Hearing Informed

A typical earplug from Walgreen’s squelches so much sound that I don’t really enjoy concerts with them. Most earplugs are made of high density foam that muffle speech and music- they reduce sound more in the high frequencies (that I really need) than the mid and low frequencies, which makes the sound unnatural and unclear.

Hearing loss is a function of exposure time, average sound level, and the peak level of very loud sounds. To make things more complex- every person reacts a little differently to loud sounds and some people are more susceptible to hearing loss than others. However, most earplugs, when used for concerts, are overkill. They kill a lot more sound than necessary for hearing protection. The solution? I love my musicians earplugs from Etymotic Research. I can switch out little replacement buttons that change the amount of decibel protection to suit the situation. I find that the 25 decibel button works great for loud concerts and and I can hear a LOT more than I did with the typical store bought ones. The cost of $150 might be considered a bit steep- but its not all that much when you consider your protecting your hearing and having a great sound experience. Also- buying replaceable earplugs all the time will surely add up.

In the bay area I really appreciate the small concert halls that give a nice full sound without hurting my ears. My favorites: Yoshi’s in Oakland and San Francisco and The Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz.

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From the point of view of a hearing impaired person, the iPhone sucks. The features that would make the phone more accessible to the hearing impaired are within the internal chip’s capabilities but they have been purposely crippled by the software that runs the phone.

Paula Rosenthal at Hearing Exchange has this to say,

Apple’s new iPhone is not hearing aid compatible on microphone or telecoil settings. Complaints have been filed with the FCC because HLAA believes that Apple, when designing the phone, could have tested it for hearing aid compatibility implemented standards to make it accessible to hearing aid and cochlear implant users.

A hearing aid like Oticon’s Epoq is Bluetooth enabled: it’ll take sound from an MP3 player or phone (or both) and route the sound wirelessly right into the ears. No headphones, no interference, and because they are tailored to fit, they sound great too. However, Steve Jobs has decided to cripple the iphones nascent features so that the iPhone supports mono, call only Bluetooth. i am not part of the “i” in iPhone.

Thanks to David at Hearing Mojo for bringing this to my attention. Check out this forum discussion at MacRumors and go to the iPhone discussion area and tell them what you think. Also see this locked up thread at Apple’s iPhone discussion area.You can also call Apple’s PR Department at (408) 974-2042 or write Steve Jobs.

For the more technically inclined check out Live Journals “Hearing Aid Hacking”.

A new privately held, venture backed company named Insound Medical has developed a very interesting new “hearing solution” called the Lyric (its funny that they avoid “hearing aid” at all costs- most companies are doing this in one way or another). Developed by ENT physicians and audiologists, this new hearing aid rests very close to the tympanic membrane. No surgery is required for this invisible hearing aid. It’s placement minimizes occlusion (like talking inside of a barrel) and feedback. When the battery dies the device dies- usually about 120 days. The user can control the volume or turn it on and off via a magnetic adjustment tool. The Lyric can fit the ear canals of about 75% of the people out there.

Downsides to this hearing aid: these aids aren’t waterproof, limited frequency range and power, and the pricing information, which is really a subscription based fee, is opaque.

Things I like:

1) invisible hearing device

2)minimizes the effect of sounding like I’m “talking inside of a barrel”

3)new, creative idea from a small company when consolidation seems to be the trend.

4)built with lots of input from hearing impaired users. The device uses analog sound which might prove itself over digital.

5)uses your own ear to naturally draw the sound toward the hearing aid

Who can Wear Lyric?