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I have profound hearing loss, wear hearing aids on both ears since early childhood. I felt immediate palpable improvement when switching to digital hearing aids

by rini17 7y ago

I have profound hearing loss, wear hearing aids on both ears since early childhood. I felt immediate palpable improvement when switching to digital hearing aids. Only for listening to music I switch them to "analog-like" mode (which, nevertheless still applies the 20-60dB equalizer and compressor I need). Of course some people might have opposite experience, I am not trying to invalidate anything. The big picture is: sadly we don't really have any way to objectively measure hearing quality and its improvement due to hearing aids. We can push buttons whether we hear tones or not. We can count understood/misunderstood words. But the results don't have clear relationship with real-life hearing situations. For example, in my case, in silent room tinnitus appears which interferes with testing. And sometimes I hear better, sometimes worse. Unlike vision, it's very hard and time-consuming to test with any repeatable/reproducible patterns, or to accurately explain to another person problem with quality of the sound. Also, the hearing aids market is very tightly controlled by oligopoly of manufacturers and doctors. There is no way to self-adjust them. I'd very much buy user-programmable BTE package capable of 80 dB gain which I need for some frequencies. But there is plainly no such thing available without any strings attached. I have played with jackd under Linux, too, don't remeber clearly but it was problem to set the equalizer with 60dB differences.

noxxten 7y ago
I'm also profoundly deaf, using two BTE hearing aids as well and your comment is 100% what I'm frustrated with as well. My hearing aids are CONSTANTLY "adjusting" noisy environments for me - Usually exactly when I don't want them doing a damn thing. I'm very good friends with my audiologist, but it would take hours upon hours in her office, fiddling with all the various controls and options, to get things perfect. I want to be VERY clear too, it isn't a problem of have too many controls, that's actually an amazing benefit... The problem is that we can't reasonably expect audiologists to really spend the hours upon hours of time making minute tweaks and adjustments to capture that perfect hearing aid experience. It would just be SO much easier if after wearing them for months and I suddenly noticed my "noisy environment" adjustments were actually annoying, I could go in and make adjustments on my own. It's also infuriating how sub-par the accessories market is. I have a compilot air 2 (bluetooth add-on) that lets my hearing aids connect to my phone, car, computer, etc. It's great, but at $300 I really expected it to work for more than a couple of hours... It also has to be clipped within 12 inches of BOTH hearing aids? My phone communicates through bluetooth across the house to my computer... Is there really no way around having to clip this dongle on the neck of my shirt? It doesn't bother me now, but damn. People in meetings and in public constantly think I'm recording them or something. Nevermind the disgusted look I've gotten at a urinal. It's just... Not ideal.
- SynasterBeiter 7y ago
  That's why you should self-fit. It's absolutely possible - check my comment below for details.
SynasterBeiter 7y ago
It's possible to obtain a hearing aids programmer and fitting software for it, depending on your model, but it takes some work. It's so much worth it - I'm now self-fitting and it makes up for a HUGE difference. If you're interested, this place should get you started, or let me know and I'll assist you. https://forum.hearingtracker.com/c/hearing-aid-self-fitting-and-adjusting https://forum.hearingtracker.com/c/hearing-aid-self-fitting-...
- rini17 7y ago
  I have Widex Unique Fusion but don't see anything applicable in that thread.
  - SynasterBeiter 7y ago
    The software you need is called Widex COMPASS DREAM: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/diy-self-programming-how-to-find-fitting-software/45182 https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/diy-self-programming-how-... And you're going to need a wireless programmer, too. Unfortuntately, you're out of luck a little, since Widex is not using the industry standard hardware, but it's own proprietary programmer - Widex Pro Link: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/widex-beyond-programming/39346/2 https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/widex-beyond-programming/..., which seems to be available on Ebay.
    - rini17 7y ago
      Thank you very much!

by rini17 7y ago

noxxten 7y ago

I'm also profoundly deaf, using two BTE hearing aids as well and your comment is 100% what I'm frustrated with as well. My hearing aids are CONSTANTLY "adjusting" noisy environments for me - Usually exactly when I don't want them doing a damn thing. I'm very good friends with my audiologist, but it would take hours upon hours in her office, fiddling with all the various controls and options, to get things perfect. I want to be VERY clear too, it isn't a problem of have too many controls, that's actually an amazing benefit... The problem is that we can't reasonably expect audiologists to really spend the hours upon hours of time making minute tweaks and adjustments to capture that perfect hearing aid experience. It would just be SO much easier if after wearing them for months and I suddenly noticed my "noisy environment" adjustments were actually annoying, I could go in and make adjustments on my own. It's also infuriating how sub-par the accessories market is. I have a compilot air 2 (bluetooth add-on) that lets my hearing aids connect to my phone, car, computer, etc. It's great, but at $300 I really expected it to work for more than a couple of hours... It also has to be clipped within 12 inches of BOTH hearing aids? My phone communicates through bluetooth across the house to my computer... Is there really no way around having to clip this dongle on the neck of my shirt? It doesn't bother me now, but damn. People in meetings and in public constantly think I'm recording them or something. Nevermind the disgusted look I've gotten at a urinal. It's just... Not ideal.

SynasterBeiter 7y ago
That's why you should self-fit. It's absolutely possible - check my comment below for details.

SynasterBeiter 7y ago

It's possible to obtain a hearing aids programmer and fitting software for it, depending on your model, but it takes some work. It's so much worth it - I'm now self-fitting and it makes up for a HUGE difference. If you're interested, this place should get you started, or let me know and I'll assist you. https://forum.hearingtracker.com/c/hearing-aid-self-fitting-and-adjusting https://forum.hearingtracker.com/c/hearing-aid-self-fitting-...

rini17 7y ago
I have Widex Unique Fusion but don't see anything applicable in that thread.
- SynasterBeiter 7y ago
  The software you need is called Widex COMPASS DREAM: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/diy-self-programming-how-to-find-fitting-software/45182 https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/diy-self-programming-how-... And you're going to need a wireless programmer, too. Unfortuntately, you're out of luck a little, since Widex is not using the industry standard hardware, but it's own proprietary programmer - Widex Pro Link: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/widex-beyond-programming/39346/2 https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/widex-beyond-programming/..., which seems to be available on Ebay.
  - rini17 7y ago
    Thank you very much!