hearing loss

F

fieldbaren

Guest
Aging pilots and hearing loss. Flying with and without hearing aids.anybody else have problems
understanding ATC. I have good quality Lightspeed Zulu headset.
 
I say, “say again”, a lot... does that answer the question?

So far, there’s enough volume available via normal means. I fear it’s just a matter of time.
 
I take my hearing aids out to fly, because the wind noise sometimes causes them to spontaneously change programs (they're normally reprogrammed via acoustic tones from a smartphone app). No problem hearing the radio, though, even with basic DCs in an open cockpit.
 
Half Fast said:
I think the problem is with the younger generation. They all talk so quietly, and they seem to mumble a lot. They’re very hard to understand.
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If someone is so quiet I can't hear them, I ask them what they said. If they say it again and I can't hear what they said, I'm done. And I have really good hearing!
 
Tools said:
So far, there’s enough volume available via normal means. I fear it’s just a matter of time.
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My experience with hearing loss and hearing aids is that it’s not a matter of just boosting the volume - it can be plenty loud but if you’re missing high- and mid-range frequencies, it can be both loud and muffled and hard to understand at the same time.

When I put mine in - with open domes - there’s no apparent increase in volume. Sounds and voice just seem “crisper” and voices are easier to understand. Even so, I still struggle with ATC instructions more than I used to.
 
FastEddieB said:
My experience with hearing loss and hearing aids is that it’s not a matter of just boosting the volume - it can be plenty loud but if you’re missing high- and mid-range frequencies, it can be both loud and muffled and hard to understand at the same time.

When I put mine in - with open domes - there’s no apparent increase in volume. Sounds and voice just seem “crisper” and voices are easier to understand. Even so, I still struggle with ATC instructions more than I used to.
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Yeah, modern aids can shift frequencies to where you can hear them (though getting them set up right is important, or you get "mud".)
I have tinnitus; we played around in the sound chamber and determined one ear is about 6 kHz, the other 8 kHz. Annoying, but one could live totally without that range. Other ranges very good, except for losses about 12 kHz, normal with age.
 
FastEddieB said:
My experience with hearing loss and hearing aids is that it’s not a matter of just boosting the volume - it can be plenty loud but if you’re missing high- and mid-range frequencies, it can be both loud and muffled and hard to understand at the same time.

When I put mine in - with open domes - there’s no apparent increase in volume. Sounds and voice just seem “crisper” and voices are easier to understand. Even so, I still struggle with ATC instructions more than I used to.
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Yep. My ANR headphones help a lot in that regard by removing the low-frequency engine and wind noises and making speech sound crisper.

My hearing was expended on motorcycles, race cars, firearms, and rock and roll. I'm just glad I didn't waste it.
 
I was worried about hearing loss. I can barely hear my wife most of the time. Plus her heavy Filipina accent makes things worse. So I finally went to a hearing specialist. We found out I have hearing loss at a certain range. Mostly the range my wife speaks in. To be fair that is the range most women speak in that I have a hard time hearing. I can hear the airplane radio clearly, the tv clearly and most other sounds. But my wife speaks so softly and quietly I have to ask her to repeat. Which is the major subject of our arguments.

I was fitted with hearing aides once that worked to correct the ranges I was losing, but at $8000 a pair I decided saying ''whut'' a few times a day was cheaper...

Like Half Fast stated, race cars, airplanes, firearms plus a really bad case of tinnitus sometimes plays with my hearing.
 
Both my father and I went to the audiologist with the initial complain that our wives couldn't hear us. They say they get a lot of that.

I've had hearing aids about five years now. My hearing is way assymetric, almost normal on the left, pretty awful on the right. It's worst in environments like restaurants where there is a lot of background noise. Airplanes were never a problem as I can just jack up the volume on the radio. My wife was astounded when I got my aids as we went out to dinner the next day and it was the first time she didn't have to repeat the waitress to me.

I was always able to bluff my way through the third class hearing test (normal spoken voice in an office setting isn't a problem), however, when I told the AME of my audiologist visits he added the "MUST USE AMPLIFICATION" which is about the dumbest medical restriction (turning up the overhead speaker IS amplification, so are headsets, hearing aids are not required.

I have Resound Ones now with the MRIE receivers. Shortly after getting my first pair I got the special bluetooth interface and fitting software to allow me to tweak them myself.
 
flyingron said:
I have Resound Ones now with the MRIE receivers. Shortly after getting my first pair I got the special bluetooth interface and fitting software to allow me to tweak them myself.
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How do you like them, and do you notice any difference/improvement vs. those you have tried before?
 
I'm not sure how much the MRIE helps, but I can stick my finger in one year and definitely notice a change in it (so they are doing something). The Ones replaced the Linx3D I had before. Technology marches on, they are quite a bit nicer. The all-around program is better and I tend to use that and the UltaFocus (marked UltraBofus in my programming) are the only two I use. I also like the rechargeable technology and the streaming is a lot nicer.
 
flyingron said:
I'm not sure how much the MRIE helps, but I can stick my finger in one year and definitely notice a change in it (so they are doing something). The Ones replaced the Linx3D I had before. Technology marches on, they are quite a bit nicer. The all-around program is better and I tend to use that and the UltaFocus (marked UltraBofus in my programming) are the only two I use. I also like the rechargeable technology and the streaming is a lot nicer.
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Use with iphone app?
 
I have the iPhone App and also the Watch app which is handy for slight tweaks in some environments. I use it substantially just to stream phone calls and other audio material from the iPhone (takes no app, Apple has an hearing aid protocol that runs onver the BLE). I also have the phone clip, mini mic (never use this), and the TV streamer. I like the TV streamer but I had a little problem because the TV amplifier is a surround system and doesn't have a straight stereo out. I had to put a little mixer on it to mix the center channel into L & R to feed the streamer.
 
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