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Analogs vs Digitals

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Believe it or not I still wear Phonak Analog hearing aids, I have done for 30 years, I had gradual loss of hearing, now have around 70% hearing loss, but these hearing aids have been the best, they work fine. But I know I’m nearing time that they’ll break, just to be prepared. I am going to see my audiologist soon, I have avoided the topic of “digital hearing aids” for over 12 years, I was excited when I first went to try them, but came out of the appointment heartbroken and disappointed when I first tried them, because everyone sounded robotic, the sounds that was close to me yet sounded very far away, just bizarre, I’m used to loud and everything the same. I don’t understand why they can’t programme to behave same way as analogs. I won’t be patronised by audiologists to “get used to it, as I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t in our shoes

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@Sash88uk said:

I don’t understand why they can’t programme to behave same way as analogs.

To my knowledge, Phonak digital hearing aids can be set to linear or semilinear mode.

@Sash88uk said:

I won’t be patronised by audiologists to “get used to it, as I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t in our shoes

One reason digital hearing aids are better is that they are safer regarding noise exposure. It isn’t patronising, it’s about offering the best available options, considering adjusting to hearing loss, programmability, antinoise features. However, I understand that it’s very difficult to break off from longterm habits.

In reply to @Bimodal_user

I guess it’s the way my audiologist came across and I kept describing the sound etc, but he wasn’t listening or having any of it, think they wanted to move on to the next patient, I understand I’m difficult, but that’s because it’s all I’ve heard this way and don’t like change or adjust well to change either, I hear similar to normal people because my hearing gradually went, so i wasn’t born deaf and is familiar with sound and what it sounds like.

I remember back when I first transitioned from analog to digital aids. I was frustrated too. After time, I think my ears/brain adjusted. I have to imagine the same scenario occurred after semiconductors were developed. Even though I cannot tell the difference, but some prefer the sound from a vaccuum tube amplifier as opposed to a solid state amplifier.

Edited
@aferack said:

Even though I cannot tell the difference, but some prefer the sound from a vaccuum tube amplifier as opposed to a solid state amplifier.

I wonder what would happen if someone conducted a double-blind study comparing vacuum tube amplifiers and solid-state amplifiers. I quite like the double-blind “Diet Coke vs. sugared Coke” study.

@Sash88uk said:

but he wasn’t listening or having any of it, think they wanted to move on to the next patient, I understand I’m difficult

Yes, if I were you, I would also find that circumstance frustrating. Like with , transitioning from analogs requires more counseling. I think also much audiologist don’t have experiences with analogs, so they’re not comfortable talking about it, because is little benefit from time-consuming learning about old technology.

@Sash88uk said:

I hear similar to normal people b

Wow, that’s good, I really wonder what your and results in quiet are.

@user490 said:

How does thay work? The setting bypasses the digital signal processing? Do other brands offer that as well?

I don’t have much knowledge about it. But IIRC, it’s e.g. simply 10 more input to microphones —》10dB more gain from output, not for example, 5 dB in 2:1 compression ratio.

Other brands should also have that feature.

My audiologist are still the same ones from when I was younger from wearing analogs, so this is what frustrates me a little as they have experience with old hearing aids and the new version, I just feel they don’t want to deal with someone difficult and want me to just get on with it, but I know they aren’t right for me and the sounds are strange, for example sounds that are close to me sounds like miles away, the distance of the sounds is just bizarre and my family/friends don’t sound the same, sound robotic.

No, not really. There’s very few benefits and very few options available in terms of Analogue.

The only real advantage could be for someone singing or playing a musical instrument where they needed very faithful reproduction of a louder music signal that wasn’t afforded by the music mode of a digital aid.

In reply to @raylock1

I’m not experienced with other aids. I’ve literally only ever in my 30 years of wearing hearing aids, just worn Phonak Analogue, so I want something very similar and linear.

Addendum to this, I had a patient once who has wearing old analogue hearing aids and was convinced that digital wouldn’t work for her. They all “sounded wrong” and she had a hard time describing in what way. It turned out that the response of her old hearing aids was just weird and peaky in a way that no clinician would ever purposefully program and she’d gotten used to that. I adjusted her new hearing aids to be weird and peaky, and she left happy.

In reply to @Sash88uk

I would suggest that you try one or more aids out. Where people come from analogue and dislike the ‘decision making’ of digital noise reduction, I have defaulted the #1 program to ‘Music’ and work away from there.

The other option is that you get the Audiologist to create a ‘map’ of your old aid’s function and then re-do the REM while adjusting the new aid to emulate the same response.

(Or test box it like Neville said)

Yes the noise reduction was an uncomfortable one for me as I felt like I was drowning and isolated because I couldn’t hear much going on in the background, they thought this was a great feature as it meant just hearing the person in front of me, I didn’t like this, I like to hear everything around me, so they didn’t sell this digital aid to me very well, left very upset and didn’t go back for some time.

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