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Bose Hearphones

hearphones.bose.com

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Re: Bose Hearphones

#151

Post by pc86 »

boobsbr wrote: post #77

Wow, this address a major problem I have. I have decent hearing, but when I'm in a noisy environment like a bar, I can hear but can't understand what other people are saying. It's why I don't like going to bars/pubs with live performances or ambient music. People think I'm bored or brooding because I'm not talking to anyone, but I just can't understand anything anyone says, so I can't participate in a conversation.

Not to piggy back off randlet, but I would venture to say that most people would consider being unable to hear conversation when there is background noise the opposite of "decent hearing."

Re: Bose Hearphones

#152

Post by maxxxxx »

freyr wrote: post #117
randlet wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you have decent hearing? I thought I could hear what people were saying in noisy environments, but couldn't understand anything. This was one of the major symptoms for me before I was diagnosed with moderate/severe hearing loss. It's very isolating. No problems now with a decent set of hearing aids. Have yourself tested! The quality of life improvement from a set of hearing aids is incredible! edit: I wa…

I became unable to understand conversations in noisy bars and restaurants. I had my hearing tested, and it was normal. I can hear one person talking quietly from across the house, but can't understand a person right next to me in a bar. It's very frustrating.

Same for me. I have had my hearing tested several times and always had pretty good scores. But I still don't understand people in loud environments. It would be interesting to try a hearing aid.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#153

Post by manyxcxi »

tibbon wrote: post #122
randlet wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you have decent hearing? I thought I could hear what people were saying in noisy environments, but couldn't understand anything. This was one of the major symptoms for me before I was diagnosed with moderate/severe hearing loss. It's very isolating. No problems now with a decent set of hearing aids. Have yourself tested! The quality of life improvement from a set of hearing aids is incredible! edit: I wa…

I have a similar problem in loud spaces. Given my activities (motorcycling, guitar playing, powertools, etc) I had assumed my hearing was bad, but when I went to an ENT/audiologist for unrelated things I had them give me a good test on a whim. For me, the results were that I have hearing ability on-par with a ~5 year old, and they only see adults like me every 18 months or so. I've got a printoff of the chart around…

I went to an audiologist a few years back because I could hear certain things that would drive me up the wall. I thought it might be tinnitus or something like that- I ride motorcycles, am on the water in boats, use power tools, etc. Turns out I have exceptional hearing as well, and much better high frequency responses than an average 30 year old. Certain cheap lights and power transformers can drive me absolutely freaking crazy.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#154

Post by robert_tweed »

jseliger wrote: post #102
boobsbr wrote: post #77

Wow, this address a major problem I have. I have decent hearing, but when I'm in a noisy environment like a bar, I can hear but can't understand what other people are saying. It's why I don't like going to bars/pubs with live performances or ambient music. People think I'm bored or brooding because I'm not talking to anyone, but I just can't understand anything anyone says, so I can't participate in a conversation.

Try these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044DEESS . I keep a pair in my pocket. They're shockingly good, and unless someone is looking closely for them they're not real noticeable. They're also cheap enough that a lost pair is not catastrophic.

I was going to say the same thing. The general name for these is attenuating ear plugs. A lot of musicians, especially drummers, wear them on stage so they can hear their own instrument over everything else, at a sensible volume.

They vary primarily in their frequency response: some are flat and others are designed to cut specific frequencies more than others (e.g, for bass players vs guitar players).

I found out about them from a drummer who was wearing them in a nightclub after a gig. I initially thought he'd left them in by mistake, but he swore it made having conversations a lot easier. That, and he had no plans to go deaf from the loudness of the music (and you don't learn the drums if you dislike loud music).

Re: Bose Hearphones

#155

Post by burntwater »

hughes wrote: post #116
randlet wrote: post #110

For what it's worth, this tech has been available in hearing aids for a long time already. I carry a remote that can: * switch my hearing aids between 5 different programs depending on the environment. * play "fractal" like tones to combat my tinnitus * adjust the volume including muting the outside world * play music from anything with a 3.5mm jack (bluetooth also available) * hear calls from my phone * probably mor…

What do hearing aids with those feature cost? I feel like even premium Bose products would be cheap in comparison

I'll second the pricing - you can figure around $3,000 per ear, plus another $500-$1,000 for the premium accessories. Price varies of model and included services, but that's the ballpark, as is the 5-6 year lifespan if well cared for (I had older analog aids that could last 10+ years and even survived submersion in water. Digital, not so much).

Re: Bose Hearphones

#156

Post by bshimmin »

I humbly submit that they need to work on the name. I've had a long day and not much sleep and my eyes didn't recognise the difference between "hearphones" and "headphones"; the two even sound pretty similar. I know it's intentional and clever, but it's quite subtle. Especially if you don't have good hearing...

Re: Bose Hearphones

#158

Post by AceJohnny2 »

boobsbr wrote: post #77

Wow, this address a major problem I have. I have decent hearing, but when I'm in a noisy environment like a bar, I can hear but can't understand what other people are saying. It's why I don't like going to bars/pubs with live performances or ambient music. People think I'm bored or brooding because I'm not talking to anyone, but I just can't understand anything anyone says, so I can't participate in a conversation.

This is a known condition, apparently, called "Hidden Hearing Loss" and was covered here a couple months ago:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/cant-hear-in-noisy-places-its-a-...

(if the direct link from here gets you to the paywall, it looks like a referral thing. Oddly going to it form Twitter worked, though Incognito and Web didn't: https://mobile.twitter.com/Jieqian_Zhang/status/780613322097...)

HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12637996

Direct link to the papers cited in the article: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24907

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812055/

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

(you can guess I also have interest in the topic...)

Re: Bose Hearphones

#159

Post by ajryan »

_fs wrote: post #9

I really wish someone was working to solve the problem of tinnitus. Would it be possible to generate anti phase wave out of these things to cancel out tinnitus? I would pay anything and/or wear any goofy device in my ears to live life tinnitus free.

I have read that NMDA agonists (DXM, Ketamine, PCP, other arylcyclohexamines) work pretty well for this. Anecdotally, their withdrawal symptoms include tinnitus so I'm not surprised the inverse could be true.

It also looks like more specific NMDA agonists are being developed as a treatment? http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

Re: Bose Hearphones

#160

Post by Jtsummers »

logicallee wrote: post #113
daenney wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every time I go to a club, I don't wear hearing protection, and this means that I am consciously making a choice to lose some of my hearing. Maybe you should consciously make a different choice, such as bring ear plugs with you. There's plenty of brands that come in a container that fit easily on a keychain so they're not forgotten.

I'm not going to be the only one at a club who brings hearing protection with me. It's not hip. Clubs need to start giving them out either for free, or renting them, or something. it needs to be available on location there. I don't see anyone else wearing them.

If you're making health decisions based on what's hip and what's not, you need to reevaluate your priorities.

Many earplugs can be very unobtrusive in appearance unless people are looking directly at your ear canal. Not to mention that many, in clubs, are already going to be drunk or otherwise inebriated. Unless you wear bulky hearing protection like the guys on a flight line crew, few will notice, and those that do won't remember.

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