Why do digital devices sound so bad?

I do hate the frequency range. Many people say that hearing aids don’t amplify extended high frequencies but I do hear up to over 9000 Hz pure tones in my old 10 000 Hz hearing aids while the newer 8000 Hz hearing aids only amplify ~7500 Hz, any extra amplification at 6000 Hz (wouldn’t let adjust more, very honest of you, Oticon…) just makes it uncomfortable, that extended treble does make music sound better. For that pleasure, I would have to pay for the most expensive Oticon models, even though I don’t care about their AI features. Recently I tried playing music on headphones without hearing aids and I realized how I’ve been missing proper bass the whole time, any extra “bass” in hearing aids is just mud that worsens speech comprehension. I’d gladly wear hearing aids in the form factor of headphones if it’s what it takes to extend the frequency range as much as possible. All that focus on old people and contempt towards the young who want to hear more is very annoying.

Regarding bass, you can somewhat recover the bass effect by using a more closed vent. 0.8mm sounds much better than 1.8mm for instance

@secondarytrefoil said:

All that focus on old people and contempt towards the young who want to hear more is very annoying.

This seems to be shifting but it is slow and the market will reward some company on this front.

I don’t feel that way at all. It really comes down to fitting and learning to program them to get what you want. I have Sennheiser Sonite Rise from Costco, and they are a step up from the Costco KS9s I had. And they are light years beyond the Resounds and America Hears aids I had 18 years ago. I play guitar, so I ‘found’ Phonak Target software and bought a NoahLink Wireless unit so I can program them myself. First thing I did was make a music setting that eliminated the feedback rejection and adjusted parameters to avoid feedback using mic directionality control and tweaking other aspects.

As far as headphones, I am in the Apple world using their circumaural AirPods Max, so I can plug my audiogram into its HEALTH app and it applies it system wide on my iPhone or iPad. For recording with my Mac computer, I program an EQ curve into the recording software (Logic) and leave that on so I can track/mix with my headphones. For any other headphones, I use the EQ curve technique so I can remove my aids while listening to music.

Bottom line, since most audio is delivered digitally these days, it’s really a matter of taking things into your own hands, finding the tools, and developing the skills to take advantage of what I think are HUGE advances over what we had 2 decades ago.

PS: I have a ski slope loss and use medium open domes on my aids, so bass is still delivered naturally, so I don’t have to rely on my aids to hear the low end. As far as high end, the “High Frequency Protect” function of the Phonaks somehow make audio above 8k sound natural in my aids, without pitch distortion, despite the fact that I am virtually deaf to frequencies in that range naturally.

where and how do you see this shift? I’m curious. I can’t notice it as of now.

Hey Bob, thank you for this beautiful inspiration. I also tried EQing my computer issued audio to taste, but that never worked. Maybe it’s because I have a more severe loss than you.

Are you saying that you don’t have pitch distortion for instruments like flute, oboe, etc.?

Hi Mr coconut,

On my computer, which is a Mac Mini M1, I have used the EQ in Apple Music for listening there with headphones. In Logic, when I am recording, the EQ has more control points, so it’s easier to get a more accurate curve. Obviously, I just use it for monitoring and turn it off before I bounce the final mixes. All that done without my hearing aids in my ears.

For playing guitar in the room or with a band, I have set up a button-selectable MUSIC setting for my Sennheiser/Phonak Sonite Rises (which I’d also done for the Costco/Phonak KS9s) that shuts off the setback rejection and gets rid of that annoying trill/tremolo. I then set the mics to be Omni directional and shut off all user-controllable compression controls (noise reduction / increase quiet sounds, etc), and then bring the volume down to the point that the aids have minimum feedback when you bring your hands near them. As far as I know, the only way to shut off feedback rejection is in Phonak Target software, so if you don’t have the ability to program your aids yourself, you’d have to have your audiologist or whomever programs your aids work with you to get it right. I will try and post a screenshot of that setup screen in Target.

My loss is such that I don’t have pitch shifting distortion in mid and high frequencies naturally, which is good, but for bass frequencies, if we are improvising, I have to keep an eye on the bass player’s hands when performing with my band, as it’s become tougher to discern the pitch of the lower notes.

Well as someone that cannot hear anything above about 9000 hz. I wear custom ear molds and I can hear beeps as low 60hz. That was true with my Oticon INTENT1 aids and now with my Spheres.

There seems to be chatter from younger people. That’s anecdotal but the other shifts such as in insurance coverage expansion are not. Also childhood screening and testing is increasingly robust and finding HOH kids who were missed in the past.