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Dedicated Music Program: Lowering Compression Ratios/Manipulating Gain Handles

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So, I’ve gotten a handle on understanding most of the things that I need to optimize my hearing aids for music listening:

  1. proper venting,
  2. a dedicated music program with,
  3. noise management turned off,
  4. feedback management turned off, and
  5. mic set to omni directional.

But I still would like some more insight into

6. lowering compression ratios by altering gain handles and possibly
7. raising .

So far I understand that Compression Ratios (CR) closer towards 2.0 (e.g. 1.7, 1.8, 1.9) and higher indicate a very high compression ratio. This is undesirable for music when someone wants a cleaner more natural and linear sound. If I am correct, usually G50 and G80 are altered to bring the compression ratio closer towards 1.0? On different hearing aids I’ve tried it has worked differently. Bringing G50 up and G80 down (so that the top line and bottom line are closer together) has reduced the CR. However, on a different pair I’ve tried programming bringing these lines further away from each other (the opposite) has brought down the CR.

How do you even know ultimately which handle to manipulate and in which direction? You can move G80, 50, or even 65 up or down multiple steps, but are there any sound principles for determining what to manipulate and by how much?

I don’t have an answer but I would say that adjusting gain at G50 or G65 or G80 has enabled me to find the sweet spot for my music listening. Live testing gain levels has been the best method that I have found. Compression takes care of itself.

I just checked the compression rates on my music program. The lower frequencies range from 1.1 to 1.4 (250hz to 1khz). Higher frequencies are between 1.7 and 1.9 and slightly lower for 6khz and 8khz. Not sure what this shows other than compression rate seems to map onto my hearing loss. I am happy with music listening with these settings. Not sure that I would be happier if compression rates were lower.

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