I'm wondering if the whole issue of hearing, and deficiencies in same, isn't sort of the "elephant in the room" surrounding so many of the discussions here and elsewhere, especially when the topic of subjective listening is at issue.
Many threads I've noticed ask about the possibility of introducing frequency response curves to either headphones or sometimes speakers to try to compensate somewhat for hearing deficiencies, with the usual response being that that's not a good idea, which I probably agree with.
As I approach 70 I'm well aware my hearing ain't what it used to be. I can still remember hearing Dalquist DQ-10s for the first time when in my early 20's and having that "ah ha!" epiphany as to what hi fi was all about, "air" and exquisite delicacy. I've spent the intervening years trying to get that feeling back, and have spent a few dollars, especially recently, in the pursuit. To less than stellar results, I'm afraid. And I well know it's not the hardware.
Which has led me to the decision to have my ears tested (not yet done) and explore hearing aids in an effort to make the best of what I've got left.
Under the assumption that many in the ASR community may well have struggled with the same issue, my question to any and all who have gone down the road of hearing aids is: what is the current state of the art in hearing aids, and particularly what can one expect for the purpose of listening to music. I realize that hearing aids have traditionally been optimized for human speech, but can they also help with the higher frequencies?
What has been your experience, both in expectations and results? And, while I realize this has to, by it's very nature, be subjective and individual, what are the best wide band hearing aids available today?
I would love it if Amir could somehow develop a testing regime for these things, and realize the impossibility of doing so. But how does one evaluate the options?
I am 73, and have been wearing my older Phoneak hearing aids for 9 years. It took awhile to get them adjusted right, in the beginning, but I am enjoying my music system daily with them. The Phoneak's have a "music program", that the audiologist will set up - it required several visits for her to get it right, but I am enjoying full-range (to about 8Khz) music, low distortion and very enjoyable. Without the HA's my hearing drops like a rock above about 1 Khz. I guess I have open domes, because my speakers have very solid bass response and I hear that perfectly. My audiologist told me that the HA's operate from 170 Hz to 8 Khz.
It may seem that 8Khz isn't enough for music, but I hear plenty of high-freq detail.
Since my HA's are 9 years old, I expect to have to replace them before too long. I would not hesitate to pay top dollar for new ones, from a good audiologist, so I can continue to enjoy my music. I do wonder how much better the current music programs are.
My listening is 80% classical and 20% rock, and I listen to my stereo daily - but couldn't use it at all without the HA's.
With the HA's, I have to resist the temptation to crank the music up loud - it actually sounds better at a moderate volume, where the detail is most apparent - especially with rock/pop music, with it's mostly constant volume. With Classical, the loud passages sound great, because they're mostly short in duration.
I have found that that listening to sub-par audio (specifically my car stereo) sounds lousy with the HA's because the IM distortion (that normal people probably don't hear) is amplified by the HA's, and that's annoying. But my home system, which is very clean, sounds great.
Basically, my advice is get a good audiologist, and keep going back until they are adjusted right for you. And don't cheap out.
.
