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Hearing Aids

Well Folks, I had to bite the bullet and get a pair. Went to an audiologist and the result is moderate hearing loss with tinnitus. I had already read some discussions here and researched other places as well and settled on a pair of Widex Moment 440's. I've had them in for 5 hours now and the clarity they provide with speech is astounding. Just got home and starting to listen to a wide variety of music. They have a "music" mode that is definitely more natural sounding than the other modes. I think it's going to take me a while to get used to hearing frequencies/sounds I was missing but these do have the ability to tweak a bit so I'll explore that later. I am finding right away I'm listening at lower volumes and there is now a crispness to notes along with textures I didn't have before. I'll update later as I progress with these. But overall very happy I made the move.
128x128ratboysr
13 responses Add your response
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oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
Wonderful to hear...
lloydc's avatar
lloydc
734 posts
 
The music mode is likely just a flatter eq curve.

unfortunately, hearing aids are designed with no thought at all given to sound quality.  Seriously, none.  Except for the implanted Lyric, they are all didital now.They are equalizers that bring up the volume in the frequencies where the consonants at the beginnings of words are, which help humans distinguish speech, mostly in the 2-4k range. 
tsushima1
1,165 posts
 
Most pleased for you @ratboysr....
erik_squires
15,616 posts
 
Awesome.  Never be afraid to use technology to improve your enjoyment of life. 
mlg
56 posts
 
@ratboysr, I have the previous model, the Widex Evoke 440.  I found that using the SoundSense Learn program to customize the sound, while listening to music, allowed me to create an equalization curve that made music much more enjoyable than the Music program.  You may want to experiment with this a few times.  Again, you need to go through the program while listening to music to fine tune the sound.  Good luck!
ratboysr's avatar
ratboysr OP
60 posts
 
@mlg I found that as well. However I was listening to instrument-only jazz when I first ran it and it sounded terrific. But every other genre sounded absolutely terrible. Ran it again listening to some Steely Dan and that seemed much better for most music. It will be fun continuing to tweak it and see how good I can get it.
mlg
56 posts
 
@ratboysr  Great.  You can create multiple customized programs.  You could have one for jazz, and other programs for other genres of music.
vinylvalet
836 posts
 
I wish I had gone with a Widex model; anything but the Siemens Signia aids that an audiologist talked me into.

No ability to tweak the music setting at home. Must be done by audiologist, which amounts to making guesses at the office. Back and forth; finally gave up.

The iPhone app is constantly locking up and has to be restarted. Bluetooth pairs with iPhone but not with Apple watch????

No help from Siemens with any of this. They have not responded to my emails.

A very expensive mistake on my part.

With that said, there is no going back to listening without hearing aids. My units pass the lows and mids (perforated ear cups) and just amplify the upper mids and highs. Huge difference to my rock musician ears.
hifijunky
126 posts
 
Widex Moment 440 made a huge difference for me. I have upper mid and high frequency losses. I won't listen to my stereo without them. The effect is like I upgraded my speakers. I consider it an upgraded component.
kavakat1
106 posts
 
I bought the Costco Kirkland brand 9.0 aids. Excellent and inexpensive. Completely programmable for music via my phone. They’re made by Phonak.  One half to one third the price of others. 
tablejockey
3,767 posts
 
"moderate hearing loss with tinnitus"
 
ratboysr-are what have you noticed regarding the severity of your tinnitus since wearing the hearing aids?
ratboysr's avatar
ratboysr OP
60 posts
 
@tablejockey With the aids in the tinnitus is still there but far less prevalent. If I've had them out for a few hours the tinnitus is more noticeable again. Wish it were completely gone but I'll take the improvement.
ratboysr's avatar
ratboysr OP
60 posts
 
I've tried tweaking the custom settings and I've gotten music to sound much better but I think more visits to the audiologist are in order to really squeeze all I can out of these. I have nice detail in the highs I was missing but on the custom setting if there are any ambient room noises (even from adjacent rooms) it's WAY over amplified. Like my dogs nails on the hardwood hallway floors sound like jackhammers. It's only certain sounds though. I had to get a new office chair because every little movement made a creaking sound that was explosive in my ears. Even the sound of door handles clicking shut are deafening. Weird.
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