XPost: comp.misc   
   From: trevor@home.net   
      
   On 20/04/2017 11:49 AM, Dan Espen wrote:   
    > The Real Bev  writes:   
    >> FWIW, the $2K ones aren't necessarily good either.   
    > Some are even more.  Mine were.   
      
   You can actually pay well over $5K each. They are better of course, but   
   a complete bloody rip off! Much of the cost goes to the Audiologists   
   retirement fund.   
      
      
    >> My mom had hers adjusted repeatedly, but they never got it right.   
    >> 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.   
    >   
    > Hearing aids don't just pump up the volume on frequencies you can't   
    > hear.  I'm not an expert, but I do know it takes time to adjust to   
    > hearing aids, so I assume there is frequency shifting going on.  More   
    > than that, the hearing aid "knows" what kind of sound situation you >   
    > are in.  Mine reports things like:   
    >   
    >   listening to music   
    >   driving   
    >   crowded room   
    >   TV   
    >   
    > So, they are pretty far from an equalizer.   
      
   Actually they are just an amplifier, active equaliser and compressor   
   with various stored custom settings like the ones you mention.   
   What really pisses me off is that it is so simple now to have Bluetooth   
   control from your mobile phone over all parameters of a hearing aid.   
   Sadly there are no aids available that do that simply because the   
   Audiologists want to keep their huge profits from fitting and adjusting   
   the aids. And some of the ones that do have control over volume and mode   
   settings via Bluetooth only work with iPhones because they are too slack   
   to write the apps for Android.   
      
      
      
    >> I don't think the fact that they're made from a mold of the person's   
    >> ear canal is important.   
      
   If they are in ear types it sure is, Everybody's ear canal is different   
   and they often won't fit or will be very uncomfortable if they do.   
      
      
    >> 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!   
    >   
    > One of the harder parts about wearing them is the discomfort after   
    > wearing them for hours.  If they sell models with generic shape   
    > give them a try.  What do you have to loose?   
    >   
    > Hearing aids are much cheaper if you get one with the battery behind   
    > the ear and a little wire and plug.   
      
   You can in fact buy *proper* aids from companies like Resound and   
   Siemens brand new on ebay for less than $200. Not their top of the line   
   models of course. Sadly the prices seem to increase exponentially for   
   minor improvements.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)