Who Knew Guitars Were So Loud.

[mongers]

On the issue of concentrating ones gaze on someone's face, eyes and mouth to get a better idea of what they're saying, I was talking to an acquaintance of mine and asked her about this.

She said when she first meet me, that I was really interested in her, what she had to say and I was being very friendly, whereas I was largely just trying to make sure I understood her. 

And apparently I do it "constantly", so thats going to be a hard habit to break.   

[mongers]

Yesterday, I went to have a listen to the river that runs 10 yards from the doorstep, due to the unseasonal rain it has a reasonable flow; never knew those swirls in the middle made a noise, a sort of swooshing, plopping sound.

Where the water flows around the buttresses of the bridge it makes an nice  complex array of gurgling sounds. 

[The Brain]

Where the water flows around the buttresses of the bridge it makes an nice  complex array of gurgling sounds. 

How katmaiesque.

[KRonn]

Heh, Mongers, you're enjoying that enhanced hearing!   

[mongers]

Heh, Mongers, you're enjoying that enhanced hearing!   

Yeah, KRonn it's rather cool.

I hope yours are working well.

You're right about music, I listening to some stuff on headphones, and I'm hearing a hell of a lot more detail and a much wider soundscape. For instance whereas I used to hear cymbals as a combined bashing sound, I can now hear individual one being hit and I'm hearing stuff like the body of the sticking hitting edge of the drum. 
I don't understand how these things work with headphones, as i'd thought the mic would be outside of the headphone speaker so would amplify.

I shall dig out the old deck and vinyl and crank out some tunes as the used to sound, well at least to most people.

[KRonn]

Heh, speaking of hearing better with the hearing aids. Tonight somewhere is doing fireworks. Damn explosions, they're far off and from outside the house I can barely hear them. I can hear the blasts from in the house though. I seem to pick up certain sounds or rumbling very well, even without the hearing aids. But with them I hear some things much better, probably the way I should hear. And yes, music is definitely better.

I like using the hearing aids, even though I function well without them. They make hearing effortless. Like when I first started needing glasses. I didn't want to wear them, but after trying them out and being able to see much better, I was hooked. As a kid I had better than average eyesight, but I guess lots of kids do though.

[mongers]

Heh, speaking of hearing better with the hearing aids. Tonight somewhere is doing fireworks. Damn explosions, they're far off and from outside the house I can barely hear them. I can hear the blasts from in the house though. I seem to pick up certain sounds or rumbling very well, even without the hearing aids. But with them I hear some things much better, probably the way I should hear. And yes, music is definitely better.

I like using the hearing aids, even though I function well without them. They make hearing effortless. Like when I first started needing glasses. I didn't want to wear them, but after trying them out and being able to see much better, I was hooked. As a kid I had better than average eyesight, but I guess lots of kids do though.

This, KRonn.   

Or at least that's my hope, I'm gonna have to learn how to listen to people, so I envisage I'll be talking a lot less hence forth.   

I'm sufficiently attached to them now, that'll need some fool proof method of not losing the things, as I'm fairly absent minded.
Interestingly if I lose them, I'll have to pay $100 for replacements.

[KRonn]

Mongers, I have to think you'll be very fond of your hearing aids, or already are. As you say, you're used to them now, attached. Given how much they'll help your hearing it's going to be great for you. I had thought it would take a while to get used to them, but after a few days or so I was fine. 

It's interesting though, the habits you developed to overcome your hearing issues previously. Now you're  unlearning some of that, and yeah, we don't let go of old habits so easily. 

[KRonn]

Well Mongers, just goes to show us that a lot of people have tinnitus and/or hearing issues. Helps a bit to know that it isn't such a unique thing. I keep a check on the tinnitus site to see what's new in treatment.

William Shatner has a letter on the ATA.org site. He got tinnitus during a Star Trek shoot from explosions that were too loud. But his cleared up after a while, apparently.

[mongers]

Well Mongers, just goes to show us that a lot of people have tinnitus and/or hearing issues. Helps a bit to know that it isn't such a unique thing. I keep a check on the tinnitus site to see what's new in treatment.

William Shatner has a letter on the ATA.org site. He got tinnitus during a Star Trek shoot from explosions that were too loud. But his cleared up after a while, apparently.

for that, interesting stuff; hope you're still enjoying you enhanced hearing. 


I tried out some of my old vinyl yesterday evening for the first time.

Found some old speakers, one of those micro-digital amps and a reasonable turntable, turns out there are definitely things on those records I've not heard/ heard so clearly before.

Interestingly it's not as open and shut case as I'd thought it would be between vinyl and cds; Tried put some old 70s king crimson album vs a rather good recent remastered cd version of it, there different, but the cd isn't that much more detailed and the vinyl has the whole warmth vibe going for it. 

I shall now have to listen to all of my old records. 

[KRonn]

I shall now have to listen to all of my old records.   

Sounds good!

Still liking the enhanced hearing, for sure. Tinnitus kicked in tonight, for some reason. An odd affliction it is, eh? But it really isn't bothering me, as I've been becoming a lot better about it. Just that it's been very quiet today, tinnitus almost gone all day, but dozing in front of TV kicked it off. Strange thing for me but that's what the affliction is for everyone, pretty strange.

[mongers]

Really enjoying listening to the old music, that is new to me.


However, I really don't like listening to my own voice, in fact I seem to be actively avoiding listening to it, if that makes any sense.

[mongers]

I shall now have to listen to all of my old records.   

Sounds good!

Still liking the enhanced hearing, for sure. Tinnitus kicked in tonight, for some reason. An odd affliction it is, eh? But it really isn't bothering me, as I've been becoming a lot better about it. Just that it's been very quiet today, tinnitus almost gone all day, but dozing in front of TV kicked it off. Strange thing for me but that's what the affliction is for everyone, pretty strange.

KRonn, this might interest you, hearing aid hacking !!

Hearing-aid hackers fine-tuning their own devices

By Mark Ward
Technology correspondent, BBC News

5 July 2012 Last updated at 02:20

If you are short-sighted, usually all it takes is a visit to an optician to get a pair of spectacles to help restore the world to sharp detail.

But if you suffer hearing problems, visiting an audiologist just the once will probably not restore sounds to crisp clarity.

The consequent frustration is driving some people with the appropriate expertise to hack into their own hearing aids to carry out DIY improvements.

Brian Moore, professor of audiology at the University of Cambridge, explained: "It's not the same as spectacles where you know you have the right prescription.

"With a hearing aid you can have an initial prescription but you will need to do some fine-tuning around that afterwards to satisfy the individual person."

He said the tuning process was frustrating because of the difficulty in making hearing aids work within different levels of noise.

Catering for young

Now some tech-savvy users are taking the initiative.

"Hearing aids are becoming a more and more interesting target not only to hack, but also simply to connect them to all kinds of consumer hardware and make the experience more seamless," said Helga Velroyen, a Munich-based software engineer who has been at the forefront of efforts to modify hearing aids.

Her interest in the topic was sparked when her own hearing started to degrade a few years ago.

In Germany, she said, the average age of a person buying their first hearing aid was 70, meaning that most equipment had been kept simple to cater for this ageing audience, she added.

This desire for simplicity meant that manufacturers were often reluctant to introduce features common in other consumer electronics.

"Young people who grew up with computers and have a smartphone have the desire to have more control over their devices and would not mind a more sophisticated interface," Ms Velroyen told the BBC.
....

Rest of article here, interesting read:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18690973

[KRonn]

Interesting Mongers. My hearing aids are digital, I guess most are these days. The top tier ones in my hearing aid product line work with other items like an FM system which transmits sound directly to the hearing aids without background sound. Mine don't have that compatibility as I didn't need that, and those others are a lot more expensive. Mine do have some features such as some sort of directional aspect to them. If I'm in a noisy place they're supposed to lower the sound behind me so I can hear better from the front as in talking to someone. I haven't really tested that out.

[mongers]

Interesting Mongers. My hearing aids are digital, I guess most are these days. The top tier ones in my hearing aid product line work with other items like an FM system which transmits sound directly to the hearing aids without background sound. Mine don't have that compatibility as I didn't need that, and those others are a lot more expensive. Mine do have some features such as some sort of directional aspect to them. If I'm in a noisy place they're supposed to lower the sound behind me so I can hear better from the front as in talking to someone. I haven't really tested that out.

Yes, mine pretty much do the range of things yours do; I don't even know the commercial model's name.
Besides, I'm not sure I'd cope with super complex ones with multiple programs and bluetooth etc. I think that might just result in rapid battery drain in return for more hassle.

So I'm quite happy with things as they are.