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Easily the best and most significant sonic tweak one could ever make!

Well hearing aids of course (if you need them and many don’t realize they do). I was diagnosed with asymmetrical hearing loss in my right ear over a year ago at only age 52. Entirely in the upper frequency. (As hearing loss per my ENT is almost always symmetrical, the protocol for this unusual diagnosis is a MRI brain scan to rule out a tumor; thank God everything was normal there).

Anyway, while expensive (partially covered by Insurance in most plans in the States), the different listening to music is in absolute terms startling. The proverbial veil is wayyyyy lifted particularly on lyrics but really the whole presentation is improved from the midrange thru to the top registers.

Keep this in mind before upgrading your electronics or speakers and perhaps instead upgrade the most critical precision instrument....your ears! I share this and if it helps one member on here, well that would be really great.
aj523
fbgbill's avatar
fbgbill
294 posts
 
I have had to wear hearing aids for over 15 years. I just bought my 3rd pair this year. The technology had really improved from my first set. I currently have a set by Starkey that are rechargeable, bluetooth, adjustable on my iPhone and I use their TV unit to listen to programs. If I get a phone call it comes through the aids and what a difference it made. My hearing even with aids is still pretty bad and I was excused from jury duty several times because I could not understand what was being argued in court unless I was able to see the individuals speaking. At least I do not need to turn up the volume when listening to music. Most of what I listen to has no words.
panzrwagn's avatar
panzrwagn
436 posts
 
Before you drop $3K to 5K on hearing aids, check out Nuheara. They have been widely reviewed and have won multiple awards. For $400 you get first class noise-canceling earbuds, Bluetooth, and excellent hearing aids that you self-fit using a version of the same test many professionals use. Their ability to leverage multiple mics to enable the devices to focus is remarkable. 

I'm not saying to not visit an ENT, just that there is no justification for the markup I see on almost all hearing aids. Keeping the medical services separate keeps everybody honest. 
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,368 posts
 
My aids correct for high frequency ..but they screw up the phasing and I actually prefer nothing in my ears
geof3
1,124 posts
 
Just be sure to charge them with a dedicated 20 amp circuit! Ha! Glad you were able to improve your situation. A good friend is mostly deaf in one ear and doesn’t really have any viable options. When he’s working on his setup he uses my ears to help get things dialed.
electroslacker
375 posts
 
I went to the Village Vanguard once, and my table-mate had cochlear implants.  Had lost hearing as an infant. He told me he had learned to hear language through Books-on-Tape...and it had taken him awhile to realize he was on auto-repeat.  Said he had come to hear Tom Harrel because his brain had just recently begun to hear/process the trumpet. We sat in the front row.

Hearing and music are wondrous gifts.
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