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Bose Hearphones

hearphones.bose.com

271–280 of 429 posts

Re: Bose Hearphones

#271
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.

This is really like having cheap, off-the shelf reading glasses even though prescription reading glasses are available and attuned to your eyes.

And folks would be interested for similar reasons. Insurance might not cover the testing that often or the device itself, for instance, or someone might not think they have the time to go to that doctor. Maybe it is only a problem every once in a while, and so on.

And like cheap reading glasses, it might not be a perfect solution, but a solution nonetheless.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#272
post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Probably not. There is a particular kind of hearing problem, where the brain doesn't process the frequency bins that sounds are broken down into very well. It impacts your ability to do source separation and tell the difference between different sources of sound. The symptom of this particular issue is that you can hear just fine when one person is talking, but have trouble in any environment where there are multiple sources of sound, so several people talking at once, background noise etc.

Because people have no problems in the classic quiet room, one person talking sound test environment, it tends to slip through the simple screening tests.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#273
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.

I... Uh... Doesn't everyone have this problem? Maybe this is another reason people think I'm brooding. I can only hear the people directly next to me in a noisy environment; not the people on the other end of a table for example. I typically assumed they couldn't hear me either, but now I'm wondering.

I work in a noisy (slot tech in a casino) and I was able to adapt to it to be able to hear people distinctly in a very noisy environment it's called the cocktail party effect.

Through a crowd of people and and multiple noisy machines I could hear someone ask me "Where is the bathroom" or "How do I..." I guess it's a learned skill.

Up to a limit I mean it's not a superhuman skill just existing in certain circumstances and in my regular environment. I'm sure I'd be terrible in a noisy environment I'm not used to.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#274
post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'd argue it depends on the methodology by which they're implementing the technology. They could be using the directionality to amplify the "target" signal and identify the signals that the wearer desires to mute and then run a fast algorithm to reduce that sound.

Without a probe, they are almost certainly altering the phase of the each channel to remove background noise

You can do this with at matched pair of mics and a desk that can flip the phase of channels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Of_Phase_Stereo

Re: Bose Hearphones

#275
post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

both. However earplugs give a longer lasting effect :)

Re: Bose Hearphones

#276

Long time reader, first time caller...er commenter. I might be biased since I work for them, but at www.stages.co we've JUST unveiled a headphone and a tabletop product (that lets you use any existing headphones) that I think this thread would find relevant. Directional listening, noice cancellation, noise reduction, high quality audio, user configurable admittance criteria - we have it all.

Are those products you have at stages.co already developed and built or are they in development? Why would someone use that desktop device instead of the headphones?

Re: Bose Hearphones

#277
really interested in the technology behind this. Obviously non voice frequencies can be filtered but how are they determining which voices are too far away to matter?

I'm sure I could probably read up more, but if these work it's definitely a "shut up and take my money" situation for me. I'm about as ADD as it gets and I have a really hard time when there are multiple conversations going and I try to listen to them all.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#279
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.

Please checkout King–Kopetzky syndrome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King-Kopetzky_syndrome

Re: Bose Hearphones

#280
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.

For me it's the height. I either have to lean in for 10 cm lower or I start missing pieces.
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