Headphones that are hearing aids?

Not changing the subject but…
A couple of weeks ago, I got the Aftershock bone conductive headphones.
Truly love them!
Set them next to my HA’s and I can hear music like years past!
Also I have Linx streamers and the Aftershock has way better sound (to me).
FWIW

Thanks for sharing. I’ve also tried some bone conductive headphones that somebody else bought from Amazon but they let me try it. I found that they didn’t deliver enough bass like my other regular headphones (I don’t have hearing loss in the low end below 100 Hz, but HAs don’t help on the very low frequencies below 125 Hz anyway). But the mids and the highs are fine. I had to still wear my CIC HAs in order to compensate for my mid and high losses, though.

What kind of HAs do you have? CIC or BTE/RIC? I used to wear CIC but now I’m on BTE/RIC now, so I wonder if BTE/RIC would still pick up sound for the bone conductive headphones or not.

How do you categorize your hearing loss? Mild or moderate?

@behappy said:

Not changing the subject but…
A couple of weeks ago, I got the Aftershock bone conductive headphones.
Truly love them!
Set them next to my HA’s and I can hear music like years past!
Also I have Linx streamers and the Aftershock has way better sound (to me).
FWIW

What type of hearing loss do you have? sensorineural, conductive, mixed? If you have conductive it would make sense that bone conductive headphones would probably give you a better sound. Also since you have your ears covered with little background noise coming in it would also make sense that you can hear better with the headphones.

I added my audiogram to my signature. Even though it drops about 20db between 1khz and 2khz that 5db of boost from the GetEvens still makes some difference.

@MWP said:

The Nuraphone is amazing.

I read up on them when they first came out. The designer said at the time that they weren’t aimed at people who would normally wear hearing aids. Do you get the sense that the test has accurately adjusted the headphones for your loss? At the time, nobody had heard of that test (ototic?) being used in that way.

Just curious about the Even headphones. You loved them a couple of years ago, but you seem to have gone off them now. What’s changed?

@d_Wooluf said:

I read up on them when they first came out. The designer said at the time that they weren’t aimed at people who would normally wear hearing aids. Do you get the sense that the test has accurately adjusted the headphones for your loss? At the time, nobody had heard of that test (ototic?) being used in that way.

Just curious about the Even headphones. You loved them a couple of years ago, but you seem to have gone off them now. What’s changed?

I originally had the wired Even in-ear. It was revolutionary for me at the time. But, a few months after that I got a set of Beoplay H7s (over ear BT) as a gift. The sound was so much better. So, I had my son (electrical engineer) attach an old set of $850 Ultimate Ears monitor buds to the Evens case. Even though it wasn’t a perfect match in ohms, it was significantly better. Then the iPhone took away the headphone jack and it became a hassle using them with my iPad and iPhone and I lost the iPhone adapter a couple times. I decided to get a set of BT ear buds and got my first Jaybird after checking out a couple others (thanks to Best Buy for a good return policy). That’s where I discovered storing the EQ in firmware. I never went back to the Evens. I bought a set of the Even on-ear headphones, but they paled in comparison with the B&O phones and a switch broke twice. After having two sets that didn’t work well, I returned them. Many headphones have an app for EQ, but you have to play your music through the app. You’re out in the cold using them with Netflix or You Tube The B&O at least adjusted the headphones for your session on the phone, so you could use them with multiple apps. Then I bought the B&O E8’s, which are in ear buds. I really loved them, as long as I could run the app on my phone or iPad. But, I have BT transmitters on my TVs and they wouldn’t keep the EQ - same with the H7s. I still have the E8’s as a backup.

I had read about Nuraphones when they were a Kickstarter project. I was totally unsure about them. Then, early this summer, I read that they had done a firmware update that added NC and transparency. In firmware for everyone, instead of introducing new headphones like everyone else. I decided to give them a try. My first test was done in my living room with an overhead fan running. I was less than pleased with the results. So, after a few days I was thinking about returning them. But, I got in the closet where it was silent and outside noise deadened by clothes. The difference was amazing. A few days later, I decided to run the test again to see if it was smoke and mirrors. I got back in the quiet environment and the results were the same. The first time I hooked them to the TV Bluetooth, I was sold.

Do the Nura’s hit my perfect adjustment for hearing? I don’t know. But, I was hearing a full, bright acoustic guitar again and I could hear the cymbals and other instruments I couldn’t hear with other headphones unless I spent time EQing them. I sold my H7’s and my B&O H9i’s, and haven’t looked back.

Sound is subjective. With the Even’s sound test, it vastly improved my experience. But, I also knew I was sacrificing some quality, clarity and soundstage. The Nura’s nailed it for me. Even with the Jaybirds and now the Sennheiser, spending time with the EQ could get me the kind of sound I wanted and they were better quality than the Even’s. Because the EQ gets locked in the headphone, I don’t have to mess with EQ and I can listen to my BT iPod nano, my apple watch, my TV and keep the clarity in sound.

A final word about the Nura’s. I was initially put off by the look of both in ear and over the ear in one phone. But, it works. The in-ear portion gives you very clean meds and highs, while the over ears gives you the lows that you can adjust in the app. So, when listening at lower levels, I can increase the bass in the Immersion mode to give me a very full sound even at low listening levels. And I love the fact that they have done all of their feature improvements in firmware and don’t require you to buy a new headphone. I went from the B&O H7’s to the H9’s which introduced noise cancelling. In the H9i’s, they added a couple new features including transparency, which I really love. Total cost, $499 x 3 different sets. The original Nuraphone purchasers got all the added features of noise cancelling and transparency through a firmware update that cost them nothing. I want to support a company like that.

I have a feeling that Nuraphone will bring out a new design that is lighter and sleeker. Yes, I’ll buy them and pass my others on to someone else. But, I find them comfortable for long listening sessions and I can walk around the house and they have good range. Because they don’t fold, they’re not the best for travel, but I manage to slip them into my carry on anyway. BTW, you can order them from Amazon at a discount now, and return them within 30 days if they don’t do the trick for you.

I’ve learned a lot by trail and error. Best Buy and Amazon know me well. I’ve had Sony’s, JBL’s and various other in ear and over the ears phones that I have returned to try others. Because music listening is so important to me, I’ve been willing to spend money to find the right ones. If I can save someone else the pain and expense of trail and error, that’s good.

Hearing aids were never meant to provide a good music experience. Streaming TV and music on my hearing aids stinks, and I never do it anymore. I made my living in radio and concerts, which is why I’m wearing hearing aids now. I thought I’d never get back to experiencing music the way I used to, but now I do. It’s been worth the effort.

Mark

Hey Mark. I guess my question about the Nuras wasn’t so much a question but thinking aloud. I’m wondering whether the test got it right in your case by fluke or whether it’s a valid test. So if twenty people on this forum with twenty different audiograms tried them, would it get it right for all or at least most of them? I’ve seen enough people say online that the Nura is the best sound they’ve experienced to want to try them for myself. Actually, if I had enough money, I’d be trying pretty much everything out there. I really miss my music!

I have a pair of Audeara headphones that i’m trialing at the moment. Thus far, they are a major disappointment, so much so that I’m wondering whether I’m doing something wrong. They come with a hearing test (using threshold discrimination) and store the results in the headphone. Like you, I was after a solution that was independent of the sound source. They do the equalisation so far as I can tell, but the sound is just poor to my ears. Full price on these things is about the same as the Nura. I got mine for half of that, but I’ll probably send them back (if I remember) unless I can get them to work any better.

I’ve had better results than you have (or maybe I’m more prepared to settle) from streaming to my aids. Yes, you lose the immersion, but at least I’m getting clarity in the mids to highs. I’ve also had reasonable results from wearing my aids within my over-the-ear headphones. In my case it’s a pair of Plantronics Backbeat Pros. Great headphones for the price I think. More bass obviously than when streaming direct to the aids but less clarity in the mids to highs.

I’ve got headphones and ear buds all over the house, most of them not used. Ones that I used to love were some simple on-the-ear headphones by Koss. Basically, the same drivers they use for the Porta Pro but clip-ons. Something about them worked for me. No isolation of course and they’d break regularly.

Thanks for the information. Great that you’ve found something that works for you. I’m very tempted to try them.myself now.

@iblaineman said:

I’ve been considering Sony noise canceling headphones mostly because while traveling or commuting because I like the idea of just taking the headphones off to hear the outside world or the person speaking to me.

By looking at your hearing test, I can see you have more LF loss than me, but a little better HF loss. I suspect that you can hear terminal announcements or someone speaking directly to you OK without your hearing aids.

When I get to the airport, once through security and at the gate, I put my hearing aids in the case. I can still hear all the announcements and the desk agent if I go to the counter. Even if I didn’t use headphones, I’d still fly without hearing aids. It keeps some of the chaos down.

Both the Nuraphones (BT over ear headphones) and the Sennheiser True Wireless (BT ear buds) have a transparency mode. That means with a tap or two on the headphones, it opens up microphones so you hear the outside environment. Each has bit different way to implement it, but both work with touching or tapping the earphones. That way, when you want to hear an announcement, or respond to the flight attendant serving you, you can hear them and carry on a conversation without removing your phones. And each of these phones are going to deliver great EQ’d music and good voice quality.

For me, this has been excellent. You can get the best of sound quality with noise cancelling (no noise cancelling on the Sennheiser, per se, but with a good seal on the earbuds, they knock outside sounds down to a minimum).

You can make this simple for travel. If you have longer travel, the Nuraphones give you about 20 hours of listening time with NC on, but the Sennheiser buds are just 4 hours (with two additional charges in the case). I use the Sennheisers for domestic travel and the Nura for international.

Hope this helps.

Mark

HINT: You can get a small, inexpensive BT transmitter for flights that have screens on the seats, if you want to watch. Put the small BT transmitter into the screen audio output, and then link them to your headphones. No wires, so if you have to get up to let someone out of their seat, no taking headphones off. I use one on my non-BT TV for times when I don’t want to keep my wife up, and since I’m traveling to 6 different countries in the 1st 7 months this year, I’ve ordered one for my travel kit.

HINT2: Next week, January 8-11, is the International CES. I’ve already been reading about new and updated headphones that are being introduced. You might want to follow the news and wait to see what products are available before you purchase. The key is finding a set of BT headphones that retain your settings in the headphones, so you can set it and forget it. The Sony’s you are looking at can be EQ’d, but do not retain that EQ if you were to listen to TV on Bluetooth, or move to a device other than the the one you set the EQ on. They’re great headphones, but not practical for someone with hearing loss.

I agree, I’ll wait to see what’s at CES. Your job sounds interesting traveling to different countries, I mostly travel domestically. I really can’t hear most people speak without hearing aids and can’t hear the flight attendants even though I mostly hear the announcements. The other thing I would like is something for commuting on train and subway to work but again I would like to be able to hear when I stop for coffee or not have to go to my desk and put my hearings on before talking to my coworkers, perhaps transparent mode will help here. I guess I don’t really tell people I have hearing aids or if I do they forget I have them. It will be interesting to see what new hearing aids come out this year and how they are at streaming.

@iblaineman said:

I agree, I’ll wait to see what’s at CES.

Let’s compare notes after CES!

I was just asked by a family member about getting headphones for her husband who watches TV loudly. He has never had his hearing test so I don’t know his hearing loss. They usually don’t spend a lot of money so their budget is low and I don’t think he has worn headphones for music or phone before. I kind of want to reccomend Even headphones because of the EQ and hearing test but that would be $199 with the streamer and I am not sure they are great quality. Maybe he would be OK with any headphones I’m not sure. Any suggestions? I see a lot of bluetooth headphones on Amazon and MPOW looks pretty affordable.

@iblaineman said:

I was just asked by a family member about getting headphones for her husband who watches TV loudly. He has never had his hearing test so I don’t know his hearing loss. They usually don’t spend a lot of money so their budget is low and I don’t think he has worn headphones for music or phone before. I kind of want to reccomend Even headphones because of the EQ and hearing test but that would be $199 with the streamer and I am not sure they are great quality. Maybe he would be OK with any headphones I’m not sure. Any suggestions? I see a lot of bluetooth headphones on Amazon and MPOW looks pretty affordable.

I think they could get something relatively inexpensively. If their TV doesn’t have BT, they can get a BT transmitter relatively cheap. TaoTronics makes a receiver that uses aptX low latency for $30 or less. They can plug into an audio jack or RCA output. Then they can start with a cheap set of BT over ears headphones. I have that on our TV and it works pretty well once you get the phones connected. Then, if that really helps, they can move to a better set of headphones down the road.

I have my Jaybird and Nura’s set up that way. Of course, both of these can be EQ’d and it is stored in the phones, so I get the advantage of an EQ’d setup. However, they may find that, even without any EQ, just having that signal in headphones will eliminate the need for loud volumes for others.

Thoughts?

I have the Bose Hearphones and love them. They work much better than my Widex Beyond 440s in canceling ambient noise, like in restaurants. They were $499 when I purchased them in 2017, I am frustrated with my audiologist, who I believe is not competent in programming my Widex aids, which are not the brand she is most familiar with. They are my third set of aids I have purchased over the last 14 years. It is so frustrating to pay $5500 for aids and ear buds and earphones give us better sounds quality.

I think you folks who are audiophiles and have sound engineering experience can appreciate the value of good sound, whether from hearing aids or aids. If anyone can recommend an audiologist or HAS that is an expert in Widex programming in the Boston area please respond. Thanks, so much.

To be honest hearing aids are meant to do only one thing allow us to hear speach better then are not meant to have a full range of frequencies that is needed for music, and for most of us we could not hear that range of frequencies anyway now. The only time I used my bose headphones was when I was flying a lot I used to to cancel the noise on the flights. At home all I have to do is mute my hearing aids to do the same thing.