I’m hard of hearing and have purchased a pair of hearing aids to help me hear better. My hearing loss is only related to high frequency sounds. That means we can’t just amplify all sounds to improve my hearing, because that would amplify sounds I have no difficulty hearing.
My audiologist has to amplify only the sounds I have trouble hearing. This is more difficult than it seems because hearing isn’t purely mechanical. The brain has a lot of influence over which sounds to focus on, and therefore over which sounds I hear clearly.
Tests to check the quality of hearing aids after they have been programmed are largely ineffective because each individual’s brain processes sound differently. What most audiologists do is trial and error. I have to come in for an adjustment, go out in to the world, and then come back if there are any problems.
This is where the podcasts come in. I want a collection of podcasts that will serve as my hearing test so that I can reduce the number of times I visit my audiologist. Therefore, I need podcasts with high frequency voices. I have only a vague idea of what high frequency voices sound like, but I am told that soft female voices are high frequency. If anyone knows podcasts run by soft spoken females, or any soft spoken voices in general, it would be really helpful.
**TLDR: I’m looking for podcasts with soft spoken female voices, or any soft spoken voices in general. **
I can’t help you with podcasts, but I do know of a site that lists relaxing youtube videos, most of which are relaxing female voices. Site is http://www.soothetube.com/
Try The Astronomy Cast – its regular contributing astronomer, Dr. Pamela Gay from Southern Illinois University, is very soft-spoken. Plus you get to learn neat astronomy facts!
It’s too bad we can’t just have a chat when you need to test your hearing aids. My father has the same kind of high frequency hearing loss. There were three things that he couldn’t hear: the turn signal in his car, the beep of the microwave, and my soft female voice. Now he has hearing aids that work really well for him, and he keeps telling me to “STOP YELLING!” when I talk to him, because I got into the habit over many years of him not being able to hear me.
Came in to mention the “How Stuff Works” women. And you can test your comprehension by seeing if the name “Deblina Chakraborty” gets stuck in your brain. She’s one of the hosts of “Stuff You Missed in History Class”. I fall asleep to that podcast, so I’d say it qualifies. AND you get to learn cool stuff!
I think the problem with “Fresh Air” would be that, while Terry Gross is mellow and fairly soft-spoken, I would put her speaking voice in the alto range. (She’s clearly worked at it; if you ever hear any of her early interviews, her voice is pitched much higher).
And I think that’s the problem. Generally, it seems like spoken word stuff seems to favor women with deeper voices. I can’t think of any woman in the podcasting/radio world with a high-pitched voice.