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Why can't my grandfather find hearing aids he likes? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Looking for anyone with experience with helping pick out hearing aides. It's hard for him to describe what he doesn't like about them so I can't provide much in the way of specific issues. One thing he has said was that they change how loud some things are compared to how they should be which I think he means they will make certain pitches louder than other pitches so something like setting spoon on glass plate will be loud but the sound of a low voiced man talking is quiet when normally the low voices are the only ones he can hear. He is the typical old geezer so it's easier to list all the numbers in Pi than it is to get him to a doctors office.

We have tried 2 different very expensive aids costing thousands each, we tried the new apple ones, he tried countless magazine ads hearing aids and doesn't like any of them. He's a very straight forward man so it's not his way of getting around using them or that he's embarrassed. He wants to find a pair he likes but he is also a very picky man who was a mechanical engineer so I feel like his expectations can be a little high sometimes for things to be perfect.

Just thought I'd see what other people's experiences were with hearing aides and if there's anything anyone can recommend.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

One thing he has said was that they change how loud some things are compared to how they should be which I think he means they will make certain pitches louder than other pitches so something like setting spoon on glass plate will be loud but the sound of a low voiced man talking is quiet when normally the low voices are the only ones he can hear.

I don't have any experience here, but you can probably find yourself a software package -- probably webpages out there that can do it -- called a "tone generator" that can generate a tone at different frequencies and volumes that would let you check that. Can find the threshold of hearing for different frequencies, given the ability to do that.

I will say that normally, as one ages, one's ability to hear high-pitched frequencies falls off. It might be that the hearing aid is aiming to compensate for that, if it's amplifying higher pitches more than low. Or maybe he's just used to having lost some high-frequency hearing and now it's annoying to have that reverted.

But I don't know what the current state-of-the-art is. I'd think that one could do the equivalent of what an equalizer does, set response at different frequencies.

Maybe have a sound that plays, plays a "frequency sweep" that should sound the same amplitude at all the frequencies to calibrate.

You only mention Apple ones.

kagis

Assuming this is the right thing, it looks like this is the Airpods Pro, with a "hearing aid" mode. They do apparently support a calibration option, and having different response at different frequencies:

https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/hearing-health/

Assuming that he did calibrate them, maybe the process didn't go well, and it's mis-calibrated?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Neat!

In my other comment I address the specific issue that's more common with hearing aids, which is overwhelming your brain with noice it's not used to.