[Elecraft] Headphones

[Edward R. Cole]

Jim and others:

I appreciate your suggestions and observations...but my hearing loss 
is not just one of intensity and frequency.  As typical of many with 
hearing loss, I have loss many of the inner ear structure that 
reproduce sound.  So the sound can be loud enough over wide enough 
spectrum and still be unrecognisable.  The way I like to illustrate 
this is to say you take a knife to your favorite high fidelity 
speaker and shred the hell out of it.  No amount of volume increase 
and egualization will restore good sound out that speaker.  It 
probably will sputter and buzz and thump and give the awfullest crappy sound.

My hearing aids are computer programmed by my audiologist with each 
ear taylored for its needs.  It is a 22-channel DSP system with two 
mics in each hearing aid so noise-cancelling and anti-echo programs 
run.  It has a two-stage AGC system with different response times in 
programs.  I have four separate software programs to chose for 
different hearing situations.  For TV and Ham radio I chose the flat 
wide-spectrum "music" mode as if gives the crispest sound.  There is 
significant differences for each ear, so using one equalization 
profile will not work as well.

So the best solution for me is using headphones with my hearing aids 
when signals are weak or QRM is high.  Any good fidelity stereo 
headset that is physically comfortable works.  Many headsets press on 
the ears and do not fit around the ear.  The physical pressure on the 
ear with the hearing aid between it and the head causes that to hurt 
after awhile.  If the hearing aid cuff were to press directly on the 
head and not touch the ear it would be much more comfortable.  But 
most are not designed for hearing aid wearer, just like not all TV or 
movies are captioned.  I do not watch uncaptioned TV/movies.

Those with handicaps learn to adapt as people around them are not 
able to understand the problem.  But if you lost a arm or leg or are 
blind there are visual clues for others to recognize.  There is 
nothing to indicate a person is hard of hearing.  Interestingly, most 
people miss the fact that I am wearing hearing aids, or if the did 
they assume it "cures" my hearing problems.  there is no cure for hearing loss.

I still cannot understand a person who is not facing me or is in 
another room.  If it is a crowded room I hear everything and nothing 
(ultimate QRM).  In a noisy location is near impossible.  If I am 
watching TV and my wife says something I usually have ask her to 
repeat it as I was concentrating on what was on TV.

Thanks
Ed - KL7UW

------------------------------

Message: 23
Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:01:54 -0700
From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Headphones
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Message-ID: <4E1A0532.7030107 at audiosystemsgroup.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 7/10/2011 10:46 AM, Edward R. Cole wrote:
 > I have followed the critiques on the reflector for headset-boom mics
 > but have not bought any.  Mostly the reports are on audio performance
 > and not comfort.

Hi Ed,

The Yamaha CM500 is quite comfortable.  In the 18 months so that I've
owned mine, it's become my only radio headset, and I often do weekend
contests that keep me in the chair for 15-20 hours (and sometimes as
long as 30 hours) in a weekend.  The large Sony phones (MDR7506 and the
consumer MDR equivalent) are also quite comfortable.

Some thoughts about using headphones WITHIOUT your hearing aids in
place. The condition you've described of very strong loss of hearing
above 500-1,000 Hz is characteristic of the vast majority of people with
enough hearing loss to use (or need) a hearing aid, but the details of
the response shape varies greatly depending on many factors, including
the noise to which the victim has been exposed over the years, and
various medical/physical factors.

   A good hearing aid will include equalization customized to the hearing
loss of each ear to try to restore something approaching "normal
hearing."  The RXEQ section of the K3's signal processing can take a
major step in this direction. A hearing impaired user should set the
lower four frequency bands to their lowest settings and boost the top
two bands.  Since ham communications, by their nature, have limited
audio bandwidth, there's no benefit from boosting frequencies higher
than 4kHz.
======snipped



73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
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