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geoff geoff is offline
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On 23/02/2017 3:00 PM, RS Wood wrote:
From the «blocking out the madness» department:
Title: Ask The Wirecutter: How to Decide Which Headphones to Buy (Hint: Not Apples AirPods)
Author: DAMON DARLIN
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 11:10:36 -0500
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/te...er=rss&emc=rss
Podcast Download URL: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017...WIRE1-moth.jpg

With so many choices available, shopping for earphones can be daunting. A
headphone editor suggests buying two cheaper pairs suited to different needs.


Kind of depends if you want headphones for high quality sound, or as a
fashion accessory.

geoff

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Adrian Caspersz Adrian Caspersz is offline
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On 19/04/17 12:05, geoff wrote:

Kind of depends if you want headphones for high quality sound, or as a
fashion accessory.


Or as a covert DIY hearing aid ..

The future is going to see them rather prominent and fashionable like
eyewear, and additionally integrated with the music/phone (possibly that
made the user deaf in the first place[1]).

On that subject, like a prescription for glasses, is there a written
standard of writing one for hearing aids?

With the rip-off shameful high cost of some of these (thousands) praying
on folks that want them so covert, surely a home build DSP project
(opensource?) is possible with knowledge of the right parameters? or use
of a cheaper Generic device for sale?

[1] - Shouldn't joke. That will eventually be me.... Loud electronica
music fan here.

--
Adrian C
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Mike Spencer Mike Spencer is offline
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Adrian Caspersz writes:

On 19/04/17 12:05, geoff wrote:

Kind of depends if you want headphones for high quality sound, or as a
fashion accessory.


Or as a covert DIY hearing aid ..

The future is going to see them rather prominent and fashionable like
eyewear, and additionally integrated with the music/phone (possibly that
made the user deaf in the first place[1]).


AFAICT the circuit design and tuning controls are sophisticated,
albeit straigtforward, electronics but the big bucks are for fitting
all that into a widget the size of a fava bean.

I'd be happy to wear headphones or earbuds and carry a widget the size
of a large cell phone if it worked for my hearing loss and cost a few
hundred bucks instead of the ca. $2,000 per ear.

On that subject, like a prescription for glasses, is there a written
standard of writing one for hearing aids?


Bandwidth tuning, noise cancellation -- what else? See
"sophisticated" supra. I'm guessing that "adjusting" a modern hearing
aid is done by connecting it to a computer and proprietary software.
They're too small to support an array of little adjusting screws.

With the rip-off shameful high cost of some of these (thousands) praying
on folks that want them so covert, surely a home build DSP project
(opensource?) is possible with knowledge of the right parameters? or use
of a cheaper Generic device for sale?


Where's this happening? I high-frequency loss, speech discrimination
loss and tinitis. But I'm weak on serious math and know almost noting
about electronic hardware. There was a brief flurry of interest in
DSP projects in Halifax (NS) circa 1994 but I think it's faded away.


[1] - Shouldn't joke. That will eventually be me.... Loud electronica
music fan here.


Wroking around loud engines, running power tools and hammering at the
anvil are quite enough, thanks, without rock n' roll.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada
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The Real Bev The Real Bev is offline
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On 04/19/2017 11:55 AM, Mike Spencer wrote:
Adrian Caspersz writes:

On 19/04/17 12:05, geoff wrote:

Kind of depends if you want headphones for high quality sound, or as a
fashion accessory.


Or as a covert DIY hearing aid ..

The future is going to see them rather prominent and fashionable like
eyewear, and additionally integrated with the music/phone (possibly that
made the user deaf in the first place[1]).


AFAICT the circuit design and tuning controls are sophisticated,
albeit straigtforward, electronics but the big bucks are for fitting
all that into a widget the size of a fava bean.

I'd be happy to wear headphones or earbuds and carry a widget the size
of a large cell phone if it worked for my hearing loss and cost a few
hundred bucks instead of the ca. $2,000 per ear.


FWIW, the $2K ones aren't necessarily good either. My mom had hers
adjusted repeatedly, but they never got it right. All she wanted was to
be able to understand the women on TV, but the adjustments to improve
higher voices also heightened annoying higher-frequency sounds. That
was in 2005, maybe the tech is better now. Equalizers have been around
for quite a while, though.

I don't think the fact that they're made from a mold of the person's ear
canal is important. I asked my ENT guy about using hers if I ever
needed them, and he said Fine, just have them adjusted for you. Not
much hope, but it won't cost $2K/ear to try!

On that subject, like a prescription for glasses, is there a written
standard of writing one for hearing aids?


Bandwidth tuning, noise cancellation -- what else? See
"sophisticated" supra. I'm guessing that "adjusting" a modern hearing
aid is done by connecting it to a computer and proprietary software.
They're too small to support an array of little adjusting screws.


Yes. There's just an on/off switch on the device itself.

With the rip-off shameful high cost of some of these (thousands) praying
on folks that want them so covert, surely a home build DSP project
(opensource?) is possible with knowledge of the right parameters? or use
of a cheaper Generic device for sale?


Where's this happening? I high-frequency loss, speech discrimination
loss and tinitis. But I'm weak on serious math and know almost noting
about electronic hardware. There was a brief flurry of interest in
DSP projects in Halifax (NS) circa 1994 but I think it's faded away.


[1] - Shouldn't joke. That will eventually be me.... Loud electronica
music fan here.


Wroking around loud engines, running power tools and hammering at the
anvil are quite enough, thanks, without rock n' roll.


I do love the sound of an unmuffled helicopter taking off. R&R hasn't
been that good since the Beatles destroyed it.

--
Cheers, Bev
"The last thing you want is for somebody to commit suicide
before executing them."
-Gary Deland, former Utah director for corrections
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Michael Black[_2_] Michael Black[_2_] is offline
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On Wed, 19 Apr 2017, The Real Bev wrote:

On 04/19/2017 11:55 AM, Mike Spencer wrote:
Adrian Caspersz writes:

On 19/04/17 12:05, geoff wrote:

Kind of depends if you want headphones for high quality sound, or as a
fashion accessory.

Or as a covert DIY hearing aid ..

The future is going to see them rather prominent and fashionable like
eyewear, and additionally integrated with the music/phone (possibly that
made the user deaf in the first place[1]).


AFAICT the circuit design and tuning controls are sophisticated,
albeit straigtforward, electronics but the big bucks are for fitting
all that into a widget the size of a fava bean.

I'd be happy to wear headphones or earbuds and carry a widget the size
of a large cell phone if it worked for my hearing loss and cost a few
hundred bucks instead of the ca. $2,000 per ear.


FWIW, the $2K ones aren't necessarily good either. My mom had hers adjusted
repeatedly, but they never got it right. All she wanted was to be able to
understand the women on TV, but the adjustments to improve higher voices also
heightened annoying higher-frequency sounds. That was in 2005, maybe the
tech is better now. Equalizers have been around for quite a while, though.

I don't think the fact that they're made from a mold of the person's ear
canal is important. I asked my ENT guy about using hers if I ever needed
them, and he said Fine, just have them adjusted for you. Not much hope, but
it won't cost $2K/ear to try!

I think early hearing aids used actual transducers like those that used to
come with transistor radios. But somewhere along the line, the transducer
stayed in the hearing aid (certainly after the ones that fit over or in
the ear), and so there's just audio coupling to the ear. The fitting of
the piece to one's ear just seems comfort, and I maybe for best coupling.
Now that all the rock stars are using in-ear monitors, they all have
custom fitted ear pieces.

I wonder if the hearing aids now have become like other things, they make
the hardware really cheap, and it applies to all, but the more money you
spend, the better the software or adjustment. Or featurs kick in as the
money paid rises, but it's the software that makes this hearing aid better
than that one, rather than the hardware.

Michael


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