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Bose Hearphones

hearphones.bose.com

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Re: Bose Hearphones

#241

Post by thank »

steamer25 wrote: post #124
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.

There's a little bit of a life-hack for this (assuming your hearing really is okay) in loud environments... Push the little flap of the recipient's ear (the flap is called the 'tragus') over their ear canal to seal it off. Then you can lean in and speak loudly enough to overcome the ambient noise without hurting them.

THank

Re: Bose Hearphones

#242

Post by j2bax »

randlet wrote: post #225
j2bax wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad has tinnitus and pretty bad hearing (was a rock drummer in the 70's) but he found the hearing aids he got (they were at least a few thousand $ or more) made everything sound very digital/tinny and it was unnatural enough that he stopped wearing them. I wonder if these will sound any more or less natural than a nice set of hearing aids.

The older you get, probably the tougher it is to adapt too. Wearing hearing aids is very strange for the first little while since you're hearing all kinds of strange things again. For me everything seemed sharper/harsher initially but that's just because it all had been so muted for so long! It took me months of continuous wearing to get used to the sound so that it now sounds unatural to not be wearing them. He real…

Thanks a lot for the info/advice. I will definitely share. He was wondering if a small directional speaker attached to some part of the ear that allowed the natural sound to just be augmented by an amplified speaker would be better than blocking the whole ear from natural sound and replacing with digital. I wonder what the "digital" effect of these Bose headphones will be. I would expect that they are inferior to hearing aids that have been under development for eons but maybe it will be a different approach that addresses different problems.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#243

Post by vec »

falcolas wrote: post #2

Someone will have to explain the difference between these and your average hearing aids, which perform a very similar function, but tuned by an audiologist to your needs.

Disclaimer: I am not an audiologist, but I am married to one :-).

Because of the way your ears function, the vast majority of people who have hearing impairments have them at specific frequency ranges. Hearing aids do amplify sound somewhat, but they mostly work by pitch shifting voices away from your personal weak spots to wherever your hearing is still strongest. They also do some signal processing to differentiate voice-like noises from other sounds, amplify the voice, and actually mute the non-voice sounds.

For people who have some hearing loss, blanket amplification can be counterproductive and dangerous. Turning up the volume across the board doesn't help at all with differentiating signal from background noise, and can cause what hearing you do have left to degrade much faster than it otherwise might due to the increased stress placed on the ear.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#244

Post by boobsbr »

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.

Nice. I use foam earplugs (usually worn by construction workers) when going to concerts.

I get some bad ringing in my ears for a few days if I don't wear them.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#245

Post by e40 »

KaiserPro wrote: post #227
owlninja wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are not just earplugs...they can enhance conversation in loud places as well.

Don't get me wrong, for those of us who have to use hearing aids this is a godsend, it allows directionality that previously was impossible. However, for people with "normal" hearing, this will be a step down in usability. The earlobe is shaped like they are to allow your brain to pickout and isolate sound in three dimensions+. Firstly this is automatic, you've been doing it since before you were born. Secondly, the…

However, for people with "normal" hearing, this will be a step down in usability.

A step down from using ear plugs or without anything in the ear?

Re: Bose Hearphones

#246

Post by boobsbr »

nialo wrote: post #192
CorvusCrypto wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually just getting some earplugs helps this. Will filter your noise and make it really easy to have a conversation at normal level with someone near you. Use this myself for sports events, sometimes lounges, and of course flights. They cost way less than these headphones and work just as well to quell the problem you have. Or if you don't want to use earplugs, just plug your ears when someone is talking to you. Sa…

I've recently started carrying earplugs on my keychain for basically this reason, everything just sounds much better. The only tricky thing is remembering to speak loudly enough so that everyone else can hear me.

Never thought about carrying them in the keychain, nice idea.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#247

Post by abecedarius »

Lich wrote: post #78
web007 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe tinnitus is neurologic, in that there is no noise to cancel out.

Longtime sufferer of tinnitus. This has been my understanding as well. From what I understand, once the hair dies, the brain seems to compensate by filling it with eternal noise. If there is a cure (my hopes are low), my guess is that we need to have a better understanding of the brain.

A random idea: that mechanism reminds me of phantom limb pain. I wonder if there could be a treatment analogous to mirror therapy, at least for monaural tinnitus.

Searching just now turns up http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2010/01/11/tinnitus_the_ea/ and http://www.therasmusforum.com/tinnitus-type-is-similar-to-ph...

Re: Bose Hearphones

#248

Post by comex »

djsumdog wrote: post #202
robert_tweed wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 abo…

I see a lot of live music. I am very lucky a doctor long ago told me I need to guard myself from hearing loss (he was treating me for an ear infection). I always carry earplugs when I go to shows. Sometimes it's the nice plastic ones; sometimes I lose those and go back to the foam ones. Sometimes I forget and uses pieces of tissue (don't do that. When those pieces get stuck, it's slightly terrifying picking them out…

I don't go to concerts often but when I do, I tend to bring foam earplugs: partly to protect my hearing, partly because otherwise the music is usually subjectively painfully loud. Sometimes when I haven't brought them I make do with tissue.

Problem is, even without earplugs I always find it pretty hard to actually experience the music, comprehend the lyrics, etc. at concerts because it's so loud and distorted. Earplugs reduce the loudness (not as much as I'd like), but they also muffle high frequencies, making it even harder. I've sometimes resorted to the somewhat silly approach of having one ear plugged and one unplugged, alternating every few minutes, so I can hear the music better, while still somewhat reducing the volume accumulating over time. Probably not the best idea.

I haven't tried fancy musician's earplugs yet. I know they're supposed to provide a more even attenuation curve, but they also have less noise reduction overall, which isn't great. I suppose I should buy a pair and see what they feel like at a concert…

But do you have any advice? What's your impression of sound quality at concerts when you wear plugs?

Re: Bose Hearphones

#249

Post by EGreg »

conradev wrote: post #174
manyxcxi wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 fr…

This happens to me as well. I'll walk into a restaurant and there is a high pitched ringing coming from the HVAC on the ceiling, I ask anyone else if they hear it… no one does.

I can hear when most TVs are on - actually as I type this I can hear the monitor. It's just a high pitched constant sound like a dog whistle.

Yet when I am in noisy environments I often am much less adept at figuring out what people are saying than others.

Are these two things related?

Re: Bose Hearphones

#250

Post by faster »

randlet wrote: post #101
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.

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…

An audiologist once told me that hearing is sort of mechanical; does the vibration in the air stimulate the nerves that send a signal to the brain? Processing is where we make meaning of the signal. They are distinct functions.

I hear just fine (slightly above average 'signal' for my age), but in a noisy environment I struggle to focus on the voice of the person in front of me and exclude the 'noise'. That's processing.

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