"I do not oppose analog and digital amplification. I just think that both have their place in audiology."

Michel MATHIEU
FrenchEar CEO & Founder

Hearing aid manufacturers have always claimed that digital features have been the subject of advanced research. They presented us as indispensable the WDRC, the large number of channels, the very complex signal processing etc. The transition from analog to digital was motivated on the one hand by the fad of the arrival of a new technology and on the other hand by the search for increased benefit for the hearing impaired suffering from recruitment and intolerance to very complex sound environments.

But this transition, experienced very difficult by some hearing impaired, made the mistake of forgetting that some of them could continue to prefer the simplicity of the analog amplification without any delay processing, even if sometimes the consequences of a sensorineural hearing loss do not allow the auditory cortex to optimise the auditory treatment in a noisy environment.

The audiology market is starting to talk about analog again. I let you appreciate the relevance of this article published on September 11, 2019:

https://slate-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/slate.com/technology/2019/09/hearing-aids-digital-analog-sound-music.amp

As a hearing care professional, I was speechless when the hearing impaired explained to me in their own words why they prefer analog sound, whether about Lyric or about their old device necessarily renewed by a digital device. It went against everything I had been taught. This is where the analog amplification, disappeared from audiology field, has imposed itself to me. Not as a miraculous solution but great enough in its simplicity to be revisited.

Citations for this article:

Official study comparing Lyric analog amplification with digital hearing aids :
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e83f/9d8e8010cff5d1124f6d9abe7e43d0f58b9f.pdf

The post Hearing aid : Digital or Analog ? And why not both ? appeared first on FrenchEar.

« Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect »

Mark Twain

It is so easy to write pages and pages on this divided theme by crossing the pros and the cons, the fundamental acoustic truths and highly scientific and audiological explanations. We don't want to start here an analog vs digital debate and we don't say digital devices shouldn’t exist, just that analog devices should as well.

Even if some cochlear distortions do not allow the brain to do perfecty alone the hearing treatment in a noisy environment, we don’t believe there are any goods medical or audiological explications for completely phasing out analog hearing devices on the healthcare market.

We chose to put the debate on another level by giving the floor to the hearing impaired with 3 very interesting testimonials :

I’m 71 & began wearing 1 aid in mid 30s, wearing 2 aids in 40s. I have hi frequency loss [all in my family have same loss]. For me, analog aids have a much more natural sound with no delays or processing as digitals. I’m in process of getting new aids & the hi tech aids are “pushed” on customers. Digitals give me headache, ear aches, make my head spinn & even affect my vision. Audiologists do not seem to understand why, making me feel very “whimpy” & they continue to tell me to just keep trying to adjust to the problems of digitals. Not everyone wants their lives dictated by hi technology & learn to work all the gadgets that accompany digital aids. I crave the natural sounds of my voice & the families voices. I don’t like the delays in changing/processing of the digitals. Analog are just more comfortable, kinda like my old 'jammies:). It’s difficult to explain to anyone not hard of hearing, but I compare digital to getting the latest hi tech computer system with glare & learning new systems when Windows 98 looks beautiful & does the simple tasks necessary [I have both due to working & W’98 is still my favorite & most beautiful screen]. In short, analog much more resembles natural hearing with much less hassle [especially for we seniors] than the digital. Digital is too challenging for me & does not offer better hearing in return. I want to relax & enjoy life, not constantly learning new technology which give me headache, earache, balance problems/etc. Most important to me also, is control with an on/off switch & volume control. Digitals want to think for me. I want to think for myself & be in control of my hearing/life. I think the reason there are not more responses to this thread is that most of us who are hearing impaired don’t realize all the information online and/or be in denial. Hearing impaired persons are twice as tired at the end of the day as so much energy is used just to hear/understand speech & we probably do not sit in front of a computer as much. I do a lot of online research, but only research hearing when I have a problem. I need to stay updated so I won’t get so stressed out when time to get new aids/problems. I do hope the values of analog aids will be noticed & more analog aids made available to consumers. Probably not enough profit for this to happen though. Hi tech=hi $$$.

grannyhears

Analogs have real surround amplified sound. Plain and simple amplified sound. I have 2 (...) CIC that are 15yrs old (repaired and recased over the years). I just purchased a pair of (...) CIC digitals. Hate them. Still trying to get use to them but will probably take them back. I had the ability to tune out sounds naturally with my analogs. Perhaps people that are not able to do that tend to like the digitals better. The analogs were my first and only hearing aids until I recently purchased these digitals. I don’t like the fact that the digitals tune out sounds not under your control. They sound so artificial…cheap. The tv doesn’t sound very good at all. I can’t use my cordless phone due to excessive feedback (probably not recessed enough). With my analogs, if there was a sudden loud sound, they would cut out for a couple seconds then come back on. I didn’t have that “in a bottle” sound or sound direction problem. The tv and stereo sounded great. I could hear EVERYTHING. I want to hear EVERYTHING. Isn’t that the purpose of wearing hearing aids? lol It’s great with analogs! I only hope that they can continue to repair my analogs. It’s becoming harder to find places that will. They need to bring back analogs as a choice when purchasing hearing aids. I know I would buy another pair!! I don’t know what I’m going to do if mine decide to fizzle out completely or they just can’t be repaired any more. Now there are “some” advantages of the digitals that are cool: the remote control, the wireless (great for tv-like wearing headsets), bluetooth and feedback cancellation (when putting them on, taking them off or when someone hugs you). However, I feel analogs are far better. Hope this helps.

Bazinga

As a 55 year old retired Physician with profound hearing loss I have run the gamut of hearing aids from analog to advanced digital. I began wearing hearing aids at age 27. After approximately 28 years of using hearing aids of every possible kind and tweaked in every way imaginable, I have come to find no benefit in having digital aids over analogs. In fact I find analogs much softer and more tolerable to my ears and so I wear them longer. Perhaps this is due to the profundity of my loss so that I find no benefit in digital aids.
However like many others, I find it very stressful whenever I go to an audiologist as they insist on pressuring me into purchasing digital aids ignoring the fact of my reporting no added benefits over the analog aids.
Like any medical professional, audiologists as well a companies producing hearing devices need to once again learn to LISTEN to their patients. Not all deafness is physical and on the part of many medical professionals is only selective deafness to patient’s real needs as opposed to their perceived needs.
I for one have reverted back to analog aids and would encourage others to voice their opinions to their providers. Newer is NOT always better. It depends on the person and their needs both physically as well as financially.
Just another opinion FWIW

Silent_Doctor

Citations for this article:

https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/what-is-it-about-analog-sound-you-like-best/16511/51

https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/bringing-back-analog-hearing-aids/46770

The post The Truth : Digital vs Analog Hearing Aid. appeared first on FrenchEar.