Some time ago I decided I needed to have my hearing tested. Conversation with friends over a meal or coffee was becoming difficult. More to the point I attend many talks and lectures and I was struggling to hear properly. I also love music, mostly classical. Music is still enjoyable even when your hearing is impaired, but there seemed to be a lack of detail.
Eventually I plucked up the courage to get my hearing tested. The results showed that I had lost a great deal of high frequency response, resulting in an inability to understand speech. It also accounted for the dull sound to music. I could not hear the harmonics produced by violins for example. I needed hearing aids! The audiologist fitted me with Resound Linx hearing aids.
The result was quite startling, everything became so clear. I could hear everything people said in a conversation, even when it was noisy.
Then I started to listen to music, at home at first, then live concerts and recitals. The aids could not handle the dynamic levels needed to reproduce music without distortion, I expect due to overloading of the analogue to digital converter. They are digital hearing aids. I could reduce the distortion by reducing the volume, but that rather defeats the object.
After a lot of experimentation I decided to hand them back as my trial period was almost up. That only served to demonstrate just how much I needed hearing aids.
I did some research and found Widex aids. They have done a lot of work on the reproduction of music. The result is a hearing aid with an analogue to digital converter with a higher bit depth. Resulting in a much greater dynamic range, four times greater, I think. I also found Jayne Bryce.
She recommended Widex aids for the same reasons I had discovered. She tested my hearing, with the same results as before, no surprises there. I was fitted with two Widex aids and off I went.
The first thing I noticed was that they fitted so much better, hardly new they were there. Then the sound was much more natural, again not aware they were there. Then, the real test, music. They were so much better, no overloading, and therefore no distortion, just clear precise sound. They are not perfect, but I can live with that, to have my hearing back is fantastic.
Jayne is so easy to talk to, she will put you at your ease right from the start, and take you through the process with understanding and professionalism.
