crouse
Poorly known member
No, it's not.
Well, I guess we can either laugh or cry.
Speakers for high-frequency hearing loss
- Thread starter crouse
- Start date
Well, I guess we can either laugh or cry.
Pio1980
AK Member
Tho not addressed to me I'll comment. Because of some intelligibility enhancement and occasional entrainment issues, not as much as I'd like. They do help with what I'd miss without them.
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Pablo Belgik
Member
I use these on top of my speakers, on the B channel so I can switch them on and off at will. REALISTIC SUPERTWEETERS.
To someone with normal high end hearing, the would probably sound so bright you could cut glass. But I do remember back in the late 70's having a pair and still liked them on speakers like Optimus 10 because they were only good up to about 18k on their own. Now they just sound good to me, depending on which speaker set I use them on. They are self standing and you place them on top of your speakers. I consider them a Quick Fix.
This post got my attention because high frequency hearing loss definitely seems to be my problem, too.
Please, BillyBatts: how exactly do you connect these? Do you just connect your "normal" speakers to the amplifier (like to Speakers "A") and then the supertweeters to Speakers "B"? Does that mean the entire sound spectrum is fed into those supertweeters (no crossover, nothing?). Doesn't that distort any lower frequencies being fed into those tweeters?
Another question to the board: am I correct in assuming that a hearing aid just boosts those high frequency amplitudes to a "louder" level, compensating with "power" in those frequencies where there is hearing loss? Or does a hearing aid do "something else" that makes those frequencies -somehow- audible?
It would be nice if just adding some "supertweeter" additional audio could compensate (in part) the hearing loss. One more unclear element there is the presence of "tinitis", which I understand is ringing in the ears.
Anyway, melodious sounds and funky rythms to you all in 2014!
Paul
Chip Chester
Super Member
New life for the Yamaha NS-10M Studios...
Chip
Chip
Pio1980
AK Member
I have a pair of AR "Rock Partners" which I understand were the preferred alternatives to the glass-cutter NS-10s for control room nearfield monitoring.
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JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
Isn't using an equalizer to change response or buying speakers with deliberately skewed response curing the symptom rather than the disease?:scratch2:
Sure, you can make your music sound like what you think it sounded like before your hearing loss. My question is, what do you do about the rest of life and living? Do you go to the movies, the theater, a concert or experience life in general and ask them to screw with the frequency response? I don't think so.
Fixing the symptom instead of curing the problem is IMO not the way to fix anything. If your hearing is bad why not do something to correct it instead of applying band aids to everything else?
Sure, you can make your music sound like what you think it sounded like before your hearing loss. My question is, what do you do about the rest of life and living? Do you go to the movies, the theater, a concert or experience life in general and ask them to screw with the frequency response? I don't think so.
Fixing the symptom instead of curing the problem is IMO not the way to fix anything. If your hearing is bad why not do something to correct it instead of applying band aids to everything else?
Pio1980
AK Member
I'd agree with this rather than turning the home system into a giant corrective device that will be annoyingly unlistenable to others. Movie dialogue was always a challenge to me anyway and I hate the idea of having an equalizer in my system cluttering the signal path.Isn't using an equalizer to change response or buying speakers with deliberately skewed response curing the symptom rather than the disease?:scratch2:
Sure, you can make your music sound like what you think it sounded like before your hearing loss. My question is, what do you do about the rest of life and living? Do you go to the movies, the theater, a concert or experience life in general and ask them to screw with the frequency response? I don't think so.
Fixing the symptom instead of curing the problem is IMO not the way to fix anything. If your hearing is bad why not do something to correct it instead of applying band aids to everything else?
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
Yes. Yes they do.
Gang-Twanger
Resident Wharfedaliophool
Yeah, I imagine of the '60's Altec models would be a good choice, as would a nice pair of '60's Bozaks.
And if you want rich, effortless sound in that core frequency range and ultra-smooth highs, it's damn-hard to beat a pair of Briggs-era Wharfedales. I believe the Super 3 cone-tweeters roll off around 16khz, based on Troels Graven's analysis. And they sound wonderful with tubes. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pAWNSTCgtd4&desktop_uri=/watch?v=pAWNSTCgtd4
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JoeESP9
ESL's & tubes since 83
I definitely agree with this.
OTOH compensating for age related high frequency loss with speakers that are overly bright and in your face is IMO no solution either.
Do something about the problem. Curing symptoms is nothing but a poor band aid.
Pio1980
AK Member
My AR 4x sound dull and lifeless without the aids, warm and livelier with. The e-waved Advent 2s sound good but imbalanced without and brighter with. The Fuselier 3 way towers sound nice either way but better with. Without, the left side sounds like the tweeter is dead as that is my worst ear.
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Gang-Twanger
Resident Wharfedaliophool
My ears are good for a 43 year old musician, but my ears are very-sensitive when it comes to high-frequencies, so I tend to look for speakers with an ultra-smooth top. One thing I noticed though, tubes do A LOT for high-freq. smoothness, so anyone with similar ears might want to look into a Fisher or at least a tube rig.
Do you all regularly clean your ears with ear wax remover? It all depends, but approximately every six months or so, I do this and at times, it's really beneficial.
Sometimes, a large chunks of S comes out and at other times just smaller pieces.
Over all though, this "ear cleaning" maintenance should be a requirement for us in this hobby any way.
Sometimes, a large chunks of S comes out and at other times just smaller pieces.
Over all though, this "ear cleaning" maintenance should be a requirement for us in this hobby any way.
Gang-Twanger
Resident Wharfedaliophool
:yes:
Pio1980
AK Member
I rinse my ears out with warm water every time I shower bathe and carefully swab them dry.
Harvey/ Ga
Super Member
Isn't using an equalizer to change response or buying speakers with deliberately skewed response curing the symptom rather than the disease?:scratch2:
The only way to "cure" hearing loss is with hearing aids. Most "decent" aids run $4-7K, and the response is terrible..most hearing aids seem to be "tuned" to 200-7/8k frequency response, with some going down to a "low" of 100Hz.
This corresponds to the majority of sounds we encounter.
>>>Sure, you can make your music sound like what you think it sounded like before your hearing loss. My question is, what do you do about the rest of life and living? Do you go to the movies, the theater, a concert or experience life in general and ask them to screw with the frequency response? I don't think so.
Well, tuning your system to your hearing loss makes sense to me. At least one can enjoy his music at home. Movie theaters have such a loud sound system tat I seldom need my hearing aids
>>>Fixing the symptom instead of curing the problem is IMO not the way to fix anything. If your hearing is bad why not do something to correct it instead of applying band aids to everything else?
Some websites that help explain what a hearing aid can do and can't do.
http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/96/33/4/pdf/macrea.pdf
https://starkeypro.com/pdfs/Compression_Handbook.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2307302
crouse
Poorly known member
It may be a poor band-aid, but if what I read about hearing aids is an indication, changing your system may well be a better band-aid than hearing aids for listening to music. Perhaps someone will jump in with suggestions for hearing aids that actually perform well in the upper frequencies of music and not just in the conversational range. I would love to know that they are out there. If they are, I'll start saving up. I should also point out that I don't yet have any problems hearing and understanding spoken speech, thus my interest in audio solutions for higher frequency loss.
shacky
Addicted Member
I think the solution is less in the speakers and more in EQ'ing. Boosting freq to offset hearing loss makes a lot of sense to me and my hearing aide tech told me to do that rather than crank volume :yes:
As stated previously I don't do it as it irritates my senses as well as triggers tinitus.
But hearing aides suck as far as audio grade fidelity :thumbsdn:
PS my tech tried her best to get me to hear the crickets in Sun King - she got a kick our of that being my biggest beef. But alas the hearing aides can't correct that high ~14-15 khz.
As stated previously I don't do it as it irritates my senses as well as triggers tinitus.
But hearing aides suck as far as audio grade fidelity :thumbsdn:
PS my tech tried her best to get me to hear the crickets in Sun King - she got a kick our of that being my biggest beef. But alas the hearing aides can't correct that high ~14-15 khz.