How old are your ears?

[89th]

@doctor-phibes said in How old are your ears?:

It doesn't stop the whining noise, but I find that I don't care as much.

Such is the reason I love beer (and the taste)

[George K]

So, I got fitted for my hearing aids yesterday and I wore them all day. Today, I've worn them since getting up.

Initial thoughts:

This is a "behind the ear" model, with a small speaker extending down into the ear canal. Almost totally invisible. Yeah, I need a haircut. Not uncomfortable at all, thank goodness, but I need some glasses whose side arms are longer.

They are bluetooth-happy. So, I can listen to an audiobook in a public place without the hassle of earbuds, etc. I can also listen to music, of course, but the fidelity doesn't come close to any external speakers or headphones.

They charge overnight, so that's a pain in the ass - just another thing added to my nightly routine.

With wearing glasses, and a hearing aid, an over-the-ear mask is a real pain in the ass. The elastic gets caught, frequently, pulling the earpiece out of my ear canal. I'm sure there's a way to do it, but I just haven't figured it out yet. For longer periods, I'll revert to the "tie on the top of the head" mask - which I wore at work all the time. Certainly my preference.

You can adjust the level of speaker for each ear individually, which is nice. Today, the left one seems a bit louder than I'd like, and it's giving me a bit of sound I don't want. My hearing loss, by the way is worse on the left than the right.

A lot of sounds are "clearer." For those of you who wear glasses, think about how things look when you take your glasses off. That's what this is like. I noticed it while listening to some string quartet music on my paired HomePods. When I turned the hearing aids off, it was like I lost a lot, and I mean A LOT of dynamic range. When/if I start to attend live music performances, this will certainly be an interesting experiment.

[Copper]

I haven't looked into hearing aids yet, but the day is coming.

Are they tuned for frequencies that you are missing or do they just enhance all sound?

Can you control distance, direction, frequencies?

Can you tune it to a specific sound, like a bell or horn, or a specific person's voice? A friend had a motorcycle and used a pair of headsets to carry on a conversation with his wife sitting on the back. He loved the fact that he could turn off her microphone.

Can you control settings from your iPhone?

[George K]

@copper said in How old are your ears?:

Are they tuned for frequencies that you are missing or do they just enhance all sound?

Mine are tuned to my specific deficits (around 3 KHz and 5 Khz, with left augmented more than right.

Can you control distance, direction, frequencies?

Yes, you can adjust for "speech" etc. So if you're in a noisy restaurant, they will direct toward the person speaking toward you.

Can you tune it to a specific sound, like a bell or horn, or a specific person's voice? A friend had a motorcycle and used a pair of headsets to carry on a conversation with his wife sitting on the back. He loved the fact that he could turn off her microphone.

No idea

Can you control settings from your iPhone?
Yes, you can adjust each ear's volume. You can also make individual "settings". So, if you go to a noisy Starbucks where you meet a friend, simply set it to that setting to enhance hearing.

Mrs. George asked me if I'm pleased, but I must say that I'm not 100% yet. As I said, listening to music is...different. No high frequencies are boosted (> 10 KHz), but the overall impression is better.

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[Copper]

I figured that kind of technology would be available. I can see where it would take a while to get comfortable.

[George K]

@copper said in How old are your ears?:

I can see where it would take a while to get comfortable.

In 36 hours of use, it's invisible. I don't notice them at all.

Other than...

1. If I get an itch in my ear (that happens, right?), it's a PITA to remove the aid to relieve the itch.

2. The glasses issue. My earpieces are too short, so when I push them up on my nose, there's some sound from the rubbing that the mics pick up.

I just tested them via the app. Turning the sound down certainly muffled the sound that I'm hearing from watching TV on my computer. With them off, it's clearly legible, but with them on, it's a lot "brighter" and clearer, but not louder.

[George K]

By the way, I had to take Mrs. George for a Doctor's appointment this AM.

After she went into the room, I waited in the waiting room. I started listening to an audiobook using the hearing aids as output. I just sat there, listening. Because they are, basically, invisible, people who walked into the office didn't know that I was listening to something (no obvious earbuds, headphones, etc). I got some pretty weird looks as I sat there, staring into space...

[Jolly]

I earned my hearing in my left ear.

One .300 Win Mag load at a time.

(Actually, my mild hearing loss is most likely due to Bessie, my .270. I could be shooting with guys that were having little trouble with the boom of 30-06's or .308's, and when Bessie would go off, the universal response from others was "Shit!")

[George K]

@jolly said in How old are your ears?:

I earned my hearing in my left ear.
One .300 Win Mag load at a time.

A surgeon I used to work with (chest and vascular guy) was a pilot trained by the CAF. He was part owner of a B25 Mitchell (The Barbie III). He used to fly with the left side window open.

Link to video

That's Captain Ray in the left seat.

He said the engine was about 10 feet from him.

He also said that there's nothing better than sliding that window open and putting your elbow on the sill at about 8,000 feet.

His left ear is pretty fucked up.

[Copper]

And he is wearing the same ear protection that just about everyone wore, me included.

Until Bose came out with the $1,000 ANC headsets. Then the high-dollar guys switched to the ANC. DC came out with them too.