I have hearing loss from playing drums in jazz/blues/rock bands for too many years, plus age-related degeneration as well. Most problems are with speech and higher frequencies. Female voices worse than male. In speech it manifest as high frequency loss, which is where consonants live and consonants differentiate words not vowels. That's why speech is so difficult for folks with hearing loss. Regarding music, I can no longer hear a triangle in a performance. On recordings, piano and guitar sound more congested and compressed than other instruments, and they're some of hardest to record anyway. Remarkable difference listening to music with and without hearing aides. But is that good? Am I hearing the real sound with the aides? It's a microphone, digital amplifier, and speaker. Must effect the sound of the music and color it, right? It amplifies music, and they're programmed to amplify the frequencies of my loss, but in effect its additional audio equipment in the stream leading up to me hearing the music. It's not exactly like an equalizer because aides are their own self-contained audio system that is regenerating what you put through your amp/ TT/DAC/speakers. Listening to a Rega Elex-R integrated right now, and without aides it sounds good. With aides a bit unnatural. Louder for sure. I'm turning them down a few notches and not inserting fully in ear canal in order to get some natural sound, too. With PS NewClassic components the music without the aides was more compressed than with the Rega. I'm not sure I need as much of the aides with the Rega. One of reasons I chose Elex was in reviews it was bright, forward, and lively. Maybe that's why it does better job than the PS NewClassic components. Better than a Rega Brio and Cambridge CX80, too. But, purpose here is not to debate merits of amps, but to solicit opinions and experiences of others with hearing loss and how they use or don't use aides, and what amps they found work best for them without aides.
Hearing aids vary a lot in their design and quality. There are some which claim to have circuitry for listening to music in different environments (eg. live or reproduced). Reading various discussions on the topic over the years in different forums suggest that some people prefer listening to music with their aids, and other people prefer without. Ultimately, with hearing loss it's about enjoying what you have left to use.
Headphones/ear buds with eq is the way to go. Get your audiogram. EQ to recover ½ to ⅓ of your decrease at each frequency. You'll be able to hear triangles on recordings again, but the overall presentation will be "tinny" at first. After all, you've been gradually losing those highs over a long period. Getting them back suddenly is a shock to your brain. Stick with it for a while, and the sound will become balanced again. In fact, after a period of time, switching the eq off will make the sound insanely muddy. The quick and easy way to experiment with this is by using the eq in iTunes on a Mac. Be aware of the effect of the equal loudness curves. Even with some high frequency boost, the triangles may be faint until you increase the volume quite a bit. This may tempt you to listen to excessively loud music, which isn't the greatest idea with phones or buds. You'd be better increasing the percentage of your correction. Spare other inhabitants of the house from boosted trebly music coming from your speakers for your benefit.
I just got aids because I was having trouble with anything more than a couple feet away, not for the basic sound, but to clarify conversations, TV, etc. Still getting used to them. Headphones/buds in my ears haven't been a problem (touch wood I've done very light EQ tweaks at the appropriate frequencies. Those adjustments were based on how I heard a tone sweep, but they were verified when I got my audiogram for the aids. Once or twice I forgot to take the aids off when I put on the headphones; the sound was not good.
I've been forced to wear Hearing Aids for over 15 years. Early on I was able to just remove them and adjust the volume accordingly. But as years have passed that approach no longer works. I need to have a "warm" sounding system in order to offset the digital tone of the Aids. It's a difficult task at times, but we all do what we have to do. I'm going to replace the Aids in the next year or so, I'll be looking for something of a little better quality and 'Music Friendly'. Maybe something like this The Widex Moment Hearing Aid That Doesn’t Sound Like A Hearing Aid
Interesting topic! I would like to know what brands of hearing aids if any are better for music. Or what brands to avoid. I have tinnitus and would also like to know if hearing aids are of any benefit for that as well. It sure sucks getting older!
Widex used to be the "go to" brand for music lovers. Nowadays many of the major brands have caught up. I wore Widex for 4 years and changed to Phonak at the beginning of this year. The music program is very good, a huge step forward from Widex of 4 years past. It's sweet and fullsome with real timbre for instruments and vocals without any distortion, even at high volume. My hearing loss allows me to have vented domes which means I can still hear natural bass notes without amplification. I can highly recommend Phonak P90 for music, though I'm not that impressed with them for speech recognition and so called intelligence at adapting to changing environments.
Folks with hearing aids want to think that they are still listening to their expensive speakers. But that time has passed. To regain natural balanced sound, you'll have to listen to speakers that sit in, or very close to your ears. For music, you'll get better variety and value by going the ear bud/headphone route.
In the same boat here. I’ll be hoping to find something local for aids; I don’t have a big comfort level spending upwards of 2K online for something that seems to need so much personal tuning for maximum benefit. Mine is a tinnitus/clarity situation as well.
Interesting topic, and one I'll be following with interest. I have had a hearing loss since birth, so in many ways I'm unaware of what a true audiophile sound could be. I have just begun to delve into the world of improving my audio equipment to be able to listen to music at a higher quality. I have already noticed a difference simply by ripping my CDs to FLAC and listening to them on a Sony NW-A55 though my Bose Comfort 25 headphones. I realise that those headphones are not exactly audiophile, but they I've used them comfortably for 5 years as they fit over my hearing aids and the noice cancelling is great for leaving me with just the sound of the music. It has been fun to re-listen to some of my favourite albums and notice some more nuance in the sound than I have been able to get through mp3 files and Spotify over the years.
I think it's important to understand the path the music goes through if one decides to use hearing aids for listening to recorded music at home. With hearing aids: source - amplification - speakers - through the air and bouncing around everything in the room - into your outer ear (which will vary where and how you're sitting) - into the hearing aid - eq applied through a tiny device with minimal options and flexibility - another miniaturized amplifier - hearing aid speaker - inner ear - brain With ear buds, iems, or headphones: source - eq with limitless flexibility and options - headphone amp - huge variety of less expensive ear buds, iems and headphones, no appointment required - inner ear - brain
I have some hearing aids, they are uncomfortable to put it mildly. When listening to music they work okay. I found that the Schiit Loki helped a bit, even with out the hearing aids. Now I have the Loki feeding my speakers and my headphone amp. That way if there is something I want to listen to critically I can do it with the headphones. When I listen to music via my speakers, I don't have to turn it up too loud. Since the Loki is passive I can play music with no correction for others who do not require equalization. May not be perfect , but 4k hearing aids are not in my future. I will say that people wearing masks due to Covid impacts my hearing, making lip reading impossible. Struggles, I know.
That's how I feel. With HA I'm not listening to my Wharfedale Linton's anymore: I'm listening via a teeny tiny speaker the size of a sesame seed or smaller, outputting a digitally processed sound via a teeny tiny amplifier that took sound in from a teeny tiny microphone. I have hearing aides but I'm not fooling myself I'm not listening to my expensive audiophile system when using them. I did get some good suggestions via messages for new HA, since mine are 6+ years old. And looks like prices are about half of what they used to be. So that's a good thing. But for music I remain unconvinced. We in this hobby obsess over things like even capacitance of cables. HA take all of that and throw it out the window and reprocess what you spent all that money for. HA sound is digital, so all that time and effort in building a nice Class A or A/B system and the money is wasted with hearing aides in your ears. I remain unconvinced, and I wear them.
Turning volume up doesn't eliminate problem with piano and voice and to some extent guitar (think Joe Pass sound) sounding congested and compacted with hearing loss. HA's help a bit with that, but it then starts to sound artificial with them I'm not listening to my Linton's anymore I'm listening to my aides. I did get good suggestion to update my 6+ year old units, but not sure I'll depend on them for music.
Ya'll might consider these from Jabra. I'm keeping my eyes on them and will be considering auditioning them when I decide to step up and purchase hearing aids. Enhance the sound. Not the noise.
here's my experience - after several years with tinnitus I finally went to see an audiologist and had my hearing tested and hearing aids supplied. but, you get what you pay for and a good pair that has good processing are not cheap. but, they can adjust the aids to compensate for the frequencies you are missing as well as compensate for the tinnitus so it is greatly reduced. I currently have a pair Phonak aids and I am very happy. don't know if music sounds like it did when I was 20 and know the music if likely 'digital' because of the processing but it sounds pretty great to me and I am really happy to enjoy music again. The aids pair with your phone via Bluetooth and have an app to adjust to certain circumstances/environments. If you have a good audiologist he can tweak and tailor to your preference and even create custom setting for your aids that you can access through the app. side benefit, you can answer you phone and talk directly through the aids and I can walk to dog and listen to audiobooks streamed from my phone. Even if you decide to not use them for music, if you suffer from hearing loss, you should consider getting your hearing tested and giving them a try. It really does improve quality of life, IMO.
I have several comments related to multiple posts here, in no particular order. Where to get hearing aids? Costco! Tremendously cheaper than a private audiologist or hearing aid chain for quality custom fit devices. Not all Costcos having hearing centers. Some of us only need a hearing aid in one ear, so headphone listening sucks. Plus, I don't want to tune out from my wife while listening to music. The same applies to blasting the volume through speakers. Both are pretty antisocial towards cohabitants. Some aids allow ambient noise to pass around a small speaker, others see a custom ear mold that blocks sound other than that through the hearing aid speaker. Everybody's hearing loss is different, but if you have the option, go for the type that allows ambient noise to pass through. With those types, the aid supplements your nice speakers, instead of replacing them. Plenty of hearing aids allow bluetooth streaming to them. Tinnitus? Yes, hearing aids MAY help. What also may help is making sure you don't have a high sodium diet, or uncontrolled high blood sugar. I just had a piece of birthday cake (not mine) a while ago and my ears are ringing like crazy tonight. Luckily I have one good ear, so I can hear natural tonal response (for a 64 year old), and I can still hear the differences between CD and higher res music. I know my quality listening days will be shorter than my lifespan, so I appreciate what I can hear now, and try to protect my hearing with noise cancelling headphones on the lawnmower or snow blower, and I avoid loud concerts/bars.
After dealing with denial about my hearing loss and tinnitus for about 3 years I finally got aids. I’ve only had them about a month, so I’m still getting used to them. I’m hearing a bit better, but apparently I have some damage that causes distortion of some frequencies. Not a lot of improvement over what I was already hearing music wise. I will recommend that anyone who has the screaming high frequency version of tinnitus can see benefit of wearing hearing aids. When they’re in the screaming is gone. For that alone for me they’re worth the money.
Really bad idea for getting good sound quality. You essentially have multiple drivers with no crossover network.
Why settle for medical grade when you can have audiophile grade with an amp, proper eq, and headphones, or iems?
