, only the top of the line aids will help. the behind the ear types do not affect bass at all, they only operate above 4khz, where most of us over 50 have losses, and where speech intelligibility is affected. The best have multiple eq curve, more bands of eq than the lesser models, are individually programmable for each ear, and mine have wireless bluetooth connectivity to my iphone. the "music" progam can turn off the compression and algorithms designed to extract speech data from noise.

A friend of mine designed the Lyric, which is the absolute best sound available from an aid. Only good one left on the market which is analogue. Not for mild loss, they are completely imbedded in the ear canal and invisible. you don't buy them, you subscribe for about 8K/yr. Ear wax clogs them and they have to be replaced often. Supposed to even be a waterproof model now. Very popular in Hollowood and for anyone for whom vanity is a priority.

I have the Lyric in one of my ears, and it is programmed to compensate for the frequencies where I have hearing loss due to an infection years ago. It works very well, though it can be overloaded and compress when hit with loud sounds in the higher frequencies (I have to turn it down to its lower volume settings when attending concerts or listening, for example). The frequency ranges where it can help are in the highs and midrange, not the bass. Costs a lot less to subscribe to than Lloydc writes, at least where I am ($1700/yr), and the subscription is handy because you just replace it when it stops working without worrying about changing batteries, extra costs, etc. It does have its limitations in terms of precise equalization--you're not going to get a flat response curve--but it has been a help to me. It also takes a bit of getting used to, and sometimes it can wiggle its way out of the ear canal or gets lodged in the canal in a way that blocks it to varying degrees, which requires me to visit my audiologist for him to adjust if I can't do it myself (it is not easy to reinsert it properly after pulling it out, at least for me). As the others above say, each person's needs are different, you really need to go to a good audiologist, find out which frequencies you need to address and go through the various options.

recprince, that's amazing, where do you live? did you have insurance coverage or some special deal?

OK, can anyone recommend a good audiologist in CT? What? Speak up. I CAN'T HEAR YOU ;-) I really would like a recommendation. I'm very suspicious of anyone who diagnoses, prescribes, and then then turns around as sells you the Rx.

Lloydc--I live in NJ, and insurance doesn't cover it; as far as I know, I'm not getting a special deal. I basically lease the unit, with unlimited replacements during the lease if it goes bad or the battery in it runs out (usually every 2-4 months). Does Lyric make a better one, perhaps? Also, I'm only leasing one, my other ear measured really well.

Nice thing about the Lyric was that I got to wear it for 30 days before having to start leasing it, to make sure that it worked for me and that I could get used to having it in the ear. It does take some time to get used to it, especially when you only use one in one ear like I do.