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ANY Analog HA's available...ANYWHERE?

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Sorry to beat a dead horse here but I have to ask…

Why, can someone please tell me why there aren’t any analog ’s available?? There is a LARGE niche of folks with hearing issues that benefit from good old analog HA’s. Go Google it, I’m not alone.

I have trialed the Lyric’s extensively thanks to a sympathetic Audi and they honestly are the only aid (I have trialed 7 different digitals and have owned a set for nearly 4 years) that A) Help me hear better and B) Significantly relieve my tinnitus.

About me:
-39 years old
-Newish to HA’s, had hearing issues for about 5 years
-Reverse slope hearing loss
-Bad tinnitus in both ears 24/7 (sounds like a constant tuning fork is in each ear)

All that being said, I wanted to see if anyone happens to have similar issues to me and take one last swing to see if there are any alternatives out there before I go on a journey of getting a new set of digitals.

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In reply to @Raudrive

Hello,
I emailed them last week and got a reply that they only sell digitital ’s now. Additionally, if you go to their website and select an analog aid it says “this product is no longer available”

Prairie Labs also told me they don’t sell any analog aids, but they do still repair them.

Thanks.
Mark

Keep searching.there is a firm in US that makes them, sorry I don’t know the name. Perhaps PVC will.

I’d focus on finding an experienced audiologist who has worked with analog aids. I’ve heard several on the forum say that they’d happily take the challenge to create analog sounding sound with digital hearing aids.

I don’t understand this at all. If you want analog, get digital aids and have them set up to amplify the same across all frequencies; then turn off all of the other “features” (noise handling, etc.)

I looked at a lot of this stuff before I decided on full-on, prescribed, proper ’s. I still wonder about using just simple ’s.
One of them “The Bean” uses a well regarded analog amp called K-Amp iirc.
I haven’t looked in a while now though.

For those asking why, some of the analogue circuitry was notably well designed (k amp and it’s predecessor, can’t remember name) and were sought after for sound quality and for listening to music. I believe they also handled high levels well.

Once upon a time I also searched for these but, reading between the lines, the market just isn’t there because of the whole “digital is better” branding / marketing drive from the past decades.

There was an Audi somewhere in Ontario Canada, I believe, who specialises in musicians and if I’m not mistaken used to use / service some analog aids when still available.

Some of the newer digital aids have improved the situation for music listeners. I now use the oticon opn on the music channel. It handles high SPL

In reply to @Sierra

The only analog aids I have tried are the Lyrics. As noted in my original post, they calmed/reduced my tinnitus and just flat out let me hear very well. Everything, including my own voice sounded completely normal…just louder.
I’m current trialing some Phonak Marvel 90’s (I think) they are the top of the line they carry. With them set to Linear with a few other tweaks they don’t sound good at all. Feels like my ears are plugged, if I turn up the volumn I can hear birds chirping outside but can’t hear my wife 20 feet away from me…frustrating.
I have trialed 8 different digital aids and have owned a pair of Oticon Ria2’s for nearly 4 years but NONE stack up to the Lyrics. I just can’t afford the $3200-$3500 per year of the Lyrics.
Thanks all for the feedback.
Mark

In reply to @mark_h

If the sound of your own voice is an issue you may want to consider the Signia (Rexton and Kirkland Signature) ’s. They have a special own voice training process that lets the HA recognize your own voice so it knows when you are speaking. That is used to adjust the gain to normalize the sound of your own voice, as well as adjust the HA for a conversation situation. It deals in part with the obstructed feeling of a closed fitting to some degree. Some info:

The Problem with Open6

In reply to @mark_h

If you have had hearing loss for a relatively short time (5 years) I would not recommend analog aids. Digital aids have many more features and that’s where the present and future is.

Hearing aids are to help with speech. It is irrelevant whether they sound like what you remember, or, in your mind, normal. Whatever well adjusted digital aids you wear all day, every day, will sound “normal” in a few months.

If you have only had hearing loss for 5 years, why would you have gotten analog anyway. My first ones 10 years ago were digital, Starky Destiny (fabulous, by the way).

If you take a modern, top of the line hearing aid like the Marvels and try to make them sound like analogs it is like buying a new BMW and putting a '62 Chevy transmission in it because you like the way it shifts.

Having said that, on the Global fitting screen of the Phonaks, you can start off more linear, and that may help you acclimate quicker. In a year you can go with more compression if you need to.

Side Note: I just heard back from General Hearing (they advertise custom analog aids) and they no longer produce them, he claimed it’s due to the parts no longer being produced. Additionally he said they have a “Musicians Digital Circuit” designed to replicate Analog aids. I requested more info on that…will keep you posted if that goes anywhere.
Thanks again everyone.
Mark

In reply to @Don

Thanks for the info.
Do you have tinnitus? I really feel like the analog circuitry somehow cuts down and relieves the ringing in my ears. My tinnitus sounds like a tuning fork going off in each ear at different pitches. Each digital aid tends to affect my hearing in quiet very differently…due to I believe the circuitry. Most often it makes is worse/louder. When they pop in the Lyrics I literally feel relief…hard to explain and probably harder to understand.
That’s why I would LOVE the opportunity to try a custom analog aid to see if it gave the same relief.
Thanks again.
Mark

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