Hearing aids ... Ideas for Music vs General Use

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We’ve recently invested in hearing aids (ReSound Durri) and have a few observations to make:

Open vs closed domes:
We have found that open domes are MUCH better for music than closed domes… provided you can integrate the sound of the hearing aid with your natural hearing. Open domes allow sound to pass the receiver almost unhindered so what you hear is the low to mid frequencies naturally and unhindered, with the upper mid and HF reinforced by the hearing aid.

Which leads us onto…

Integration of the sound.
Initially we found that the sound in our right ear (only mild hearing loss - with only the HF affected) worked with the hearing aid straight off, with the standard “intelligent” enhancement programming set up for our RH hearing loss.
The left wasn’t like that at all.
In the left we could hear the ambient sound and we could hear the hearing aid, but there was no connection between the two sets of sound, it was like a speaker with VERY poor integration between the bass/mid and an incopattible tweeter that was too ‘hot’ and rather distorted: everything sounded VERY brittle and ‘crunchy’. Eventually the audiologist had an idea, and turned off the speech optimisation in the timing, both of the amplification and in the noise suppression algorithm. So then, instead of this dynamically adjusting itself according to the incoming signal, he set it to respond as fast as possible. This sorted out the integration for most things and almost sorted it for music as well…

Noise cancelling and music.
The final piece of the problem fell into place when we completely turned off all the noise cancelling functionality (which can be done from the app with these aids). Then two things happened: fine details in the music started to be revealed by the hearing aids (previously the hearing aids had identified that as ‘noise’ and removed it) and this also brought in the last little bit of integration, so that the sound appears as a consistent whole.
For music we have a preset programme that completely turns off ALL noise cancellation and wind noise suppression, whereas for general use we leave these enabled, as they really do work (see the next bit, specifically the bit about long range conversations!).

Last observation:
Some mechanical sounds at HF, such as walking on dry leaves, crincly wrapping paper and the coffee grinder, do still sound unnatually brittle, but music and speech now sound fully natural. A different side effect is that, even without with the speech enhancment mode set, we can now easily hear and understand normal conversation outdoors at a range of about 40m or more! (Even if the people speaking aren’t intending to be overheard!)

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Fascinating Xanthe - very pleased you’ve found an effective product, but you have the intellect and enquiring mind to explore settings options for specific circumstances.

I wonder, without wanting to sound odd, if the average user of your product would do much more than accept the default configuration supplied as the best?

Something which as yet does not affect me too much, but if and when I should need a decent hearing aid it’s encouraging to think that the technology will have advanced even further, naturally within the limitations of the physiological hearing loss.

Still intrigued by some of Apple’s newest AirPods offerings providing (supposedly validated) hearing tests and adjustments. Maybe a gimmick currently, maybe not but the mass population data they will acquire for hearing loss demographics may be very interesting. Of course they’re unlikely to match professional aids and assessments at the moment but could equally be valuable in detecting early loss and adjusting audio playback.

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I have a pair of AirPod Pros and am planning to try out the hearing aid software. My one notable problem is hearing people speaking to me in crowded environments. About a month ago, the New York Times food critic wrote an article, reporting that the hardware/software was helpful in a crowded restaurant.

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My understanding is that most commonly that is due to rolled off high frequencies, very often due to, and the first sign of, age-related hearing loss.

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I have posted in another thread how the set up, by an audiologist, can be done for music.
There’s also some informations on Michael Fremer review on top hearing aids.
Maybe @HungryHalibut could resume, he had asked for a particular set up by an audiologist, based on that informations.

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Here is the post I have posted in another thread. My audiologist followed it in most part.
I am happy with it, for my Signa 7ix .

« Here are some recommendations by Dr Chasin, from the Piano Passion site, to set up the hearing aids for music. Set up by an audiologist.

« Start with Post-16-Bit Architecture

What to tell your audiologist: First, be sure to select hearing aids that have 20-bit or 24-bit architecture to allow for a higher input level. Then start with the optimal “speech-in-quiet” program for the patient and make adjustments from there to create a custom music program.

Here’s why: In some hearing aids, all sounds can’t necessarily get into the hearing aid for processing because the old industry standard 16-bit systems have a maximum input level of 96 decibels. Music can be louder than speech with more dynamic peaks, so louder elements would be clipped or distorted. Many newer hearing aids do not have this problem, but it’s important to make sure you’re starting with an appropriate model.

Dial Down Compression

What to tell your audiologist: A low compression ratio of 1.7 to 1 (or a maximum of 2 to 1) is best for music.

Here’s why: The compression ratio represents the change in loudness that comes into the hearing aid versus the change in loudness that goes out of the hearing aid and into your ear. Too much compression essentially over-processes the sound, causing music to sound dull and lacking in dynamics.

Turn Off Noise Reduction

What to tell your audiologist: Disable the noise reduction system for the music program.

Here’s why: The noise reduction system is designed to reduce the sound of the microphone inside your own hearing aid, but this feature sometimes has detrimental effects when used for music.

Turn Off Feedback Management Circuit

What to tell your audiologist: Disable the feedback management circuit when setting up the music program.

Here’s why: The feedback management circuit is designed to prevent you from hearing the squeal of your own hearing aid. But sometimes it can’t distinguish between the whistling of your hearing aid and a harmonic or a musical instrument.

Turn Off Frequency Shifting

What to tell your audiologist: Disable any frequency shifting or frequency transposition for the music program.

Here’s why: Frequency transposition customizes sounds to your particular audiogram by moving some tones to a lower frequency. It can help a lot when listening to speech—but for music, it means your hearing aids can actually change the notes and octaves on you if this feature is turned on! Should your audiologist have additional questions,«

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Well, I’m 72. I have done a home test of my hearing, and there’s no question my perception of high frequencies has declined.

Maybe that’s why I have no problem with the recent streamer firmware updates. :laughing:

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Yes, the Fremer recommendations have worked wonderfully. I took a screen shot and showed the audiologist, who applied the settings. Turning off the feedback circuit was a revelation, as previously violin and sustained sax notes warbled horribly. With feedback off, they are beautifully clear and clean.

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I am in the process of auditioning Widex and Oticon hearing aids for moderate high frequency hearing loss. As a musician, I was concerned with jazz combo rehearsals and listening to concerts as an audience member. My audiologist routinely programs the settings outlined in the Fremer article when dealing with musicians or concert growers.

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Just been back to the audiologist to have a dedicated ‘music’ configuration loaded into my hearing aids.

The software used to load configuration date (aka “programmes”) into the ReSound Durr1 hearing aids that we have has a pre-defined “Music” profile already setup in it to download to these hearing aids; this does all the things specified by Dr Chasin (as you listed) and also optimises some of the response timings of the internal filters.

We haven’t tried it yet but will do so very soon.

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My audiologist settled up also the Dr Chasin recommendations I showed her. I am happy with it. Just have to do one click on the hearing aid on one ear and then i listen to music. I have no feeling that II use hearing aids. It’s very natural.
You will tell how it’s for you.

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Wow, just wow…

I never though hearing aids could be that good!
OK, the open domes really help as most of the midrange is our natural hearing without going through the devices. The standard frequency balance set by the default ‘music’ programming is still slightly oriented to enhancing the intelligibility of vocals… Personally we find that a little ‘hot’ at the top end, adding a bit of ‘tizz’ to some things. So we added as small (-3db) reduction in HF, and a tiny (-1dB) cut to the upper mid range, which eliminates that completely. However, other people may prefer the standard frequency response settings.

With our preferred profile we’ve listened to some baroque on original instruments and that is detailed but natural in the harmonics without being so over sharp as to “cut your head off at 10 paces”. To test the integration of the timing we used Gabriel’s Red Rain, as that falls apart if there’s anything wrong with the timing. It stays detailed, clean, sharp and precisely on time all the way through the frequency range: we really didn’t expect that good a result. With the slight HF cut, for us, listening to music is very much improved without significant noticeable defects.
As ever, YMMV!

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