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Wind Noise on Hearing Aids

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I have no gain on my right size below 250 htz but still struggle with wind noise.

Is that because it’s a simple fact, that it’s a microphone, so it’ll always have problems.

I wonder because TV presenters use different microphones in high wind, like the photo below.

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Think my only solution is to use Ear Gear but then I struggle to hit the program button when needed.

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Edited

@sterei : We have strict hemet laws in Canada.

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I was given EarGear by VAC. I didn’t think I’d get on with them, but they’re practical and effective, actually. The only complaint I have is that the spandex material that covers the elastic retainer cords unraveled down to the latex core, first day out.

To EarGear’s credit, they sent out a new pair by mail - I had them within a week. They protect the , let the sound through, and are thin enough to permit the buttons to be felt by the fingers.

@SpudGunner :joy:
My motorbike days are long since gone! I didn’t need yet back then…
But im sure the balaclava helps as well! Anyway, is the wind a problem with an integral helmet?
Nowadays I’m more a bicycle rider. With bicycle helmet of course. And the head band works.

@Zebras said:

I have no gain on my right size below 250 htz but still struggle with wind noise.

Maybe you’re hearing the higher frequency harmonics generated by wind noise:

Pitched musical instruments are often based on an acoustic resonator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous modes1 simultaneously. At the frequencies of each vibrating mode, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling each other to form standing waves. Interaction with the surrounding air causes audible sound waves, which travel away from the instrument. Because of the typical spacing of the resonances, these frequencies are mostly limited to integer multiples, or [harmonics](https://en.w
Harmonic - Wikipedia), of the lowest frequency, and such multiples form the harmonic series.

Source: Harmonic series (music) - Wikipedia

I don’t know how Phonak does it but ReSound says the “Outdoors” program is most effective for wind noise and if you are in the more general “All-Around” program intended for speech indoors or any other programs you won’t do as well in wind noise. Are you switching to a Phonak wind noise specific program? Maybe the problem is using Autosense with Wind Block thrown in on top of that and somehow Autosense is messing things up? For ReSound with the omnidirectional settings for Outdoors, ReSound’s recognition and suppression technology (when last I checked) relied on the noise being heard differently in one ear than the other, the ’s looking for this ear-to-ear noise variation, and preferential suppressing that, particularly if it were in the low-frequency range that you cite. I recall the ReSound explanation noting that other HA OEMs may use different methods but if any settings like ReSound’s were available to put into a manual Phonak program, maybe (in my ignorance) that might help.

just some observations…
the oticon trial pair I had at first was wonderful in wind. However she had them configured there would be hardly ever even a peep of it even in strong wind. I even purposely tried to get the wind noise…The very few times I did get some it was only a brief pulse and it would be squelched out…
With my phonaks, she has adjusted some settings on more than one occasion when I complained…made it a lot better, and not much of a problem…but I get the wind noise in almost any breeze
so
I recon there’s a lot to do with this in the programming and it varies from brand to brand

I don’t really have a wind noise problem with my phonaks. Most hearing aids can be adjusted to reduce wind noise by the audilogist or fitter. I mean there’s always the possibility that you will still hear wind noise in certain situations. But I remember years ago wind noise was a major problem and it’s nothing like that now. But I can’t comment on wind noise on a bike or a motorcycle but wouldn’t be surprised if it was a major problem. I don’t know of any kind of hearing aid shield that would further reduce wind noise. Sorry

I have the Widex Evoke and they’re good at reducing consistent wind noise. If the wind is gusting from all different directions, they just can’t react in time. It’s like the way noise cancelling headphones work. They’re good at consistent sounds like airplane engine noise or anything repetitive and predictable.
So, if you were on a boat or in a place where the wind was coming in all directions or really gusting, it’s a good idea to wear a knitted cap to cover them as your wind guard.

On my Siemens Pure Binax 7 BX:
I have a program that is I set to “Universal” with half gain. When the wind is blowing, I go to Universal Half Gain. This cuts the wind noise in half. When I need to talk with someone, I can switch back to Universal Full Gain. I found that the “Windscreen” setting does absolutely nothing.

In reply to @sterei

I have just started a trial of Phonak Audeo Paradise P90 with 312 batteries. During programming, the audiologist showed me a “Wind noise” setting which he set to “moderate” and asked me to test it. What is the trade-off when using this setting? It is not a pre-set program, which can be turned off. Does it override Autosense and just decrease volume with the consequential loss in speech volume? Will an increased “wind noise reduction” permanently reduce our speech understanding capability with Autosense? I have tried a “speech in loud noise” program in a restaurant in the past and there was no way the system recognised the difference between speech and noise. All it seemed to do was cut down the volume of the noise and the speech.

With Autosense, the automatically decides which of the internal programs is best suited for the current listening situation. Quiet, speech in loud noise, music, comfort in echo, etc.
For each of these programs, the hearing care professional can adjust the setting for the wind block. This can also be pre-programmed individually for the programs that you can manually select using the buttons on your HA (long press up).
Personally, I didn’t find the wind block on the P90s to be really effective. And I felt that speech intelligibility suffered as a result. So I reduced it to a lower value.
Speech in loud noise: The HA doesn’t really suppress the noise while preserving speech. This is what we all want, but is not really possible (yet).
In this program, the HA system uses its 4 microphones to practically form a directional microphone. The noise from your back is reduced as much as possible.

I will say with the jabras (Resound ones) the wind noise reduction is amazing. I just hear wind… No static or that wind across mic sound. I am very happy with it since I walk in the wind regularly.

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