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Can't you just turn up the volume?

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Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#121

Post by 72deluxe »

dghughes wrote: post #48

My mother as a teenager listened to her transistor radio all the time, it was a new thing when she was young. She held it up to her ear and it was turned up very loud now she suffers from fairly profound hearing loss but only in a specific high range she can hear low bass normally. If you talk to her and then turn on a tap to get a glass of water the conversation over, the fridge motor comes on conversation over, any…

"very draining to everyone" hahaha that's made me chuckle. Thanks! I think you're right about "it's like you said the most obnoxious thing ever" hahaha

Is there a way of highlighting how often she says "what?" like a tally chart? I would try that with my mum to get a message across. She'd likely be deeply offended, but I think the message would get across.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#122

Post by 72deluxe »

saalweachter wrote: post #93
zenocon wrote: post #5

"Why can't I just turn up the volume on my iPhone?" is something I ask myself everyday and shake my fist toward Cupertino. Seriously, the gain on the phone is severely limited. Try listening to a voice call on speakerphone in even a moderately quiet environment with just a twee bit of ambient noise. It is maddening that I can't get any more volume out of this device without jailbreaking it.

I actually have the opposite problem: the minimum volume on my iPod is too loud. In some contexts (late at night, listening to something while falling asleep) it's slightly too loud, but they don't give you any more gradations between "off" and "slightly too loud". I find it especially bothersome because on older, non-digital radios, I was able to lightly tune the volume to somewhere just on the threshold of audible,…

Could you get some higher impedance headphones? They would be quieter as the iPod wouldn't be able to drive them so well.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#123

Post by 72deluxe »

ics wrote: post #61
soperj wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously.. just don't talk while driving. It's dangerous for everyone.

I would love to not talk while driving. I would also like to not listen while driving. In fact, I would like to not drive while driving! That being said, I'm much less concerned about spending a minute talking to a dispatcher than the guy/gal flying down I-95 while breaking up with someone over the phone. (Speaking of which, at least with a phone you can hang up... but some passengers, man...) Edit: I would also posi…

Very true about the conversation in your head. You can sometimes drive great distances and not remember any part of the journey, which is worrying in case you missed dangerous road conditions etc.

This is particularly true if you have a "lot on your plate".

Perhaps putting on an irritating radio station would help?

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#124

Post by 72deluxe »

logicallee wrote: post #33
masklinn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is maddening that I can't get any more volume out of this device without jailbreaking it. Use a pocket battery-powered amp and a small portable loudpeaker? That'll get you both more gain and better sound than the tinny built-in speaker.

this is kind of like suggesting that an old phone booth is convenient for noise isolation.

I think I actually miss old phone booths, particularly the bright red BT ones you used to get here in the UK. Nice booths, although they always got beat up for no good reason.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#125

Post by [deleted] »

marquis wrote: post #65

While I appreciate the article, having hearing loss is not like losing context of an image such as not being able to see the bear on the tricycle. It's more like the image is fuzzy and depending on the factor of loss, it might be a bear or it might just be some fuzz: http://i.imgur.com/vKn7oTf.png Audio compression, especially when using psychoacoustic principles, helps by lowering the noise of the unwanted sounds e.…

[deleted]

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#126

Post by thaumasiotes »

hibbelig wrote: post #118
adrianhoward wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I suspect that hearing aids are firmly within the second category, which means getting people to wear them "openly" should be doable." You suspect wrongly. Having seen the attitudes to my father change when he wore one. Ranging from outright verbal abuse, to assumptions of stupidity & senility.

Maybe it's related to age? I've been wearing "behind the ears" aids since I was 7 and I never sensed any perception like that. (I have no idea what is the correct term for "behind the ears", I hope it's understandable.)

It would be pretty interesting to see people assume that a ten-year-old suffered from senility because he was wearing a hearing aid. By definition, it only applies to the old.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#127

Post by adrianhoward »

72deluxe wrote: post #117
adrianhoward wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I suspect that hearing aids are firmly within the second category, which means getting people to wear them "openly" should be doable." You suspect wrongly. Having seen the attitudes to my father change when he wore one. Ranging from outright verbal abuse, to assumptions of stupidity & senility.

Really? Who from? That's terrible.

Just people.

At the low end when eating out in restaurants occasionally having wait staff ignore him and asking other folk at the table "what would he like", or people assuming that he couldn't hear and talking about him — to at the high end having a guy shouting "deaf fuck" at him repeatedly on the street for no obvious reason.

I'm not trying to say that this happened every day — especially the outright insults. But it was enough to be noticeable.

I suspect, as @hibbelig commented, age had something to do with it.

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#128

Post by hussong »

curun1r wrote: post #66
zenocon wrote: post #5

"Why can't I just turn up the volume on my iPhone?" is something I ask myself everyday and shake my fist toward Cupertino. Seriously, the gain on the phone is severely limited. Try listening to a voice call on speakerphone in even a moderately quiet environment with just a twee bit of ambient noise. It is maddening that I can't get any more volume out of this device without jailbreaking it.

If you're looking for someone to blame, I highly recommend the guy that sued Apple because the iPod could be loud enough to cause hearing damage: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/7bf03be0-94de-11da-9f39-00007... Apple eventually won and the case was dismissed, but the lower maximum value followed from that lawsuit.

And, if you're in Europe, you can thank the EU, who limited portable audio players to 150 mV max output at the phone jack and 100 dB (A) peak level with the included headphones.

This renders my iPhone almost useless as an iPod replacement when travelling with big headphones, it's just not enough juice for a train or bus ride (not to mention a flight).

Re: Can't you just turn up the volume?

#129

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

analog31 wrote: post #90
randlet wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't see the elderly changing but our generation just might." I'm youngish (mid 30's) and recently had my hearing aids replaced and realized I had a strong preference to stick with fairly visible behind-the-ear units rather than something more "discrete". I want them to be visible so that people I'm interacting with will be more sympathetic about repeating themselves and may make an (possibly unconscious) effort…

If I notice that somebody has hearing aids, I make sure that they can see my lips when I'm talking.

My first experience with a close friend who had partial hearing loss lead me to realise how much lip reading helped her. If she wasn't looking at your face her responses would often be nonsensical.

Also, I work in a noisy environment where hearing protection is mandatory, and I find I have less trouble understanding people if I can see their face.

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