Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#121

Post by dmcc7897 » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:39 PM UTC

nickf wrote: post #109

dmcc7897 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, it looks as though they’re going to be releasing a smart charger which is slimmer and only contains one full charges worth of capacity. I can’t find much information on it just yet though.

That's interesting - thank you! Can I ask where you saw the (limited) information? Hearingtracker forum seems devoid of info on the Zeal and accessories (likely due to the limited fitting range) - but I'd be curious if Oticon are planning a smaller, lower-capacity charger!

https://www.hearingnow.co.uk/product-page/oticon-zeal-smartc...

Seems like a holding page for now though!

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#122

Post by lfowles » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:41 PM UTC

Semaphor wrote: post #18

I’ll chime in with a sidebar: Anyone got any experience using hearing aids for the "hearing in noise" issue (aka. King-Kopetzky syndrome or lack of cocktail party effect [0], part of a whole bunch of things also called adhd for ears). Essentially I have filtering issues, as soon as multiple people talk, I can’t really understand anyone anymore, unless they very directly speak into my ears so they are significantly lo…

Thanks for bringing this up, I'm often lost in a setting with competing voices. I don't strictly need hearing aids but the few times I've had my earbuds in with ambient voice enhancements it's really improved my QoL. Gonna have to look into this more!

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#123

Post by alistairSH » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:49 PM UTC

Lerc wrote: post #120

I have a related question. What is the best thing for people with no hearing loss but need help in noisy environments? My partner and I both have difficulty listening to conversations in crowds. Logic tells me that there must be some noise cancelling devices with directional mics that let you hear just what is in front of you, but querying staff in stores gets me the same bemused look as when I asked about Arm laptop…

Good question, that's something I struggle with as well. And it gets worse as I age.

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#124

Post by SkipperCat » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:51 PM UTC

Has anyone had and experience using hearing aids to deal with tinnitus? I've got some small hearing loss in the high frequencies and I'm looking at getting fitted for hearing aids to help boost those frequencies. The hope is to train my brain to stop replacing the deficit of sound with the monotone tinnitus noise.

I've tried some OTC hearing aids (Sony & Sennheiser) but its been hit or miss. I'm going to try whatever the hearing aid tech at my ENT proscribes.

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#125

Post by madeofpalk » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:51 PM UTC

stevenjgarner wrote: post #31

Here's a crazy idea. I personally prefer the fidelity of an active ambient in-ear monitor (IEM), as used by musicians on stage over the best hearing aids. Once a year, I do a monthly trial with the latest hearing aid models and IMO the fidelity (especially low-end) and the comfort just is not there compared with the best active ambient IEMs. The difference between hearing aids and IEMs is blurring, but they are not y…

This sounds essentially like a higher end/specialised version of what Apple Airpods do.

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#126

Post by Thegn » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:58 PM UTC

SkipperCat wrote: post #124

Has anyone had and experience using hearing aids to deal with tinnitus? I've got some small hearing loss in the high frequencies and I'm looking at getting fitted for hearing aids to help boost those frequencies. The hope is to train my brain to stop replacing the deficit of sound with the monotone tinnitus noise. I've tried some OTC hearing aids (Sony & Sennheiser) but its been hit or miss. I'm going to try whatever…

I have mild tinnitus, and I don’t really notice it at all when my hearing aids are in. (Phillips, got them at Costco) Sadly, it’s a lot more noticeable once I take them out. I am still waiting for that electrostimulation therapy I read about a few years ago to pan out.

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#127

Post by tlar » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 1:59 PM UTC

I'm not going to give a direct recommendation on the hearing aids themselves as my personal options have been pretty limited due to profound hearing loss. I can say, however, that hearing aids are not the only thing that helps - especially with meetings/noisy environments.

I [recently wrote an article][0] going over my journey, but the recent technology that significantly improved my life has been live captions in glasses. Specifically, the ones from [Captify][1]. Not a paid sponsor at all, just a very happy customer.

Between the glasses for IRL settings and bluetooth/live captions on meet/etc, I've felt much more empowered in my working life.

  [0]: https://upsun.com/blog/tech-accessibility-hard-of-hearing/
  [1]: https://captify.glass/

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#128

Post by RHSeeger » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 2:02 PM UTC

icoder wrote: post #102

retrac wrote: post #5

I have worn hearing aids since childhood in the '90s. Moderate sloping to profound loss. Been through all the tech since the equalized analog era. For a while now, like the last 15 to 20 years, since hearing aids went DSP, I had not been much impressed by each new generation. At the risk of sounding like a bit of an advertisement, that changed this year. I have the new Oticon Intent. RIC style aid. They have some of…

My mom has hearing aids, I only get all the technical info through her, so it's a bit blurry, but she complained about very unpleasant scratchy noises, for instance when my dad was watching videos on his iPad (for himself) elsewhere in the room. Settings were changed but now she has a harder time understanding us. We don't have to scream but if we don't speak 'clearly', she misses a lot, especially when we are with a…

> We don't have to scream but if we don't speak 'clearly', she misses a lot, especially when we are with a larger group (say 10 people at a dinner). She says she has some friends that she understands very clearly, in contrast to others (admittedly, me and one of my sisters are not the best examples of how to speak crystal clear).

This is where my normal hearing is now. My assumption is the "some I understand clearly" is base very much on what frequency their speech is in.

I'm meeting with a hearing aid doctor this week, actually.

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#129

Post by stunthamsterio » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 2:05 PM UTC

SapporoChris wrote: post #89

stunthamsterio wrote: post #88

I've got moderate to severe SSHL and use an Oticon intent 1 miniRite. For my use it's been very good - long last battery, relatively robust. It also has excellent bluetooth connectivity, so I often use it to stream audiobooks in tedious meetings. In terms of hearing quality, for me, it's been solid, with the caveat that it took a while to get the fitting right. I think my audiologist was a bit old school, and was sti…

Thank you for the new acronym. Sudden sensorineural (“inner ear”) hearing loss (SSHL), commonly known as sudden deafness, is an unexplained, rapid loss of hearing either all at once or over a few days. SSHL happens because there is something wrong with the sensory organs of the inner ear. Sudden deafness frequently affects only one ear. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/sudden-deafness To save some people time if they…

Good catch - I should have expanded on the acronym, especially as was referring to my hearing loss being Single Sided Hearing Loss, so already easy to confuse (Although as you point out, SSHL often presents as single sided deafness). In my case, I had sudden loss of balance with subsequent hearing loss. I spent well over six weeks suffering from bouts of severe rotational vertigo, which once passed, never returned, but took a hefty chunk of my left side hearing with it.

The hearing aid has certainly given me back most of what I loss, but it took some time to come to terms with losing my hearing on that side.

Re: Ask HN: Hearing aid wearers, what's hot?

#130

Post by mrj » Mon, Nov 24, 2025, 2:09 PM UTC

julianlam wrote: post #28

retrac wrote: post #5

I have worn hearing aids since childhood in the '90s. Moderate sloping to profound loss. Been through all the tech since the equalized analog era. For a while now, like the last 15 to 20 years, since hearing aids went DSP, I had not been much impressed by each new generation. At the risk of sounding like a bit of an advertisement, that changed this year. I have the new Oticon Intent. RIC style aid. They have some of…

Thank you so much for commenting. As a parent with a child with mild-to-moderate hearing loss it is heartening to know that the hearing aid technology is progressing, and progressing well! He's been using a pair of Phonak Skys since infancy, and while they can be tuned by the audiologist I sometimes wonder what it'll be like if and when he gets his next pair.

My son is 14 and has a moderate to severe loss. During his younger years we had a big clunky behind the ear type of aid and it was fine for a while. But tech progressed and we started noticing that he was having trouble hearing "s" sounds. I researched and got him the Oticon Real and it's been amazing and his speech dramatically improved with the new tech. There have been a lot fewer problems with wind noise and he can talk and pay attention in loud environments like school or a restaurant. His grades shot up.

The newer tech is definitely worth it but spendy. There are times though when I'm a bit jealous, too! He can turn them off when he doesn't want to hear and can listen to anything on his phone over bluetooth, as well as take calls. And he never wakes up at night because of noise :)