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.

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?

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."

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.