Hearing Aid Confusion

In reply to Buconero117: I became an audiophile hobbyist many years ago, when my hearing was quite good. My processing of the higher frequencies deteriorated slowly. I recently tried out and compared several 75 ohm digital cables, and I had no trouble hearing differences among them and arriving at a preferance. I continue to enjoy my stereo system, though I now play it at a higher volume than I did years ago. And my components are similar to what many audiophiles like. My interest in a hearing aid is largely triggered by difficulty in hearing lecturers in large halls and sometimes difficulty in hearing conversational speech when the speaker speaks softly. Since I will get something to help in the speech department, it would be a bonus, I suspect, if the hearing aid also improved my hearing of live and recorded music. At the moment that is a supposition -- I haven't actually worn a hearing aid as yet, so what effects it may (or may not) have is unexplored territory. In the meantime I have sought verbal advice from several sources, and, frankly, I have been confused by the different things that I've been told. I'm going to visit an audiologist next week who sells several different brands of aids (I have a recent audiogram from a medical facility), so I'll have a chance to hear various possibilities. Unfortunately, by the way, I won't be hearing a General Hearing "Musicians'Listening Design," the only hearing aid that I've thus far found to advertize online that their device is designed for high fidelity listening (a bandwith of 16khz, purposeful provision for appreciable headroom in the analog to digital converter, etc.) I live in eastern MA where, I'm told by a General Hearing representative, there are no dealers for that brand -- all the more regrettable since one of the commentators in this thread mentioned the General Hearing product positively.

My choice of electronic components, including sources, is mostly based on value, speakers based on actual hearing using my aids. In the early sixties I had McIntosh and Marantz units, now its mostly Cayin/Vas tubes, which for me produce a 'warms' sound. So, in a way, my choices are filtered with what the aids produce. Also, for many years before digital aids came into existence, my aids were analogue. From time to time I go back to the analogue aids for a different listening experience. Prior to discovering ProAc speakers in the early eighties, I used AR and K=Horn speakers. I am a believer in that 'culture' makes a difference in how one hears. Think 'British' sound is a good example of that. So, speakers are always first biased to how one hears and one's first language. And yes, I think once you start using hearing aids your preference for speakers will change. It is very important that if you starting down the road of using hearing aids, that you always get a pair, no a single instrument. People like me drive audiologist nuts.

Kusina, pressure your audiologist to take on the General Hearing line, at least for a trial. General is always looking for new distribution and may make it worth the audiologist's effort with incentives that could provide you a price break. But beware, the markup on other manufactures lines is much higher then General's, so their would be resistance. For many years General's programming software was unique, but in recent years they are adopted industry standard software so it has become easier to sell General stuff.

Two years ago I was diagnosed with severe HF hearing loss. Having told my audiologist that I was a high-end audiophile, she prescribed the Starkey Wii hearing aids. These are (i) binaural, and (ii) programmable. I have a speech program, a music program and a "restaurant" program. I cannot speak too highly about these devices--they really work! You have true binaural hearing, the devices are essentially invisible, and the music program restores the high frequencies.

Through computer research I've learned that General Hearing makes what seems to be a less complex version of its "Musician's" hearing aid, the Simplicity. The Simplicity comes in several models, one of them being the "Hi Fi EP. " The EP seems to stand for extended battery life. The Hi Fi model comes with a volume control on both aids, but it is otherwise "pre-programed" at the factory. It cannot be programed for the individual user. It is said to have a range of 100 hz - 10khz, it is of the "open-ear" type so that the user is said to hear below 100 hz as he would without a hearing aid, and it amplifies soft sounds but not loud ones. Apparently you use the same program for speech as for music -- or, if not, the device decides (I'm not clear on this). In any case, unlike many expensive hearing aids, it does not have a program that blocks out ambient sounds in a restaurant or other noisy place. It is an off-the-rack hearing aid and does not need to be set up by an audiologist, and can be purchased online. A pair costs $999 through Walmart, Sam's, and perhaps other retailers. What do you think?