Hearing aids and playing

[Tom Mason]

I am in the process of researching for the correct hearing aid for me. I have lost over 50% senory hearing in my right ear, and only have about 30% speech recognition. As I have noticed some compensation in my left ear getting the right side souind, I am still not able to notice any directional hearing.

I am considering either the CROS hearing system, or a B.A.H.A. system. If you have had any experience with either system, please tell me. My ENT tells me that there is enough sensory for the B.A.H.A, but has anyone noticed any directional gain with a CROS.

Thanks,

Tom Mason

[Tom Mason]

BUMP...


Sorry I yelled, but I couldn't hear as well...

Thanks for the one response privately as well.

Thanks,

Tom

[rocksanddirt]

I have no idea, but I'd be surprized if they had real good response down less than 100 hz, where the root of many tuba notes are. But perhaps good response the 100 to 1,000 range might allow for hearing the main overtones of much of the regular range of a tuba, which might help playing considerabley.

[Matt G]

I have some second hand experience as my mother has hearing aids. Also, I am not familiar with the acronyms you are using.

The fully external units seem to offer the most comprehensive results. This would make sense as they have more room for amplification hardware. I don't know if there is an analog versus digital choice anymore, but the analog seemed to offer a larger range, but less amplification. My mother is at only 5% hearing left in both ears, so amplification is far more important.

My mother has discussed the implants (B.A.H.A. possibly?). From what she tells me, you have to re-learn how to hear. The other issue might come from the idea that sound waves travel far faster in dense matter (like bone) than they do in free air. This might affect pitch recognition for while until your gray matter gets everything sorted out.

Best of luck to you on some difficult retraining.

[sffz]

The BAHA is a bone anchored hearing appliance that use bone conduction to help with single sided deafness. The cochlear implant is an array implanted into the cochlea - this is the device that requires he most re-learning. Many patients who qualify for a CI have been 'off the air' for so long that the brain needs to re-establish neural pathways. Hearing with implants doesn't sound exactly like organic hearing but it can be close in time.

[Casey Tucker]

One of my good friends is partially deaf and plays euphonium. I'll see if his situation is the same and what aid he uses.

-CT

[TubaSailor]

Hi - I've just had to explore what sounds like the same problem - from what I've been told by an audiologist- the CROS system will make directional discrimination more difficult since it sends a portion of the sound from one ear to the other. The BAHA implants will improve the over-all sound sensitivity, an may improve directional sensitivity as a side-effect. I was recommended an open fitted, external, digital system with 3 directional microphones in each side, tuned to compensate for the specific frequencies I've lost. Not knowing your specific condition (Neural damage vs. inner ear, sensory damage? Frequency specific loss?) nobody except the pro can make a specific recommendation - and given the cost of these things (quoted $8,000+ in my case) I'd research as much as I could, but be careful about free advise. What works for me may be completely inappropriate for you. Good Luck -

[Tom Mason]

Thanks for the advice so far, both public and private. Still researching.

Tom