Hearing loss

On a waiting list at Costco for a hearing test.
 
Good luck - it's gotten complex to choose a path ...fortunately most approaches allow a 30 day window to test even the most expensive solutions..
I gave Apple Airpods Pro a spin first off as there was a 2 week return and learned a few things. Using a smart phone with any hearing device is both annoying and useful.
You get the computing horsepower for filtering and it does work for clarifying conversations in noisy backgrounds, Much depends on where your hearing deficit lies. Lots of people getting to the age and it's wide open but here be dragons. :eek:
 
I tried a set from ?Connect Hearing? a couple of years ago, after the ear doctor sent me.
They weren't tuned exactly right as one seemed to focus behind me, and the other in front, and there was a lot of excess noise that I didn't need to hear. At that point I could still hear most things that I wanted to, and wasn't constantly asking people to repeat themselves. Times are changing. Might see if I can get a referral from my doctor when I go, to get something faster than Costco.
 
Hearing aids in my recent and ongoing experience do somethings very well in quieter settings and struggle with noisy settings. I enjoy hearing the birds but not the traffic noise.
At my step dottors 40th party I was struggling even to hear the person 2' away but then found out she was as well.
You'll never get your full hearing back.
Your brain acclimatizes as well so what is annoying initially you get used to.
There are times the peace and quiet of flawed hearing is welcome.

Since the OTC hearing aids were approved in 2022 the choices exploded and the technology has ramped up.
I was relieved when I found the Jaspa 3s for $799 + $200 extended coverage.
Standard batteries ( last a week @ 50¢ each ) and no app needed worked well enough and fully covered by our health insurance.
Was relieved returning the $4500 jobbies I had for 3 weeks.

I'm still following Apple's progress as was impressed with the effort for $299 on the AirPod Pro...for speech clarity it worked and iOS 18 will add more ability. You also get very good ANC earbuds.

Instead of expecting the hearing aids to cover all bases ( music for instance ) and TV intelligibility I'm using high end Sennheiser Momentum4 with their own EQ and App for music plus a Yamaha Sound Bar with it's own set of tech for making voice on TV easier to hear ( called Clear Voice )
The Senns are terrific at ANC...startling at times and on the upper end for headphone fidelity.
The benefits for both are immediate with no downsides that always come with HAs.

Spending $300 - $500 each on enhancements on specific aspects of my hearing so far has been for me better use of funds than $4500 HAs which were far from perfect.
YMMV tho depending on where your hearing loss is and how severe.
 
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MacDoc said:
Hearing aids in my experience do somethings very well in quieter settings and struggle with noisy settings. I enjoy hearing the birds but not the traffic noise.
At my step dottors 40th party I was struggling even to hear the person 2' away but then found out she was as well.
You'll never get your full hearing back.
Your brain acclimatizes as well so what is annoying initially you get used to.
There are times the peace and quiet of flawed hearing is welcome.

Since the OTC hearing aids were approved in 2022 the choices exploded and the technology has ramped up.
I was relieved when I found the Jaspa 3s for $799 + $200 extended coverage.
Standard batteries ( last a week @ 50¢ each ) and no app needed worked well enough and fully covered by our health insurance.
Was relieved returning the $4500 jobbies I had for 3 weeks.

I'm still following Apple's progress as was impressed with the effort for $299 on the AirPod Pro...for speech clarity it worked and iOS 18 will add more ability. You also get very good ANC earbuds.

Instead of expecting the hearing aids to cover all bases ( music for instance ) and TV intelligibility I'm using high end Sennheiser Momentum4 with their own EQ and App for music plus a Yamaha Sound Bar with it's own set of tech for making voice on TV easier to hear ( called Clear Voice )
The Senns are terrific at ANC...startling at times and on the upper end for headphone fidelity.
The benefits for both are immediate with no downsides that always come with HAs.

Spending $300 - $500 each on enhancements on specific aspects of my hearing so far has been for me better use of funds than $4500 HAs which were far from perfect.
YMMV tho depending on where your hearing loss is and how severe.
Click to expand...
Once its gone, its gone and even the best hearing aids are no match for the natural. As MacDoc has testified, HAs work well in a quiet environment and not so well in a room full of jabbering humans.
And you know what, it is the same with IOLs, you trade one set of problems for another. Though, I will vouch that the technology of IOLs is more advanced than HAs vis-a-vis functionality.
(Speaking for a friend)
 
Well tech moves on...this should really help the crowded room problem

AI headphones create a 'sound bubble,' quieting all sounds more than a few feet away​

by Stefan Milne, University of Washington

AI headphones create a 'sound bubble,' quieting all sounds more than a few feet away
Headset technology. Credit: Nature Electronics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-024-01281-2
Imagine this: You're at an office job, wearing noise-canceling headphones to dampen the ambient chatter. A co-worker arrives at your desk and asks a question, but rather than needing to remove the headphones and say, "What?", you hear the question clearly.
Meanwhile, the water-cooler chat across the room remains muted. Or imagine being in a busy restaurant and hearing everyone at your table, but reducing the other speakers and noise in the restaurant.

techxplore.com

AI headphones create a 'sound bubble,' quieting all sounds more than a few feet away

Imagine this: You're at an office job, wearing noise-canceling headphones to dampen the ambient chatter. A co-worker arrives at your desk and asks a question, but rather than needing to remove the headphones and say, "What?", you hear the question clearly.
techxplore.com techxplore.com

Sign me up
 
Apples EarPods kind of do this already to an extent (for years now) with Transparency mode coupled with the ambient noise reduction mode enabled.
 
Connect hearing is blowing out their top end units (Phonak L90). Were $6500 out of pocket, dropped to $4500.
I'm going for a fitting Wednesday morn.
 
Chris-CJ said:
Once its gone, its gone and even the best hearing aids are no match for the natural. As MacDoc has testified, HAs work well in a quiet environment and not so well in a room full of jabbering humans.
And you know what, it is the same with IOLs, you trade one set of problems for another. Though, I will vouch that the technology of IOLs is more advanced than HAs vis-a-vis functionality.
(Speaking for a friend)
Click to expand...
Their getting better. You can change the intake from 360degrees to a much smaller focus in front of you for the room full of jabbering.
 
timtune said:
Connect hearing is blowing out their top end units (Phonak L90). Were $6500 out of pocket, dropped to $4500.
I'm going for a fitting Wednesday morn.
Click to expand...

This is what burns my ass - there’s 0.0% chance those things cost a where near as much as that retail price suggests to manufacture.

Who wants to bet these come out of the factory in china at maybe $100 each cost?

The hearing aid racket here in Canada needs to be shaken up. I personally know a lot of people who need them but simply can’t afford them as they have no coverage.
 
PrivatePilot said:
This is what burns my ass - there’s 0.0% chance those things cost a where near as much as that retail price suggests to manufacture.

Who wants to bet these come out of the factory in china at maybe $100 each cost?

The hearing aid racket here in Canada needs to be shaken up. I personally know a lot of people who need them but simply can’t afford them as they have no coverage.
Click to expand...
It's one of those things where you aren't paying for the physical product you are paying for the R&D (and certifications) that went into it. I agree, a more efficient market should help pull prices down. Most of the the time though, if current prices are 6500, the competitor will come in at 5999 even if it cost is <100. Why sell for 1000 and leave so much profit on the table? The OTC hearing aids for <$1000 are an interesting market addition.
 
Profit is fine but then you get into the US style situation where people can’t afford something as simple and insanely cheap as insulin anymore because companies have decided profit matters more than people actually living.

Ironically the recent news of the Apple AirPod pros being certified as hearing devices now in the USA, coupled with a genuine hearing test as part of the activation process to turn on the hearing aid features, it is indeed shaking things up south of the border, however who knows if it will ever happen here.
 
There are cost effective solutions out there...I almost fell into the sewer pit of the expensive hearing aids.
The Apple AirPods were an interesting 2 week try out just to see what worked and I will go back to them when the type of tech above matures.
After trialling $4500 HAs I did some reading and landed on Jaspa 3s.

Australia's Jaspa 3 Hearing Aid. Outperform your expensive hearing aids.

Affordable at just $429, the Jaspa 3 Hearing Aid was developed from within an Australian audiology clinic. No Hearing Test required.
www.foundhearing.com.au www.foundhearing.com.au
They do what I need except the crowded room aspect which I did not find the expensive ones doing either.
Jaspa 3 uses 310 batteries which average 50 cents each for a week. ( you can get a set that are rechargeable but then have to be sent in to get the batteries replaced....I decided regular batteries were a better choice.)
The Jaspa 3s cost $799 all in Australia and fully covered by our insurance.
Then $299 for extended warranty - also covered by our insurance. That $429 is for 1 hearing aid....$799 for a set .

I am certain there are similar products available in North America.
Any audiologist can test your hearing and give you an audiogram for free.
Do your due diligence....its a scammy biz.

I spent some of my savings on Sennheiser Momentum 4 over the head headphones that are marvelous and allows me to tailer my sound profile to my area of hearing loss ( down to only 25% of normal in the mid range ).
Likely less when Black Friday rolls around...and I love them.
 
PrivatePilot said:
This is what burns my ass - there’s 0.0% chance those things cost a where near as much as that retail price suggests to manufacture.

Who wants to bet these come out of the factory in china at maybe $100 each cost?

The hearing aid racket here in Canada needs to be shaken up. I personally know a lot of people who need them but simply can’t afford them as they have no coverage.
Click to expand...
They process sound very quickly. That's all.
Compared to the tech in a smartphone that sells for $1000?? It's a racket.
But they do make a big difference.
 
timtune said:
Their getting better. You can change the intake from 360degrees to a much smaller focus in front of you for the room full of jabbering.
Click to expand...
True, you can switch the focus of the sound amplification to a narrower circumference or even to a specific quadrant. You can also get "crowded room/quiet room/outdoor" programs.
IMHO what matters is the number of frequencies that the HA can process on an individual basis and the sampling rate.
What I do like is that the Signia HAs are rechargeable and the carry case itself retains a three day charge capability (great for travelling)
With the Phonak, you can pair the HAs to your phone to hear and talk. With the Signia, you can only "hear" .
I found that the Signia processes sound better and "hearing" was a priority over " phone conversation".
 
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