If you or somebody you know has some good advice about how to make home electronics work better for somebody with a significant hearing loss, help us out?
Mrs. Napier has typical age related loss and tinnitus for being 63, but she also has, on one side only, nearly complete loss of midrange frequency hearing. I’d have to check the frequencies but it’s something like 300 to 3000 Hz, and her hearing is practically immeasurable. I think the report just said a loss of more than 100 dB. This is a fairly unusual form of hearing loss, I think. She has a hearing aid. I understand what it does is strongly boost frequencies around the edges of the missing range, where she has some hearing but substantial loss. However this creates some weird distortions, of the sort they call “snare drum”, because it adds a kind of sizzling echoing effect like snares against a drumhead.
I have typical 58 year old loss and more than average tinnitus, but nothing especially pathological.
We just bought a new television set (see my exciting thread somewhere 'round here for that one) and now I’m figuring out how to improve on its brassy little speakers. Her biggest problem - in fact, mine too - is missing bits of dialog. We’re not watching exciting, boisterous stuff most of the time. We’re not watching music or gunfights. The problem is picking out the words against whatever else is in the background, especially when people have accents.
Would surround sound help? I understand they tend to focus dialog in one central speaker. Should we just try for two nice stereo speakers? Should we try to play with an equalizer? Any other thoughts? What has worked, and what has made it worse, for you (or whomever you know)?
Neither my wife nor I has significant hearing loss, but we’ve both struggled with dialog when watching movies on our TV at home. Getting a surround sound-enabled receiver and buying a center channel speaker has helped tremendously. You don’t need to have the full surround for that to be effective. We use a left and right speaker, a subwoofer and a center channel speaker. The center speaker cost about $40. But through the receiver, it allows us to independently control the level of the dialog, and that makes all the difference in the world for us.
I’m no audiophile, so I’m sure others with better advice will be along shortly, but I guess the short answer would be, there are ways to help.
I have high frequency hearing loss as well and I also struggle with the same problem. My hearing aids help with human sound, but they are not at all effective with sound coming from speakers.
I watch everything with subtitles. If there is a solution that involves better audio equipment, I haven’t found it yet.
I haven’t tried using a central channel speaker yet. Is that something I can add to my already existing set of left and right speakers?
A center channel speaker may help, but it probably won’t be enough of a help. I have a high quality surround system with a very large center channel speaker, but with my hearing loss, I almost always use subtitles.
I have a “com pilot” with my hearing aids. It is not convenient (on a loop around my neck) but it has an input for audio (the size on an iPhone) and the loop acts as an antenna broadcasting directly to my hearing aids. I’ve used this with the assist devices at a stage play and it helps. My problem is that when I plug something into my headphone output on my home theater, it cuts off the speakers. I’d like to keep those on for other family members.
First off, the speakers on most tv sets are an afterthought and generally crappy. The downside of getting a full surround system is that you will have 5 or 6 speakers to place and setup which can be a PITA if you’re not inclined that way.
A centre channel will help with dialog immensely but I would recommend a soundbar and sub combo as they are easy to set up, do a passable job in creating a good surround effect, and will help with the dialog immensely while not being overly obtrusive in the room.
My parents are in their late 80s and both wear hearing aids. What worked for both of them is the TV Ears – Mom likes the headphones, Dad won’t wear headphones but the TV Ears remote speaker solved the blaring television problem in the house.
The units have some sort of speech clarifying technology that seems to really work. It certainly works very for my parents.
Turn on the closed captions and subtitles. There is really nothing you can do to the sound system that will truly help moderate to severe hearing loss.