XPost: comp.misc   
   From: bashley101@gmail.com   
      
   On 04/19/2017 11:55 AM, Mike Spencer wrote:   
   > Adrian Caspersz  writes:   
   >   
   >> On 19/04/17 12:05, geoff wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Kind of depends if you want headphones for high quality sound, or as a   
   >>> fashion accessory.   
   >>   
   >> Or as a covert DIY hearing aid ..   
   >>   
   >> The future is going to see them rather prominent and fashionable like   
   >> eyewear, and additionally integrated with the music/phone (possibly that   
   >> made the user deaf in the first place[1]).   
   >   
   > AFAICT the circuit design and tuning controls are sophisticated,   
   > albeit straigtforward, electronics but the big bucks are for fitting   
   > all that into a widget the size of a fava bean.   
   >   
   > I'd be happy to wear headphones or earbuds and carry a widget the size   
   > of a large cell phone if it worked for my hearing loss and cost a few   
   > hundred bucks instead of the ca. $2,000 per ear.   
      
   FWIW, the $2K ones aren't necessarily good either.  My mom had hers   
   adjusted repeatedly, but they never got it right.  All she wanted was to   
   be able to understand the women on TV, but the adjustments to improve   
   higher voices also heightened annoying higher-frequency sounds.   That   
   was in 2005, maybe the tech is better now.  Equalizers have been around   
   for quite a while, though.   
      
   I don't think the fact that they're made from a mold of the person's ear   
   canal is important.  I asked my ENT guy about using hers if I ever   
   needed them, and he said Fine, just have them adjusted for you.  Not   
   much hope, but it won't cost $2K/ear to try!   
      
   >> On that subject, like a prescription for glasses, is there a written   
   >> standard of writing one for hearing aids?   
   >   
   > Bandwidth tuning, noise cancellation -- what else?  See   
   > "sophisticated" supra.  I'm guessing that "adjusting" a modern hearing   
   > aid is done by connecting it to a computer and proprietary software.   
   > They're too small to support an array of little adjusting screws.   
      
   Yes.  There's just an on/off switch on the device itself.   
      
   >> With the rip-off shameful high cost of some of these (thousands) praying   
   >> on folks that want them so covert, surely a home build DSP project   
   >> (opensource?) is possible with knowledge of the right parameters? or use   
   >> of a cheaper Generic device for sale?   
   >   
   > Where's this happening?  I high-frequency loss, speech discrimination   
   > loss and tinitis.  But I'm weak on serious math and know almost noting   
   > about electronic hardware.  There was a brief flurry of interest in   
   > DSP projects in Halifax (NS) circa 1994 but I think it's faded away.   
   >   
   >   
   >> [1] - Shouldn't joke. That will eventually be me.... Loud electronica   
   >> music fan here.   
   >   
   > Wroking around loud engines, running power tools and hammering at the   
   > anvil are quite enough, thanks, without rock n' roll.   
      
   I do love the sound of an unmuffled helicopter taking off.  R&R hasn't   
   been that good since the Beatles destroyed it.   
      
   --   
   Cheers, Bev   
       "The last thing you want is for somebody to commit suicide   
        before executing them."   
               -Gary Deland, former Utah director for corrections   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)