Digital Hearing Aids Make the World Sound Unnatural

[Alex]

I've tried wearing different digital hearing aids several times in my life but I was never satisfied with them, mainly because they make sounds sound tinny. Hearing aid professionals would tell me "It takes some getting used to then everything will sound natural to you again." That's easy for them to say, they've never worn hearing aids and compared both analog and digital ones like I have, so why should I trust them? I still wear my good ol' Personic analog hearing aids to this day, at least until they figure out how to make the world sound natural again.

Here's an interesting read: https://slate.com/technology/2019/09/hearing-aids-digital-analog-sound-music.html

Digital technology may offer advantages in its ability to tailor amplification to a particular individual’s loss profile as well as the availability of programmed settings for different social situations, plus extra bells and whistles like Bluetooth and app-tracker options. What it cannot do is faithfully reproduce natural sound in a way that is subjectively satisfying and moving and true. As legendary musician Neil Young complained: “We’ve gained control, but we’ve lost the sound. The sound is gone.”

What are your thoughts?

 

[WildlyColouredHearingAids]

mine are digital and i think they work just fine. It's IMHO but perhaps the audiologist didn't program yours right maybe? Some are not necessary but i find the only thing i have trouble with are the tv and background house noises because then they inflate the sounds even more. Overall though i do enjoy mine. Like my old hearing only better. That's just me though. I found an older pair I had of analogue to be almost too loud then again i was a kid then. I hope you find what you need. I am still having to program mine and i don't find mine loud enough.

 

[Cris]

If your hearing loss is profound, there may be only so much that even today's tech can do for you. Remember, the main goal is to help you hear human speech. Very few hearing aids are designed to provide you with a music-quality sound reproduction. Your audiologist should have managed your expectations in this regard. If you just make everything louder (which is what many old analog hearing aids did), you actually risk making your hearing worse over time, rather than properly treating your symptoms.

You don't hire a piano tuner to fix your bicycle, or hire an auto mechanic to repair your cabinets. Find a proper expert who specializes in fitting hearing aid software (they are online, I won't spam this post, but you can easily see who I work for).

If you're wearing modern (and probably expensive) digital hearing aids, and your hearing loss is moderate or mild, you probably just need them to be adjusted by a true expert, not a local "jack of all trades" kind of expert. If your hearing loss is severe or profound, you'll be lucky if you can hear human speech clearly with a cheaply made hearing aid, regardless of programming. Imagine buying OTC reading glasses and expecting them to help you deal with a cataract.

 

[Zanna]

If your hearing loss is profound, there may be only so much that even today's tech can do for you. Remember, the main goal is to help you hear human speech. Very few hearing aids are designed to provide you with a music-quality sound reproduction. Your audiologist should have managed your expectations in this regard. If you just make everything louder (which is what many old analog hearing aids did), you actually risk making your hearing worse over time, rather than properly treating your symptoms.

You don't hire a piano tuner to fix your bicycle, or hire an auto mechanic to repair your cabinets. Find a proper expert who specializes in fitting hearing aid software (they are online, I won't spam this post, but you can easily see who I work for).

If you're wearing modern (and probably expensive) digital hearing aids, and your hearing loss is moderate or mild, you probably just need them to be adjusted by a true expert, not a local "jack of all trades" kind of expert. If your hearing loss is severe or profound, you'll be lucky if you can hear human speech clearly with a cheaply made hearing aid, regardless of programming. Imagine buying OTC reading glasses and expecting them to help you deal with a cataract.

Hi Cris,

I've worn four hearing aids in my adult life, only in my right ear. (My left ear is dead.) The first one (analog) was made by Phonic, the second by Nu-Ear (analog or digital), the third by Sonic (digital), and the fourth and current one (digital) by Starkey.

The first one was okay, but didn't drown out background noise. The second one did, so I liked it and wore it. The third one did a pretty good job drawing out background noise, and was crystal clear when listening (and singing along) to music.

I am not happy with the fourth one made by Starkey. With speech, it's okay, but when listening (and singing) to music, it's a disaster. It severely distorts and mutes the music while amplifying my voice, which sounds tinny and unnatural. I've come to the point where I only where it when no music is playing. When music is playing I'll put in the third one by Sonic. The difference is astonishing. I'd rather use my third battery-operated hearing aid, then my second one, then my first one (which no longer works), and then no aid at all(!) rather than use the high-tech digital Starkey one.

I'm tempted to take it back and say no thanks. I'll wear my old one. What do you think? A bad hearing aid? A bad company? A bad tuning job?