Aging ears and Nuances

This is a good question. I have hearing loss from being too close to a bank of JBLs at a rave 30+ years ago, and tinnitus. I’m 61.

Standard hearing tests go to 8kHz - so how are you and @billstevenson getting tested to 13.5K? (tagging jourdoktorn on this question too)

I’ve just trialed "the best" hearing aids from hear.com, the Horizon IX at $6K. 100% online/remote service. I found they worked surprisingly good listening to music using "open domes" which pass through the maximum amount of natural external sound.

They promised the world in both technology and customer service which is how they justified the premium price, and failed miserably in the first 21 days of my 45 day trial.

Unhappy with the cost and service, I found out the major player is WSA and they own Horizon, Signia (formerly Siemens) and others, as well as online businesses INCLUDING hear.com.

Next I ended up at Hear USA, had another test but this time in a booth, and got a quote for $4800 for the Signia BCT IX, which supersedes the Horizon IX.

Still unhappy with the price for what I know costs about $300 or less to make, I ended up with directhearing.com and have the Signia BCT arriving on Monday programmed with my free audiogram from Hear USA for $2700 with 12 months no interest financing and 3 years of free adjustments and supplies. 

But no, I’m not missing details or nuances in music, maybe just a bit of the higher frequency info, but my hearing loss isn’t the usual age-related high frequency loss, I have more midrange loss from the trauma - so for speech I struggle with soft voices and soft words (vowels) but I designed my system to be very good in the mid range.

@larsman 

The ones they sell at Costco are the top-of-the-range models from the previous year, and are about $1500/pair.

Maybe, but they sell a limited selection of Rx brands, none of which are considered state of the art. Not saying they wont do the job though. 

I did consider Costco, but I gave them a pass when I spoke to someone in the hearing aid department of my local store though.

We are willing to spend multiple $K on a single component within our 10’s or 100’s $K systems. That entire expenditure funnels through your ears with or without hearing aids. If buying hearing aids, buy the best, it only makes sense. 

2 more things:

1. Try to find an audiologist that specializes in music. While there are none in my area, most major cities will have them. 
2. Have your audiologist create a specific music program. While most HA’s have this, mine was not optimized.
Per chatGPT: Ask Your Audiologist for a Dedicated “Audiophile/Music” Program. Request a custom program with these adjustments:

I’m 66 years old with a significant loss of hearing in the high frequencies. I have an excellent Audiologist that has helped me with getting fully programmable hearing aids with frequency corrections tailored to my specific hearing loss.  The Oticon aids also provide several programs to adjust to different listening environments including listening to music.  I still can enjoy critical listening sessions which is very important to me.  Highly recommend you find a quality Audiologist to assist you and never go cheap with your hearing.