Well, that's better!

[cozmik_cowboy]

Last year I got my first hearing aids.  Due to bad hearing coverage on my old insurance (they use a "national clearinghouse" company; insurance paid my $1500/ear to them, they sent me to the only covered provider in my area - to whom they paid $750/ear.....) I ended up with a 29-y-o who I had in class a lot when I was a substitute teacher, who is a trained Miracle Ear salesman  Again due to insurance, I couldn't afford Miracle Ear; got low-end Phonaks, molded to my ear canal.
Turned out to be uncomfortable, with abysmal battery life and poor sound quality (worst of it, made my voice sound robotic & my guitar sound tinny).


New insurance this year, which covers the NIU Speech And Hearing Lab.  This time I got a Doctor of Audiology with grey hair - and she sings & plays piano.  She said that with my high-freq loss, in-ears are the worst possible choice, as they amplify the highs I've lost, but block the canal for lows,
Yesterday I picked up my new behind-the-ear Widexes.
The Alvarez has more treble than I've become used to over the last few years - but it's not tinny!  And they're a lot more comfortable, rechargeable, with 4 different programs - including "Music".


I will still, even in my delusional fantasy life, never be anyone's soundman again - but I'm a happy camper!


Peter

[David Houck]

Thanks for posting this!  I have lots of questions as this is a subject I've researched a lot, yet never arriving at a satisfactory answer.  I do want to see an audiologist this year; but I will once again need to spend hours and days doing research first.  Sound quality for music is at the top of my list (along with cost, expected life, etc, etc).  Does your Doctor of Audiology make out-of-state house calls?

[hammer]

Recently read that with hearing aids no longer needing to be prescribed by a MD or audiologist, some well known high end IEM & Earbud manufacturers are considering adding to their lines with dual purpose devices. As someone who runied his hearing years ago and uses hearing aids, I'd love something tha twould allow me to more fully appreciate the nuances of music that I'm missing today. 
 

[cozmik_cowboy]

Recently read that with hearing aids no longer needing to be prescribed by a MD or audiologist, 

I would strongly recommend going a Dr. of Audiology.  They will do intensive testing to tailor the device's response to your loss; the non-script ones can't do that, and aren't really hearing aids.  They're just amplifiers, boosting everything.
Also, as I stated above, ear-bud type ones block low frequencies from entering the ear canal.  I think most of us here who are going deaf are doing so because those damn drummers and their cymbals; high-end loss is our curse (I'm still fine up to about 3K, then it dives steeply).  And a chunk pf plastic in your ear all day gets pretty old pretty quick.  At least it did for me.


Your AudD is basically a top-notch monitor mixer.


Peter

[hammer]

Hey Peter. Been there done that. Mine are prescription and based on multiple assessments. They set my healthcare insurance back about $4,000. It was my audiologist who mentioned the developments taking place among some IEM Companies. She talked about their producing two separate lines, over the counter and prescription. The real difference, she indicated is that the development is taking place with the idea of producing a hearing aid capable of producing the entire spectrum of sound which none of the current ones do. Their focus is pretty much limited to frequencies produced by the human voice.

[jhamby]

I’ve long hoped that a good hi-fi company would offer true high-fidelity hearing aids. Naim Audio would be a good candidate, even though their units would probably require a kilogram of batteries.

Or maybe Alembic?

[hammer]

Ha! Given the average age of those of us who play Alembics they would probably be hot sellers.

[David Houck]

From what I gather, the Widex Moment aids seem to have a reputation for being the preference of musicians and audiophiles, with very low latency and a very natural sound.  We'll see.  I'm planning to call next week for an appointment with an AuD that's in-network with my insurance.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I couldn't tell you the model on mine; she said they have 3 levels, and mine are one of the models in the middle range.  I got the ones with the buttons because 1) my hair interfered with the other ones, and 2) I need the buttons, as I carry flip-phone, rendering the Widex app unusable.

When I first broached the subject here last year, several people made reference to Widex in re the preferences of pro players; when I mentioned that to the AuD, she thoroughly concurred (and, as I mentioned, she's a musician, too).

Peter (who is happy he no longer has to take out his aids to stand the sound of his guitar)