5 advantages of digital hearing aids
Hearing aids Tempe area
Digital hearing aids represent a huge advance in technology. There are many advantages to digital hearing aids. What makes digital better? What are some of the advantages of digital hearing aids?
1. Selectively amplifies sounds
Although it’s not too challenging to make a hearing aid that works well when listening to a single voice in a quiet room, the presence of background noise changes things considerably. Background noises can create a huge distraction and make it difficult or impossible to accurately distinguish the voice you want to listen to from those other noises. Amplifying all sounds equally doesn’t solve this problem.
Digital hearing aids are able to selectively amplify sounds, so they can filter out the background noise and amplify the sounds that you actually want to hear. This can make a huge difference in the wearer’s quality of life; for example, it allows them to participate in conversations at parties and in restaurants.
2. Reduces feedback
Feedback is the high-pitched whining sound that can sometimes be emitted by hearing aids. This occurs when the hearing aid picks up its own output and amplifies that, resulting in an increasingly loud sound that drowns out other sounds. The presence of feedback is one of the most bothersome problems that traditional hearing aids have had.
Digital hearing aids are able to eliminate the problem of feedback. When the hearing aid detects its own output, it selectively filters that out and doesn’t amplify it. This prevents that awful high-pitched sound from developing.
3. Automatically adjusts the volume to environment
The overall level of volume in the environment can change dramatically throughout the day. For example, a person may leave a quiet home or car and go out onto a busy street. The volume level of the hearing aids needs to adjust with this changing soundscape. With older generations of hearing aids, this had to be done manually.
Digital hearing aids can detect the overall level of noise and automatically adjust, so that the wearer doesn’t need to fiddle with any volume dials as they move from one environment to another.
4. Directional microphones
Many digital hearing aids employ directional microphones. These aim to preferentially pick up sound coming from a specific direction (in front of the wearer), rather than picking up sound coming from all around equally. This aids in listening to one sound that you want to hear amidst a sea of noise that you need to tune out. The digital processing of the sound adds to the effectiveness of this feature, making digital hearing aids excellent at helping people to distinguish a voice they’re listening to above background noise.
5. Improved sound quality
Any of you who remember listening to music on vinyl records or cassettes will recognize that the sound quality on these analog modalities is different from that of a CD (which is a digital format). Digital produces much crisper and clearer sound. In much the same way, the sound produced by a digital hearing aid is generally more crisp and clear than the sound produced by an older analog hearing aid.
Hearing aids Tempe, Phoenix, Mesa
If you or someone you love needs hearing aids, then your best next step is to consult with a qualified audiologist. This will ensure that you get the proper professional care, from hearing testing to hearing aid fitting and adjustment so that you end up with hearing aids that really work for you.
If you’re in our area, please contact our office Cassandra Fynes, AuD,CCC-A and Roger Knighton, M.N.S, CCC-A. to set up an appointment with Dr. Fynes or Dr. Knighton. As audiologists with more than a decade of experience each, they’re highly qualified to help you with your hearing, so you can live your life as fully as possible. Just use the form at the bottom of the page to get in touch with us.
