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Recommended headsets for use with (or without) aids

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Well, I am about to head back to the office for the first time since I experienced severe hearing loss. As anyone who works in a modern office will testify, Teams (or Zoom) meetings and calls are a fundamental part of the day. In the past I have been able to manage with a stock-standard headset with the receiver over my good ear. This is no longer tenable as I don’t have a “good ear” as such.

I am now looking for any advice on headsets people would recommend that might meet my needs. I don’t know whether to go for extra-large headphones that go over the hearing aids or to go for something high-tech that can boost volume sufficient for use without the aids in place. They could be corded or Bluetooth and need to have a decent microphone as well as they would be used in a typical noisy office situation.

Not an easy one. Forget about Bluetooth headsets or earbuds- all of these produce hopelessly low audio volumes. Probably the best is to have good Bluetooth-enabled that directly connect to your PC/phone/tablet (today, my Phonaks do this very well). You can also try and connect a headset combo (those with a 3.5 plug that has four contacts) to your PC, if its soundcard supports it (or use a splitter if the soundcard requires it), but in my experience, audio volumes are usually still far too low.

Personally I always preferred to get my audio input directly over standard wired headphones (e.g. OneOdio A71, 34$) running through a small $20 amplifier with treble/bass (e.g. an AK270), since I was sometimes connected with a roomful of people, some of who were sitting (and talking) from the back. The problem then is that your headphones’ microphone (if it has one) is not connected. I solved that by using the webcam microphone for when I did the talking (you can set separate devices in Window’s sound settings for audio in/out).

You can also combine these approaches. You plug a headset combo into your PC, but split and rejoin the microphone- and audio signals using two sets of adapters, with the audio line running through an amplifier. A bit of a spaghetticircus, but it works well.

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Great advice by RobHooft! The equipment I use (Sennheiser/Topping) probably costs 20X as much but may not be any better for you. Given your severe flat loss the wired headphone/amp combo is what should work for you.

Interesting, I hadn’t considered a separate amp. I’m wondering if I should look at the gaming world. There might be some options with microphones.

There’s a Sennheiser RS2000 for about £84 on Amazon.

They’re pretty good for a low latency wireless set-up. You might struggle with absolute power availability, there’s specific guidelines governing the maximum output of headphones in several jurisdictions.

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