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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?

#31

Post by Dwolb »

analog31 wrote: post #24
korethr wrote: post #15

This is nifty. My father has hearing loss and it's bad enough that not only does he use hearing aids, he is constantly turning them up until they feedback and start ringing. He doesn't hear the ringing, but I do, and I have some hearing damage of my own. And he wonders why his hearing aids go through batteries so fast. Their description of how hearing loss works gives me some ideas on how I can help my father manage…

It seems to me that a simple way to eliminate the feedback issue is to separate the microphone from the speaker. Hearing loss runs in my family, so I've watched my relatives struggle with hearing aids, and I've decided that when it's time for me: 1) I will build it myself and figure out the details, to hell with the audiologists and their racket. 2. I will carry the microphone and amplifier in my shirt pocket. No mor…

I'm not a hearing aid expert but the microphone and earpiece may currently be tightly coupled because it has to be. That is, human ears are very sensitive to phase shifts and time delays. Placing the microphone in a location that is not your ear may throw off your hearing somewhat (possibly ability to locate from where a sound originated).

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

#33

Post by logicallee »

masklinn wrote: post #26
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.

> 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.

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

#34

Post by pierrec »

Anechoic wrote: post #25
larrybolt wrote: post #2

This was an interesting read, but what to me personally is more interesting is how to prevent hearing loss over the years. I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. A dynamic headphones, such as the good old Superlux HD 681 would be "better" in the long term. (Not trying to advertise for that headphone, it's ju…

I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. The issue isn't necessarily about all "earbuds," the issue is that many earbuds (including the ones included with Apple iOS products) don't seal the ear canal very well, so a listener is exposed to outside sounds in addition to sounds from the player. Since the outside…

>the issue is that many earbuds don't seal the ear canal very well

For those wondering which earbuds do provide decent isolation, there are, as you stated, the pretty expensive "in-ear-monitors", but you can also go for cheaper earbuds based on isolating memory foam like the JVC marshmallows, which are pretty cheap and provide decent isolation.

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

#35

Post by korethr »

analog31 wrote: post #24
korethr wrote: post #15

This is nifty. My father has hearing loss and it's bad enough that not only does he use hearing aids, he is constantly turning them up until they feedback and start ringing. He doesn't hear the ringing, but I do, and I have some hearing damage of my own. And he wonders why his hearing aids go through batteries so fast. Their description of how hearing loss works gives me some ideas on how I can help my father manage…

It seems to me that a simple way to eliminate the feedback issue is to separate the microphone from the speaker. Hearing loss runs in my family, so I've watched my relatives struggle with hearing aids, and I've decided that when it's time for me: 1) I will build it myself and figure out the details, to hell with the audiologists and their racket. 2. I will carry the microphone and amplifier in my shirt pocket. No mor…

While that sounds like a good idea at first, I think it makes sense to have the microphones at least near the ears.

The frequency content of a sound is directional, and moreso as the frequency increases. As a test, listen for a difference in the highs with your (computer/stereo/home theater/whatever) speakers both aligned with your ears, and not. Due to this directionality, a microphone in your shirt pocket would pick up a sound differently than one near your ear.

The brain does some very fancy and clever tricks based on the differences in the timing and phase of a sound as it arrives in both ears to determine things like relative position and distance. Having the hearing aid mics receiving sound similarly to your ears would should make it easier for the brain to continue to do these nifty tricks.

Otherwise, yeah, put the amp and other circuitry in your shirt pocket or wherever else is convenient. It should be a lot easier and cheaper to fit an amplifier and multi-band compressor in your shirt pocket, than in a tiny sliver of plastic that has to fit behind the earlobe.

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

#36

Post by arjie »

cheepin wrote: post #27
Rotten194 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't multitask enough to talk while driving, you should not be driving in the first place.

All research I've seen finds that talking while driving, even if it's just to a passenger increases accidents by a large amount. Other studies show that people tend to vastly overestimate their multitasking abilities. So in short: very few people can actually talk safely while driving, and the people that think they can probably can't.

Most interestingly, it seems that people who think they're good multi-taskers are actually the worst at it[1]. They are more likely to be impulsive and more likely to indulge in risk-taking.

1: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/24/170160105/if-you-...

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

#38

Post by im3w1l »

Anechoic wrote: post #25
larrybolt wrote: post #2

This was an interesting read, but what to me personally is more interesting is how to prevent hearing loss over the years. I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. A dynamic headphones, such as the good old Superlux HD 681 would be "better" in the long term. (Not trying to advertise for that headphone, it's ju…

I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. The issue isn't necessarily about all "earbuds," the issue is that many earbuds (including the ones included with Apple iOS products) don't seal the ear canal very well, so a listener is exposed to outside sounds in addition to sounds from the player. Since the outside…

For really high noise environments, like airplanes, I like using 30db dampening earplugs and then circumaural heaphones over them.

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

#39

Post by objclxt »

analog31 wrote: post #24
korethr wrote: post #15

This is nifty. My father has hearing loss and it's bad enough that not only does he use hearing aids, he is constantly turning them up until they feedback and start ringing. He doesn't hear the ringing, but I do, and I have some hearing damage of my own. And he wonders why his hearing aids go through batteries so fast. Their description of how hearing loss works gives me some ideas on how I can help my father manage…

It seems to me that a simple way to eliminate the feedback issue is to separate the microphone from the speaker. Hearing loss runs in my family, so I've watched my relatives struggle with hearing aids, and I've decided that when it's time for me: 1) I will build it myself and figure out the details, to hell with the audiologists and their racket. 2. I will carry the microphone and amplifier in my shirt pocket. No mor…

You can actually already get body units for hearing aids. Even better, you can get radio-aids, where the microphone is elsewhere. This is particularly useful for students in a classroom, for example, where the teacher may wear the microphone directly.

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

#40

Post by varunsrin »

larrybolt wrote: post #2

This was an interesting read, but what to me personally is more interesting is how to prevent hearing loss over the years. I might be wrong on this, but I recall a hearing specialist advising me not to use earbuds at all, or at least limit the use to max 1 hour at a time. A dynamic headphones, such as the good old Superlux HD 681 would be "better" in the long term. (Not trying to advertise for that headphone, it's ju…

OP here. Some argue that in-ear earbuds send more high frequency energy directly into the ear than headphones, so the balance of sound is always tilted towards the highs, which over time can cause more high-frequency loss (low frequency loss is fairly uncommon). The difference between headphones and earbuds is likely minor - the volume you set your music to probably has a much greater impact. Get a pair with good isolation or cancellation, so you can keep the music volume lower.

One thing that works really well for preserving your hearing is taking breaks - this is especially true of loud concerts (step out for a bathroom break once an hour), but also holds true if you're going to listen to headphones at high volumes for many hours straight.

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