What? I can't hear you.....

....is what I often said to my Darlin' as we were watching TV.
Not only that, I also missed a lot of the dialogue in movies, and I then had to say "What did they say?".

Any of us who served in the military, worked on gun ranges, or in heavy industry knows the problem and while most of us live with hearing loss, we often forget how it affects our others.

Understandably this caused friction, especially if we both want to watch and enjoy a good movie, so I tried Bluetooth headphones.

That was great, I could hear everything pretty well, but it cut me off from the world, and isolated me from my Darlin' on the couch next to me.

I then tried bone conduction headphones (Aftershokz) a few years ago and found them to be great. The open ear design and bone conduction enabled me to hear clearly my Darlin' asking me if I'd like a wee dram (of course I said yes), and at the same time, hear the voice of the actor on the screen "Do you feel lucky punk?".

After a while, the old Aftershokz started to get flakey, so today my new TV hearing devices arrived.



First impressions?

Excellent! Much lighter, longer endurance, able to connect to multiple sources, can select standard or voice enhance mode.

So far they are the perfect solution for my hearing problem.

Just thought I'd post it up in case any of you aren't needing full on hearing aids just yet.

Good solution. Hearing loss seems to increase the risk of dementia, so mitigating it is important!

....is what I often said to my Darlin' as we were watching TV.
Not only that, I also missed a lot of the dialogue in movies, and I then had to say "What did they say?".


Now what was I doing again, hmmmmmmm...........

😉

What did you say the name was of the ones that stop you hearing everyone else in the room!?

😁

They were Bose noise cancelling full headphones.
I have an old pair if yo need them.

It’s actually pretty amazing just how many people are at risk of hearing loss due to low quality earbuds and headphones on the market today. Apple’s AirPods when paired with iPhone track your volume over time and give you warnings often if you’re consistently doing damage, yet kids just keep doing it. My grandfather was an audiophile and ATC so he instilled at an early age the importance of isolation and quality over sheer volume and it worked for him, he was well into his 80s with perfect hearing because he took care of it.

I think the issue will only get worse in the coming years.
My hearing was destroyed by gunfire/explosions/machinery rooms/jet engines etc in the 1960s/1970s when our government issued hearing protectors were basically shit.

The number of kids I see these days with buds or headphones going loud enough so that even I can hear them from two metres away is scary for somebody who knows how hearing damage can affect their lives, but who can tell kids these days.

Ha thanks, but they’ll just find other ways to get my attention!
Seriously though, congrats on finding a setup that improves matters for you. I’m relatively young still but can’t imagine how hearing loss must impact overall day to day life.
My Nan was deaf (I’m sure it was a result of TB drugs in the 50’s) and I could see how she kinda felt like she was missing out on the grandkids when all she had was the basic analogue assistance they had in the 80’s.

Just keep in mind that there is a big difference between hearing loss and marital deafness. The latter tends to affect couples who have been together for decades but who otherwise have perfect hearing. 😁

How do hearing aid batteries compare to other batteries?

They produce a lower number of whats.

I must look into these! Thanks!

I received my first drum kit on my 10th birthday, started playing in bands at 17, and waited until I was over 40 before wearing hearing protection. Admittedly - and yes, foolishly - I still play the odd live gig without my ear molds as I prefer the sound. Daft as hell, I know. I’m now 61, and my wife often questions my TV volume choices. My right ear is worse, the proximity victim of decades of snare hits and cymbal crashes; it rings incessantly. Tinnitus is my cross to bear now. Apparently, I’ve sanded-off the ability for my ears to pick up the highest frequency ranges. C’est la vie.

Coincidentally, The NYT featured a piece on the crap sound quality of shows delivered via streaming services. It’s certainly worse for those of us who suffer from damaged hearing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/...btitles-streaming-shows-speech-enhancers.html

Yes, I started riding motorcycles and drumming with Sonic Filters (not a name brand but a style of earplug that cut dangerous levels of noise but allow you to hear other things) years ago after I couldn't hear after several shows and even several riding sessions (shooting too but the gun muffs are solid). Still, I do find myself not being able to hear stuff these days if multiple things are going on, captioning, yes please! Worse is so many shows aren't equalized so there are LOUD EXPLOSIONS and then quiet dialog, so when you turn up the dialog, the loud shit shakes the house and you have to dive for the remote again.

But i might look into something like this myself. Thanks for sharing.

So nice, you posted it twice 😀

A good reminder to wear hearing protection as much as possible. I have a big box of earplugs I mainly use for running lawn equipment and for motorcycling. The constant wind noise from riding a motorcycle will destroy your hearing and lead to tinnitus but most don’t wear earplugs. Never mind the straight piped Harley guys blaring the stereo at the same time. 😗

My father-in-law has really bad tinnitus and has now all but lost his hearing. It's hard for him and everyone around him. The only way to communicate with him is to text him or use speech-to-text on a phone notepad. The isolation is not good for mental health and his cognitive abilities have noticeably declined. I need to read more about the link between hearing loss and dementia but it anecdotally seems to be true.

Some of it may be genetic.

My dad was in the army and has hearing aids from a government sponsored program. At 91 he also does a lot of texting with his grandchildren.

Both of his sisters who lived into their 90s had hearing loss. One sister will be 99 in a few weeks. We rarely visit her in the assisted care facility as it is so hard for her to follow the conversation.

I had a friend (my watch mentor.) who had advanced dementia in the end. He did not really seem to have hearing loss. On the other hand one other freind would say that "John was not at home in his mind, although his body was present." He tended to watch the same TV programs over and over. He would also repeat the same (somewhat interesting stories like how TV was invented by his boss.) over and over again.

My Mom on the other hand has been part of a decades long university study on age related cognizance. Which make me wonder how much of this is self fulfilling. Mom's aunt is 105 and mom showed me text yesterday of her going about her daily activities without assistance.

So there is no really any one size fits all statistical solution to this.

The flyback transformers of computer monitors used to really annoy me. I think they cut a notch at that frequency as now I sometimes have tinnitus at that pitch. The pipe organs do not probably help. Especially at the higher frequency which can be quite cutting and can ring in the ear for a few minutes afterwards.

Also notice I am leaving the subtitles on more often than not. There was an article on this in the paper. Streaming compresses the dynamic range, which was mixed for a theater at -60db. Which is way to loud for a living room. I notice this with my DVDs and bluRay which have the full AC-3 tracks. VHS tapes had no mixdown. No digital, pure analog. Nothing will ever come close to the sound quality of those. (Or the visits from the constabulary late at night.) "We could here it quite clearly in the intersection."

The built in apps on the TV will pass through the AC-3. The downloaded apps do not. (they tell you to upgrade to dolby atmos.)

Old age, it is not for the young.

Well, since you brought it up, I'll share.



Just got these after being diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss. Similar story, ran a firing range as a training NCO but most likely due to years of home construction, rock n roll and just getting hold.

Regardless of the reason, they help. The first time I wore them i couldn't believe how loud my footsteps were. Seriously. They don't help with my tinnitus, but speech is sharper and more distinguisable.

We're lucky to have modern technology. These charge up nightly like ear buds, are light and practically invisible. They also work as music ear buds with music and podcasts, and have an application to adjust settings.

What tipped the scale from stubbornness to recognizing I needed to get tested was one event in a restaurant. I always had a little difficulty distinguishing speech in crowded areas, but this time I couldn't hear the waiter, who i thought was speaking softly. My wife heard him fine.

If you think you might need help hearing, it's worth getting checked out.

Yep, it was in response to the previous comment. I've tidied it up for you 👍.

Few weeks ago, my buddy and I are down in my basement putting my new vintage (ish) stereo through its paces. My son came down and said, “ clearly my hearing loss is not as advanced as yours “ and went back upstairs.

My grandfather used to take out his hearing aid when my grandmother started complaining

Ha! Good one, I was slow on the uptake.