Hearing Aids

No experience yet. I'm interested in this though.
 
In all tests I've taken I hear almost nothing after 6K. To be fair, I've had significant inner ear infections and operation (5 in total) on both ears so all in all at 63 I'm not doing terrible.

I got hearing aids a little over a year ago.  I'm 78 and high frequency loss was to the point I either get them or quit recording.  I have "Rexton" hearing aids, the type that fit behind the ear with a tube to the ear canal (what Blue Cross would pay for).  It fixed the high frequency response and "playing the tv too loud".
 
I had to get used to them on stage.  My Pedal Steel Guitar sounded totally different and I would have to ask other band members how I sounded.  It took about a month to get accustomed to them on stage and the real tone. 
 
"GEHA".  Is that a brand?  As a retired Federal Civil Service we had "GEHA" as one of the health insurance providers.  GEHA - Government Employee Health Association. 
 
 

fireberd
...."GEHA".  Is that a brand?  As a retired Federal Civil Service we had "GEHA" as one of the health insurance providers.  GEHA - Government Employee Health Association. 

It was an acronym for Graphic Equalized Hearing Aid. But as a resident of Arizona, all I could think of after I typed GEHA was Yeee-Haah! Hey it's Friday... 
 
Thanks for you hearing aid story!
 
Walt

My wife just got a set of real good hearing aids. They were said to have cost $ 5,500. Luckily we didn't pay that for them as  she inherited them when her Mom passed away. Her Mom never really used them because like a lot of folks she prefered NOT to hear. The TV was always at 80. 
 
We paid $ 500 to have them re furbished. They tested her in a sound proof booth ( I want one) and her EQ curve showed falling off sharply in the high end. She worked in a dental clinic for 30 years and we think it was the ultrasonics. 
Anyway I became "enlightened" to the technology and how it works. 
 
We audio dudes at least understand what a EQ graph looks like! 
The hearing test results in a frequency graph for each ear. 
The technician simply overlays EQ until they get closer to a flat response on the graph. 
They use a bluetooth system to access the guts of the aids. 
It's special software etc. very impressive. 
She immediately noticed the difference and now could hear sibilance in speech. At first she didn't like it but gets better as your brain re adjusts.  
 
But as far a musicains go, you can accomplish the same by having the test, get a print out of your graph and simply EQ your listening system. Most of us can make up for having a bumpy EQ graph as we "learn" our monitors etc. But if that EQ graph is way off in a few places your brain will not be able to compensate. 
 
In a live band situation we  use in ear monitors now a day's. Hearing aids don't work well with amplified sound. If you havn't yet gone with in ears, do it.   I use a hardwired system.   Wireless costs way to much  and is only really needed if you're running around the stage. 
 
In the studio I imagine they would solve the problem to a point, but just like in ears, your going to have to pay top dollar to get hi fi sound. I would say, EQ your speakers to match your personal short comings. Hearing aids will probably diminish  hearing the full spectrum and make it harder to mix properly. You might as well wear open back headphones.  
 
Hearing aids that don't have EQ are only little amplifiers and do not solve the real issue with most types of hearing loss. 
At the care home where I work we use "pocket talkers" with much better results than cheapo hearing aids. 
A pocket talker is a small amplifier with an omni mike and a set of headphones. You can wear it around your neck or ,like the title says, put it in your shirt pocket. They are not very glamorous but do they ever work great. 
 

Cactus Music
...But as far a musicains go, you can accomplish the same by having the test, get a print out of your graph and simply EQ your listening system....

Depending on how my hearing test goes, that might be an interesting concept to try out.
 
Thanks,
 
Walt

fireberd
If you can't hear (or barely hear) certain frequencies, how do you know when you have it EQ'd so they are right?

I'm guessing that the graph will show a frequency plot with dips where you hearing is not an ideal flat response. Most likely there will be a low pass filter in your hearing that rolls off at some frequency, (i.e. Say 6 KHz0 with a given slope. You can insert a EQ filter at the end of the chain that boosts those frequencies to compensate.

You've been through the test. When they perform the test, do you have to say "that sounds about about 20 dB down from 1Khz"? What if you're having a "bad hear day!"... :-)

Walt

I didn't get any graph from the hearing aid provider.  He showed it to me, briefly, but that was all.  It wasn't enough that I would remember how much loss and what frequencies.  I do remember that both ears did not have the same general hearing loss and did not have the same frequency loss curve.  To properly compensate I would have to set the Right and Left channels differently.  The hearing aids is a better approach, as they compensate and equalize the losses.
 

patm300e
With the amount of bass in some of today's music, investing in hearing aid companies might not be a bad idea either.

When I worked at On Semiconductor in the 80s, I designed a very sophisticated integrated circuit for a hearing aid for a company in Indiana that contained (believe it or not) one transistor and one resistor. The yields were very high!

Walt

Customizing the EQ for your ears would probably work better with headphones than studio monitors.  But, as most (including me) have different response curves for each ear, the left and right channels would have to be individually EQ'd to get the right response.

I think if you asked they would print the graph for you.