6 ms·

Damn that link made me happy. Was wondering if anyone has done to hearing aids what they did for glasses. We just brought my father progressive glasses for 100

by sputr 6y ago

Damn that link made me happy. Was wondering if anyone has done to hearing aids what they did for glasses. We just brought my father progressive glasses for 100usd (would be 400+usd here at a 'normal' store). Now he needs a hearing aid and we're dreading the multi-hundred payment on top of what is covered with insurance for a basic device. So.. What's the catch with these cheap hearing aids? Why would we not buy these?

bagacrap 6y ago
quality? doesn't this question apply to every cheap Chinese product? My mom has had poor hearing for decades and always spent thousands on her hearing aids for marginal improvements in quality (e.g. noise cancelling, size, noticeability). The only thing that really made a big improvement was when she finally got a cochlear implant.
- criddell 6y ago
  > doesn't this question apply to every cheap Chinese product? The question is always valid but the answer isn't always the same. I'm thinking specifically of cheap eyeglasses.I've had nothing but good experiences buying glasses that cost 10-20% of what I would pay from a local store.
  - NonEUCitizen 6y ago
    What's a good place for buying these cheap eyeglasses?
    - criddell 6y ago
      I've only used Zenni Optical. Their glasses start under $10 but different frames and different lenses can change the price. My biggest complaint with Zenni is that shipping can sometimes be slow. I've waited 4 weeks for glasses to show up and other times it's only a week. I think it depends if they come from China or their US facility.
      - spcebar 6y ago
        +1 for zenni. Have three pairs from them now, all of them good quality and spot on for my prescription. And the most expensive of them was $50 with lenses.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  Just like anything else you can by "cheap" or you can pay more and get a better product 99% of the time. I find chinese tools and electronics are just fine if you aren't going bargain basement.
pkaye 6y ago
I just got myself some Costco Signature hearing aids a month ago. Its $1499/pair. Its made by a major manufacturer named Phonak. The feature set is close to their top of the line model. Half the cost of the hearing aids in the US is actually the fitting by the audiologist and they have to pay for their expenses. You have to spend considerable time with the audiologist to measure, fit and calibrate the device to your needs. Costco is able to minimize the cost overhead since the office is inside a normal Costco store. The hard part about hearing aids is making them work in noise. You don't want to just amplify everything or you just hear more noise. Also you need to tune it to your hearing loss otherwise you may damage your hearing. They do things like expanding the dynamics or compressing to prevent loud noises. They suppress wind noise. They can focus on the voice of someone in a group of people. So the catch with the cheaper hearing aids is that may not help help your dad with understand speech as well as a better quality one. I'd suggest you watch the videos of Dr Clif Aud on Youtube. He is very informative.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  Why are multiple audiologist visits necessary? Can’t they just take a 3d scan of your ear and have a computer decide which shape will fit best? I recall when Apple introduced the EarPods, they said they scanned thousands of ears and derived a shape that would fit the most. So it is possible...
  - pkaye 6y ago
    I went with standard domes but it took a second visit to get the size right since they take time to conform to your ears. Custom molds are another option but they told it I would get a more plugged up feeling so I stay with a more open dome unless really needed. Also there is some time for adapting to any changes in settings. They also bump up the gain with each visit to reach target levels. A big jump might be too much. I think there is room for optimizing the whole process but anything medical related tends to move slowly. I still find the phone app a little slow and cumbersome. And switching between bluetooth devices is a pain. I wish Apple and Google would put more effort in improving that aspect.
  - volkadav 6y ago
coupdejarnac 6y ago
These are hearing amplifiers, not hearing aids. The difference being that hearing aids can boost certain frequency bands to compensate for hearing loss at those frequencies. The hearing amplifiers boost all the audio frequencies in a one size fits all manner. There's no signal processing going on. Maybe that is good enough for your father, maybe not.
- smileysteve 6y ago
  "noise reduction" means these amplify the vocal range without amplifying the low or high, dsp, maybe not, but at least a lot and hof.

by sputr 6y ago

bagacrap 6y ago

quality? doesn't this question apply to every cheap Chinese product? My mom has had poor hearing for decades and always spent thousands on her hearing aids for marginal improvements in quality (e.g. noise cancelling, size, noticeability). The only thing that really made a big improvement was when she finally got a cochlear implant.

criddell 6y ago
> doesn't this question apply to every cheap Chinese product? The question is always valid but the answer isn't always the same. I'm thinking specifically of cheap eyeglasses.I've had nothing but good experiences buying glasses that cost 10-20% of what I would pay from a local store.
- NonEUCitizen 6y ago
  What's a good place for buying these cheap eyeglasses?
  - criddell 6y ago
    I've only used Zenni Optical. Their glasses start under $10 but different frames and different lenses can change the price. My biggest complaint with Zenni is that shipping can sometimes be slow. I've waited 4 weeks for glasses to show up and other times it's only a week. I think it depends if they come from China or their US facility.
    - spcebar 6y ago
      +1 for zenni. Have three pairs from them now, all of them good quality and spot on for my prescription. And the most expensive of them was $50 with lenses.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
Just like anything else you can by "cheap" or you can pay more and get a better product 99% of the time. I find chinese tools and electronics are just fine if you aren't going bargain basement.

pkaye 6y ago

I just got myself some Costco Signature hearing aids a month ago. Its $1499/pair. Its made by a major manufacturer named Phonak. The feature set is close to their top of the line model. Half the cost of the hearing aids in the US is actually the fitting by the audiologist and they have to pay for their expenses. You have to spend considerable time with the audiologist to measure, fit and calibrate the device to your needs. Costco is able to minimize the cost overhead since the office is inside a normal Costco store. The hard part about hearing aids is making them work in noise. You don't want to just amplify everything or you just hear more noise. Also you need to tune it to your hearing loss otherwise you may damage your hearing. They do things like expanding the dynamics or compressing to prevent loud noises. They suppress wind noise. They can focus on the voice of someone in a group of people. So the catch with the cheaper hearing aids is that may not help help your dad with understand speech as well as a better quality one. I'd suggest you watch the videos of Dr Clif Aud on Youtube. He is very informative.

colejohnson66 6y ago
Why are multiple audiologist visits necessary? Can’t they just take a 3d scan of your ear and have a computer decide which shape will fit best? I recall when Apple introduced the EarPods, they said they scanned thousands of ears and derived a shape that would fit the most. So it is possible...
- pkaye 6y ago
  I went with standard domes but it took a second visit to get the size right since they take time to conform to your ears. Custom molds are another option but they told it I would get a more plugged up feeling so I stay with a more open dome unless really needed. Also there is some time for adapting to any changes in settings. They also bump up the gain with each visit to reach target levels. A big jump might be too much. I think there is room for optimizing the whole process but anything medical related tends to move slowly. I still find the phone app a little slow and cumbersome. And switching between bluetooth devices is a pain. I wish Apple and Google would put more effort in improving that aspect.
- volkadav 6y ago

coupdejarnac 6y ago

These are hearing amplifiers, not hearing aids. The difference being that hearing aids can boost certain frequency bands to compensate for hearing loss at those frequencies. The hearing amplifiers boost all the audio frequencies in a one size fits all manner. There's no signal processing going on. Maybe that is good enough for your father, maybe not.

smileysteve 6y ago
"noise reduction" means these amplify the vocal range without amplifying the low or high, dsp, maybe not, but at least a lot and hof.