# What's a hearing aid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740 "2023-07-07T20:28:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/1 "2023-07-07T20:28:41Z")
Nano Hearing Aids say their product is ‘a TRUE hearing aid, NOT just an amplifier.’ I thought hearing aids _are_ amplifiers. If they’re not, then what are they? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/2 "2023-07-07T20:31:09Z")
Hearing aids can be tuned to the specific frequencies that the patient has trouble with. > **[Guide to Hearing Aid Adjustment and Fine-tuning | Lexie Hearing](https://lexiehearing.com/us/library/what-does-it-mean-to-fine-tune-a-hearing-aid)** > > Guide to Hearing Aid Adjustment and Fine-tuning Hearing aid adjustment is crucial to ensuring... ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/3 "2023-07-07T20:57:03Z")
> To fine-tune a hearing aid is the process by which a hearing healthcare professional can physically make adjustments to the way that a [hearing aid is amplifying sound](https://lexiehearing.com/us/lexie-lumen-hearing-aid.html) at different frequencies. OK, so it _is_ and amplifier; albeit one where discrete frequency ranges can be amplified selectively. But then they imply that $5,000 ‘hearing aids’ are just non-selective amplifiers. (See, this is what happens when you have the TV on for background noise.) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/4 "2023-07-07T21:04:13Z")
So basically an amp with an equalizer… The distinction is they used to have to be prescribed, then bought through and adjusted by a profe$$ional. Now you can buy them over the counter and use something like an app to fine-tune them. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/5 "2023-07-07T22:01:15Z")
They claim to include both directional and non-directional microphones with logic to use what is best. My hearing aids are about seven years old, and newer may be better. But I do not notice that fancy stuff working very well. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/6 "2023-07-07T22:13:32Z")
So just to analogize, since I don’t use hearing aids but at my age I now have to use glasses at times, most hearing aids are the audio equivalent of reading glasses. Reading glasses just magnify what you’re reading to make it easier to read, and hearing aids just amplify the sound coming to you. However, you can go to an optometrist and get prescription lenses that are custom made for your particular visual problems, not just a pair of generic magnification lenses. Similarly, you can go to an audiologist and get custom hearing aids made to help correct the particular hearing issues you have. Am I gathering this right, or am I way off-base? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/7 "2023-07-07T22:13:59Z")
Mine are amps that have been specially tailored to my hearing range and problems. (Without 'em I can’t tell a ‘p’ from a ‘t’ for instance.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/8 "2023-07-07T22:40:48Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > However, you can go to an optometrist and get prescription lenses that are custom made for your particular visual problems, not just a pair of generic magnification lenses. Similarly, you can go to an audiologist and get custom hearing aids made to help correct the particular hearing issues you have. > > Am I gathering this right, or am I way off-base? Sort of… But while most visual deficiencies can be corrected to 20/20 (that is, normal) with prescription lenses hearing aids do not, can not, restore hearing to normal. They can _improve_ one’s ability to perceive/understand some frequencies, but when the little hairs in your cochlea die that’s it, that part of your hearing is not coming back. Hearing aids can often help, but they don’t restore your perceptions nearly to the extent corrective lenses for your eyes do. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/9 "2023-07-07T23:11:10Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Hearing aids can often help, but they don’t restore your perceptions nearly to the extent corrective lenses for your eyes do. Thank you, that’s very helpful. I really don’t know much of anything about hearing aids (yet, knock on wood), and that makes a lot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/10 "2023-07-08T13:09:17Z")
It’s an amplifier, but it’s not just an amplifier. It’s an amplifier with other stuff as well. Contrast this with a simple device that just amplifies everything equally, which might help some, but not as much. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/11 "2023-07-09T04:05:23Z")
My sister’s aids can lower the frequency of what she hears into a range she can still hear. She’s says it makes people sound like transformers with that feature enabled. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/12 "2023-07-09T05:08:39Z")
I wear hearing aids (HAs) to help cope with a congenital sensorineural hearing loss. My loss is centered on the higher audio frequencies so my HAs were tuned by my audiologist to best address that loss. My perception of sound when wearing them is that everything sounds crispier and nearer to me than when I’m not wearing them. My HAs have multiple microphones and are designed to collect the sound in front of me, so I have an easier time hearing whatever my head is pointed at. They also have other features like attenuating background noise so that I can hear human speech better. Like someone else said, HAs can’t really restore normal hearing. The next best thing they can do is make it easier to understand what people are saying to you. ---
**Author:** ![Snipe70e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Snipe70e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snipe70e)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/13 "2023-07-09T05:21:19Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > They claim to include both directional and non-directional microphones with logic to use what is best. > > My hearing aids are about seven years old, and newer may be better. But I do not notice that fancy stuff working very well. My new hearing aids do help greatly with directional sound. When I was at the hearing aid place he had me walk outside to see what sound would be like in the real world. I stepped outside and two stores down was a grocery store with someone pushing a shopping cart to their car. The 1st thing I noticed was that the sound was comming from my right at about a 30 degree angle. With my older hearing aids or with out hearing aids I could never tell which direction the sounds were coming from. That one feature sold me on new hearing aids. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-hearing-aid/986740/14 "2023-07-09T12:16:49Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > My sister’s aids can lower the frequency of what she hears into a range she can still hear. That is interesting. I had always thought this was a reasonable tactic - given enough processing power in a very tiny device. I wonder what music sounds like. A drop of an octave should be a happy step - and has the advantage of being easy from a processing point of view. Other transpositions would need a bit more care. What has been in the back of my mind is very selective transposition of frequency bands - trying to take critical bands for comprehension and moving them into bands where there is still reasonable hearing. Initially it could be a really nasty mess, but the plasticity of our brains can do some pretty interesting things - and maybe someone with even a quite serious deficit could be able to learn to comprehend speech again. Might be hard to fix the robotic voices however.