Who else doesn't like digital hearing aids?

Alex

Alex

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I've been wearing an analog hearing aid since I was 5 years old, and tried a digital one a few years ago.

Well, to tell you the truth, as much as I tried to like it and get used to it, I hate it! The sounds that I hear are horrible and robotic. I couldn't believe it when my audiologist said that digital hearing aids are the future and analog hearing aids will be replaced. Man, oh man!

One of the things that tick me off when wearing a digital hearing aid, is that whenever I play guitar with background music, it goes crazy trying to auto-adjust sounds coming in and out, making it extremely difficult for me to follow music.

The digital hearing aid I have is from Starkey, and I believe it's a low-end model (need to double check), but I don't use it much. Instead I use the Oticon PerSonic analog hearing these days.

Does anyone out there feel the same way? Does anyone know where I can purchase brand new analog hearing aids???
 
I think the problem with digital hearing aids is due to the auto-programming, the software/coding is still weak and undeveloped. And probably trying to improve over the years.

I bet if some deaf or hard of hearing programmers got a chance to tweak digital hearing aids, they could be pretty good "audi's" to help other people tweak their digital HA's.
 
I do like Digital hearing aids..I like it because I like how it sound and clear. Everyone is different though. :) Yea, it cost way more than analog hearing aids.

Now I can't wear any cuz I have CI and plan to remove it for good reasons. Right now my health insurance screw up grrr! Have to get it resolve it. Pain in butt!
 
Alex said:
I've been wearing an analog hearing aid since I was 5 years old, and tried a digital one a few years ago.

Well, to tell you the truth, as much as I tried to like it and get used to it, I hate it! The sounds that I hear are horrible and robotic. I couldn't believe it when my audiologist said that digital hearing aids are the future and analog hearing aids will be replaced. Man, oh man!

One of the things that tick me off when wearing a digital hearing aid, is that whenever I play guitar with background music, it goes crazy trying to auto-adjust sounds coming in and out, making it extremely difficult for me to follow music.

The digital hearing aid I have is from Starkey, and I believe it's a low-end model (need to double check), but I don't use it much. Instead I use the Oticon PerSonic analog hearing these days.

Does anyone out there feel the same way? Does anyone know where I can purchase brand new analog hearing aids???
Click to expand...
http://www.aidright.com/db/products/336/High-Power-Analog-Hearing-Aid.html This site lists more than one analog aid, but you have to contact them to find someone in your area who sells them.

But that said, you can get your digital aid programmed to act like an analog.
 
Thanks for the link, Bottesini.

So far I've tried two different digital hearing aids, the last one made by Phonak, and I've had two different audiologists in NJ tweak the settings so that they are programmed like an analog. But, nope, it's not the same and the digital hearing aid doesn't sound anything like an analog. The analog hearing aid sounds sweet and pleasant, whereas the digital has more of a harsh and processed sound, at least in my opinion it does.
 
I wear a digital hearing aid and I love it.

I did have a digital hearing aid in 1999 and hated it. It sounded robotic and kept breaking down every 6 months. The warranty was only for one year. So, I was only able to get it serviced twice before I had to pay for the servicing later. I switched back to my old analog hearing aid (which I had already been using since 1992).

My analog hearing aid finally died in 2007 (yep, it lasted 15 years) and I decided to give a digital hearing aid again. This time, it worked out. I've been using the same digital hearing aid since... never even needed to get it serviced.

The analog hearing aid I had was Otacon. The digital hearing aid I have now is Siemens. I don't remember what my first digital hearing aid (from 1999) was. I'll have to look for it somewhere in storage sometimes and get back to you on that.

Did your audiologist let you test out different digital hearing aids? Mine did. It was part of their hearing aid program. They let you try on a hearing aid, then they adjust it every week or so until you're satisfied and decide to keep it. I think the trial period was a month or something.

My trial period started with my digital hearing aid having normal mode, crowd mode, and telephone mode. I told her that I didn't care much for telephone mode since I don't use the telephone. She then mentioned MTV mode and let me try that. I liked it and decided to keep that. So, I have normal mode... crowd mode... and MTV mode. :)
 
I have mixed feelings about analog vs digital, they both have pros and cons, but for the most part the pros for digitals outweigh the pros for analogs. I always feel like I had a little more control over volume with the analogs. Or maybe my first set of digital were just never adjusted properly I don't know.

I remember being really bummed and frustrated the day I got my digitals. On the way there I had been listening to the radio with my analog. Went in got my new aid, got back out to the car and when I turned started I could barely hear the radio. I kept turning up the volume on the stereo, but for me it wouldn't get any louder. I had been able to hear it fine on the way there with my analog :( Music has never been the same since. That part makes me sad.

BUT I have new digitals now, Naidas and I went for a fitting on wednesday and the audi did something with the compression, so it doesn't dampen the sound as much and I can hear the music much better now, still not the same, but better :)
 
Have only worn digital so can't compare. It would seem to me that you can program a digital to sound any way you want. Wouldn't you be able to just set the sound settings in a digital hearing aid to sound like an analog?
 
Ambrosia said:
I have mixed feelings about analog vs digital, they both have pros and cons, but for the most part the pros for digitals outweigh the pros for analogs. I always feel like I had a little more control over volume with the analogs. Or maybe my first set of digital were just never adjusted properly I don't know.

I remember being really bummed and frustrated the day I got my digitals. On the way there I had been listening to the radio with my analog. Went in got my new aid, got back out to the car and when I turned started I could barely hear the radio. I kept turning up the volume on the stereo, but for me it wouldn't get any louder. I had been able to hear it fine on the way there with my analog :( Music has never been the same since. That part makes me sad.

BUT I have new digitals now, Naidas and I went for a fitting on wednesday and the audi did something with the compression, so it doesn't dampen the sound as much and I can hear the music much better now, still not the same, but better :)
Click to expand...
That's one of the reasons why I had my audiologist add MTV mode to my digital hearing aid. It makes my digital hearing aid function as analog... hears everything with no anti-feedback. :)
 
Analog may have better sound, just like vinyl records are better than CDs, but that is fast changing. And, I don't think they can do the manipulation of frequency as well with analog as they can with digital. As digital gets better, there will come a time when the human ear cannot tell the difference, just like the human eye and HD cameras today.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
What does MTV mode do exactly? Does it just block out background noise?
Click to expand...
No, that's the crowd mode.

Here's a description of each...

Normal Mode - Basically, it's standard with anti-feedback. If there are weird sounds in the background, it will attempt to drown it out. Whistling, beeping, blowing, static, or most non-talking sounds... these are toned down or sound differently. In this mode, watching movies with full sound can be a bit of a problem for some people.

Crowd Mode - This is Normal Mode, but attempts to drown out most of the environment sounds except for the sound coming from directly in front of you. This is useful for loud restaurant or bar environments. I can sit in Buffalo Wild Wings during Monday Night Football and still hear the person in front of me or myself stirring my iced drink. This mode also has anti-feedback. So, non-talking sounds are toned down like in Normal Mode.

MTV Mode - Basically, MTV is Music TeleVision. This is Normal Mode without anti-feedback. That means, I can hear everything as it is heard.

Here are a few examples of Normal vs MTV...

I'm driving my car with my windows down. With Normal, the air rushing sounds going through my car sounds a bit muffled. With MTV, I can hear the air rushing sounds as it were.

I'm listening to my music DVDs. Some pitches in the songs and musics are muffled or sound differently when I listen using Normal. When I switch to MTV, it sounds better.
 
I think digital hearing aids are overrated as well. I sent a Burnafon back about a month after I purchased it because in settings where there were extreme variations in sound the HA kept cutting out. The audiologist told me it was protecting my hearing because it the frequencies were to high. I must admit, other than that, it was a great hearing aid with so many programs. Then I got Widex and I think that brand is useless; very tinny sound and I don't believe it is because of my high frequency hearing loss because Bernafon was so natural.

Interesting you mention analogue hearing aids were clearer and more volume. I believe that is exactly what my mother is having problems with (she has profound hearing loss and was used to analogue). I purchased a new hearing aid for my diseased ear and can't hear a thing from it most of the time. The specialists keep saying a hearing aid would be beneficial for that ear but the Widex digital cannot bypass the cholesteatoma or conductive hearing loss, and certainly is no good with drainage.
 
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