What is it about analog sound you like best?

[grannyhears]

After 2 yrs of searching for new pair of aids, I understand why there is a deaf community. None of the "new nigh quality" digital can compare with the clear, crisp sound of analog! Too much emplasis is being put on hi tech, invisible aids which work with all the gadgets of technology. Also, the material new aids are made of is very different & reflects sound waves differently [sorry I don't know how to professionally say it] + the materials of the ear molds are now so soft that they absorb the sound. Hearing aids are amplifiers. I agree with Corey in the fact that no one dispenser/audi can know how all aids work, thus clients are not given the "best aid to fit their needs", they are given the aids the provider has knowledge. We have to hope the audi/dispenser has the knowledge to fine tune the aid that is best for us. One of the things that bothers me is unless you have hearing loss, you cannot understand the sounds. Some of us have very narrow windows of good hearing & would like to have the best possible aids. Searching out the right audi/dispenser can take a couple of years [& I live in a very large city]. In the meantime, we have to hear. I highly admire anyone who wants to go into the dispensing/audi profession, I could not do it as I've experienced the trauma of aids that are not adjusted/tuned properly & the audi/professional acts as though it's my fault. Somewhere in the future, the manufacturers have realize it's not a competition for hi tech gadetry, it's a competition for good quality hearing [i.e. clear, crisp without all the beeps & pauses/etc that go with the hi tech aids]. I do not want an aid that does not have a volume control or on/off control. I want to be in control of my hearing, not the hearing aids being in control of me. Don't mean to preach, but after 45 yrs of wearing aids, I have a bit of experience in hearing.

[Sandra]

Grannyhears, I echo your thoughts all the way!
Now, if we could get those in the industry to listen to us and produce what we want, all would be fine.
Analog lover, Sandra

[Doc Jake]

if there was a market for them all the big boys would be making them.. profit is profit. evidently their market research isn't showing enough market for them to produce them and make a profit.

I wore analogue aids for 25 years from birth and I'm profoundly deaf. I'm one of these people that LOVE my digital aids and the compression makes lifespan much easier.

I still have my Phonak Superfront aids as back up but of I ever have to wear them. I am 100% sure I would hate it!

[ebayFANhearing]

I have tried all kind of hearing aids in the last 12 months, and each one has a different approach and sound. I dont know what to do with this conclusion, since when you go to an audiologist they will offer you 1, 2, or maybe 3 different brands.

I have also noted that in the last 12 years I am using HA I have never encountered an audiologist who uses hearing aids. This is weird. I am not sure that all audiologist should be hearing impaired but still, when you go an optometrist there are many of them using lenses so maybe it is easier to understand what the problem is.

It makes me wonder if the manufaturers of HA try their new products on people who use HA or they just live in a world of theories and technology. Maybe someone could answer that. I think that manufacturers and dispensers of HA should at least have one person in their businesses who actually can talk out of experience. Sometimes it seems that the audi is the deaf one, deaf to the problems that the user is having.

[HearingAidHelper]

Grannyears and Sandra, thanks for your posts. The new technology isn't the problem, it is the application of said technology. How the hearing aid programming is done matters more than anything else. That said, I regularly use the new technology to make people of all kinds happy, and hear better. If you are not happy with the way things are working, tell someone, or find someone else. Insist on your satisfation, and know it can be done.

EbayFANhearing, I can understand why you think it is important that your hearing aid dispenser be hearing impaired as well, but this is not really the issue. It is the skill with which said dispenser fits and tunes your hearing aids. So with that said, keep at the dispenser and get what you need. Your statement of the audi being deaf to your problems is all too common.

[cortez]

I'm 40 and have worn hearing aids since I was 3. Went from Analog to Digital in 2000. Here is my opinion on the issue. The digital are tailored to improve speech recognition at the EXPENSE of any other sound. Analog increases SOUND reaching the brain. I have my digitals set up with volume and nearly no compression simply because my brain desires to hear all sounds and use my best hearing and lip reading abilities to deal with understanding speech. Also, digitals are much better with cell phones and feedback.

[deafdrummer]

Originally Posted by Sandra

Grannyhears, I echo your thoughts all the way!
Now, if we could get those in the industry to listen to us and produce what we want, all would be fine.
Analog lover, Sandra

Same story here. I just had someone message me, and this is my reply:

And let's talk about this kid who "heard music for the first time." He was born deaf. It sounds like to me he may not have ever done the experiment of listening to a rock concert by standing in front of a wall of Marshall stacks WITHOUT hearing aids and gaining a little bit of an understanding of what instruments sound like through an amp. The question that I have that stands out like an amputated thumb is, "How does he know that what people hear at a rock concert matches what comes out of the hearing aid with an audiologist's listening tube (the thing that the audiologists attach to the hearing aid to make sure it's working properly)?" If he has never heard music with his full residual capacity before, then what reference benchmark does he have to go by on? For all we know, he could be hearing motor boating noise and wouldn't know any better. That is what I have always said about digitals in the last 4 years. The people who seem to have "success" with them don't know any better how things are supposed to sound. What is missing, and I'll say it again, is my ability to go to a rock concert and stand close enough to the Marshall stacks to be able to hear the music, enough to be able to tell that what I hear at that moment sounds like what comes from the hearing aid, only much softer and less complete. My experience is that what I hear through a digital aid doesn't sound anything like what I hear through the air.

[azureblue]

Originally Posted by deafdrummer

Same story here. I just had someone message me, and this is my reply:

And let's talk about this kid who "heard music for the first time." He was born deaf. It sounds like to me he may not have ever done the experiment of listening to a rock concert by standing in front of a wall of Marshall stacks WITHOUT hearing aids and gaining a little bit of an understanding of what instruments sound like through an amp. The question that I have that stands out like an amputated thumb is, "How does he know that what people hear at a rock concert matches what comes out of the hearing aid with an audiologist's listening tube (the thing that the audiologists attach to the hearing aid to make sure it's working properly)?" If he has never heard music with his full residual capacity before, then what reference benchmark does he have to go by on? For all we know, he could be hearing motor boating noise and wouldn't know any better. That is what I have always said about digitals in the last 4 years. The people who seem to have "success" with them don't know any better how things are supposed to sound. What is missing, and I'll say it again, is my ability to go to a rock concert and stand close enough to the Marshall stacks to be able to hear the music, enough to be able to tell that what I hear at that moment sounds like what comes from the hearing aid, only much softer and less complete. My experience is that what I hear through a digital aid doesn't sound anything like what I hear through the air.

the issues for musicians and those who like to hear live music are still the same:

1- not enough input stage headroom, to handle the loud sounds without distorting, and

2 -aids that have never been tested at live sound levels. Some aid makers will tell you their aids are great for music, but, when confronted with the fact that they distort and the EQ settings is way off at loud levels, (and I mean 98 db minimum RMS input) they revert to the tires old doge of saying "our aids are for speech, and were not meant for music". Nevermind that they sell aids with a Music channel on them.

And to add insult to injury, a lot of professional hearing people cannot seem to understand that being able to cleanly amplify an input of 98db RMS does not automatically result in the output being too loud. loud input does not equate loud output - in fact, the aids should be functioning as earplugs, by limiting the output to comfortable levels and still keeping a nice EQ curve suitable for music. I wish that these people would wake up and recognize that music production pros, engineers, producers, etc., have been working with these parameters for years, and if they can record 2 - 100 watt Marshall stacks, a big set of drums, and a huge bass amp capable of rattling walls, and create a nice balanced mix, with depth and clarity, that is proof right there that it can be done.

[Jallopy]

Originally Posted by azureblue;

I wish that these people would wake up and recognize that music production pros, engineers, producers, etc., have been working with these parameters for years, and if they can record 2 - 100 watt Marshall stacks, a big set of drums, and a huge bass amp capable of rattling walls, and create a nice balanced mix, with depth and clarity, that is proof right there that it can be done.

Pfffttt.. I dont think I want to carry around 2 Marshall stacks to get 100% clarity!

My aids have a speaker about the size of a pin head and it would be a bit unreasonable of me to expect them to compete with the Marshall stacks for quality, as much as I would love them to.