Do I need hearing aids? (I'm a piano player)

@Psych1 said:

for listening to recorded music a decent sound system with equalization and good headphones is still far superior to any hearing aid.

This statement may be true for you but not everyone. We all have different hearing losses.

Your relatively flat hearing loss is an example of how good headphones would really sound great. For others that don’t have the flat hearing loss this is not true.

“With equallization”

If you really care about accuracy in music, hearing aids are still not there. when they are I will be first on line to get them.

@Psych1 said:

With equallization”

This is my point about relativity flat hearing losses like yours will enjoy headphones with equalizers. For those with not so flat hearing losses equalizers will not be enough dB in certain frequencies to get the benefit you would for example.

A quick look at equalizers shows they have a maximum of about +/-15 dB control over each frequency band. Most are in the +/-6 dB area that I read about.
Thinking about the limits of the equalizer and looking at people’s audiogram it seems simple to say equalizers would come up short with many people.

If I am way out in left field about this, please correct me.

@Psych1 said:

If you really care about accuracy in music, hearing aids are still not there.

This is probably why so many of us don’t enjoy music as we did with better hearing.

some may benefit from a headphone amp also depending on the headphones. I prefer Sennheiser but there are others.

@Psych1 said:

for listening to recorded music a decent sound system with equalization and good headphones is still far superior to any hearing aid.

I disagree completely. Always hated listening to music though headphones, still do. Heavy equalization may get the music tonally flat and correct for hearing loss, but IMHO it kills the pace and timing of the music. For me a high quality system combined with a good music program on my aids is superior to eq and headphones.

Jim

Well I think I will add two additional experiences using my hearing aids.

For years I have had pulsating tendonitis, where it sounds like waves breaking on a sea shore. When I started wearing my hearing aids, just inserting the slim tube tips into my ears made the sound almost disappear. This is without even turning on my hearing aids. I think the rubber cones changed the internal pressure in the canal, and reduced the pulse from my heart beat.

About 15 years ago, long before wearing hearing aids, I kept hearing what guitar players would call a “fret buzz” around the E & F on the high E string. I could never get rid of it, and it made everything sound so bad I just quit playing. Last year after a month or two learning to program my Phonak Bolero V70s, and refining the music settings, I pulled out my classical guitar, played it, and of course there was the fret buzz. I switched to my music program, and the buzz was gone. When I was working on the music settings, I just wanted to better listen to music, not even thinking about the guitar problem. I have no idea what’s going on, but I am thrilled with the unexpected results.

I, too, am a pianist. I went into a long decline with my wife griping about me not hearing her. I finally went to the ENT/Audiologist and they fitted me with aids. It was clear that I could function much better in situations like restaurants and other crowds, but it really didn’t affect my music much (in fact, I found the default settings rather annoying). I did get the ability to tweak my own aids and was able to fix the problems so that I could effectively play with the aids on.

@rnatalie
Wow- I have the opposite - ‘Zero’* feedback settings for piano playing With feedback protection running I get warbling of the higher keys’ tones.

*I guess there may still be some intrinsic feedback protection there, but certainly I can elicit feedback IF I try hard with a cupped hand moving away from my ear. Interestingly I can wear around ear headphones without getting feedback so that works for my practice piano too.

My problem (though I do not have it with the Resound Ones, I had Lynx3Ds up until last week) was that there was some resonance on certain notes that caused the aids to feedback. I guess everybody is different.

When I program my Phonak aids, the software runs a feedback test, and a line showing the limit for each ear at all frequencies is shown on the screen.

I make all my settings so as to not exceed this line. No feedback problems here.

That’s the advantage of DIY programming. I eliminated all compression, and adjusted the aids to mostly hear what’s in front of me, nulling sounds to the rear. All these minor tweaks to a music program can be very beneficial. It’s almost like going analog, which reduces distortion.

The advanced digital technology that helps you to understand voices in difficult situations, can be very detrimental when listening to music.

I had to do that too with my old Phonaks to eliminate the warbling when performing and practicing. With my Widex Beyond 440 no adjustments were necessary to get a great natural sound without distortion. Don’t know how the latest Widex products compare.