Hearing Aid Confusion


Help! I've recently started looking for a hearing aid, but I'm confused by the different information and advice that I've received from audiologists, an ENT specialist, and online literature from manufacturers. My recent audiogram has confirmed what I already knew: that I can use hearing aid help in speech recognition. But I also would like improvement, if possible, in listening to my two channel audio system. (The weakest component in my system is now me.) Some audiologists have told me that I can get a hearing aid with a music "program" that will boost my enjoyment. Others have told me that hearing aids are great for speech recognition but that I should turn the aids off (and even remove them) when listening to music. Who to believe? And if there are aids that actually help in music listening as well as speech recognition, what are the brands and models that I should explore? Any advice from audiophiles with a knowledge of hearing aids would be greatly appreciated.
kusina
Dr. Wong, Thank you for the information and good advice. I have already taken steps that accord with your suggestions. I have seen both an ENT specialist and audiologist, had an audiogram charted, and am now awaiting the arrival of a "Musician's" hearing aid to try. My hearing deterioration is considered to be "moderate," and I look forward to what may well be "a major system upgrade."
Dear Kusina, I think it was Richard Nixon who said. "Knowledge is power". Happy. Listening.
Update, for those who may be interested. My local audiologist, at my request, ordered a General Hearing hearing aid model known as the "Musicians." It came in, and was presumably programed at the factory to my audiogram. But because of some sort of a computer software problem, my audiologist cannot make fine tuning corrections if I need them. I've waited several weeks hoping that the problem might be resolved, but so far the problem remains a problem. On this coming Tuesday I'll go to the audiologist and try out the programed but otherwise uncorrectable "Musicians" hearing aid as well as a hearing aid from a Danish company called Widex. Apparently, Widex has a new model called "The Dream," which has increased headroom compared to earlier Widex products and is something that my audiologist can fine tune as desired.(It has significantly less bandwidth than the "Musicians" aid, however, and it is significantly more expensive.) I myself haven't seen any of these devices as yet, let alone put them in my ears. I have learned, however, that patience is required if the consumer wants to stay on top of things.
Good luck and hang in there. Getting the right prescription doesn't always happen on the first try. Those Danes are in the forefront of hearing aid design. I remember reading an interview with an audio industry insider (name escapes me this morning) who said there was some degree of digital engineering "cross pollination" between high end audio and hearing aid businesses in Denmark.