[Elecraft] Headphones

[Edward R. Cole]

Ian,

My Phonak hearing aids use the molded earpiece so that may make the 
difference when wearing headphones.  I have a program for listening 
to music/TV which is flat-freq response and has no 
anti-echo/noise-cancellation routines running.  Works quite well with 
my Sony stereo headphones.  The molded earpiece offer better 
isolation from feedback.

Sounds to me that Fred is using the same hearing aid as me.  My 
hearing loss is not as bad as Fred but worse than Ian, so SSB is a 
challenge but not impossible.  The programing interface inside the 
battery compartment is probably only a serial digital interface and 
may not allow audio in/out.  Contacting Phonak's service dept. might 
tell you more.

I cannot use any device that is in-the-ear since I cannot then wear 
the hearing aid.  My prior hearing aids were in-ear inserts but did 
not have the noise-cancelling features since only one mic can be 
used.  This argument was what swayed me to over the ear.

I will probably try the CM500 from the positive experience by others 
and low price.  If they do not work for me there seems to be a market 
for them so I would not lose much in trade.

I understand your recommendations, Jim.  If my hearing were better 
that probably would work for me.  So far, I have only shifted the Tx 
equalization on my K3, leaving Rx audio shaping to be done by my 
hearing aids.  But I can certainly try some modifications to see if 
it helps.  Measuring hearing is difficult for the professionals so 
the point of giving some time with settings makes sense.  Hearing is 
partly acoustical and partly mental; not that different from analog 
and digital processing in electronics.  Only that programming one's 
self is a iterative process and heuristic.  Takes an adjustment period.

Hope my comments were not too OT and were helpful for the hearing 
impaired as well as the rest of you.  Too often hearing impaired 
folks are seen as "not paying attention" or "Lazy listeners", when, 
in fact, they are concentrating very hard to understand.

Here's an exercise for those with good hearing:  Try placing foam 
inserts in your ears, add a pair shooters hearing muffs and try 
hearing someone whisper while the lawn mower is running.  This is how 
it is "everyday" for us with hearing problems.  Or turn down the K3 
volume to one notch above minimum during a contest with PRE off and 
ATT on.  Put a pillow over your ears and then use headphones...getting it?

73, Ed

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Message: 24
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:31:06 +0100
From: Ian White GM3SEK <gm3sek at ifwtech.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Headphones
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
===snipped===
But over-the ear headphones that
completely enclose the hearing aids are not workable either, because the
headphone sound creates a constantly changing feedback environment which
can upset the DSP echo cancellation and sounds terrible.




73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
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