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Advice Needed on TV Audio Solutions for a Hearing Impaired Person
2/9/12 | randita

Posted on 02/09/2013 5:29:01 PM PST by randita

A relative of ours is hard of hearing. He's tried several types of hearing aids but they have not met his satisfaction.

When he visits us and we're watching TV, he can't hear it unless the volume is so loud it drives the rest of us out of the room. We have a small house and an open floor plan, so moving to another room is not an option. We can hear a loud TV throughout the entire house.

A possible solution would be a headset for him on which he can adjust to volume to his liking while the rest of us can keep the TV volume at a reasonable level. But I haven't seen anything like that available according to the research I've done.

What I have seen are heat sets which take over the TV volume entirely (so that people without head sets have no audio) OR personal amplifiers which are placed near the person who is hard of hearing. I'm not sure how these amplifiers work, but I wonder if they would be annoying to others in the room.

There may even be a way to replicate what's seen and heard on the TV onto a computer with a head set running out of the computer. But we don't have an extra computer to devote to that.

FYI, the TV set is a Panasonic Viera plasma, two years old. There are a couple of HDMI outputs that we're not using.

We currently don't have a sound system connected, but will soon. We moved recently and are still unpacking items like that.

Please don't bother with suggestions for hearing aids. This person is stubborn and absolutely will not listen to any suggestions.

I hope I've explained the situation satisfactorily, but if not, please feel free to ask for more information.

Any ideas are welcome and GREATLY appreciated.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: audio; hearingimpaired; tv
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To: randita
We use Sony Infrared headphones. Our house is small, and when the kiddies go to bed, we want to hear the TV without waking them up.

These are what I use, but Sony's discontinued them.

You can get them from Amazon.

Ours have lasted more than 5 years. If you buy two or more sets, they will all work together from the same base.

http://www.amazon.com/SONY-MDRIF240RK-IR-HEADPHONE-KIT/dp/B005U8GRCM

21 posted on 02/09/2013 6:18:40 PM PST by IYAS9YAS (Rose, there's a Messerschmitt in the kitchen. Clean it up, will ya?)
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To: randita

$9.95 +SH!

Order now! Operators are standing by!

22 posted on 02/09/2013 6:21:34 PM PST by freedumb2003 (I learned everything I needed to know about racism from Colin Powell)
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To: ChildOfThe60s

Thanks for the “fix” tip. I happen to have a second unit that I broke the ear stem on, so it should be an excellent suject for the stereo jack surgery.


23 posted on 02/09/2013 6:22:13 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: randita

Sony wireless headphones. You described my father. He is wearing the headphones now and the tv volume is bearable.


24 posted on 02/09/2013 6:27:57 PM PST by LibertyJihad
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To: freedumb2003

Sound amplifiers like this are worthless IMO. They amplify all the ambient sound, not just the TV. Net result is though louder, TV dialog is no easier to understand.


25 posted on 02/09/2013 6:29:39 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there)
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To: randita

I use headphones during most TV viewing, partly because I live in an apartment building and partly because of the variations in volume during programs/movies.

My set-up is:

Vizio LCD TV with audio out. Long audio cable to my cumfy-chair. Logitech headphones with inline volume control ($20 at Walmart).

The TV sound is not affected by the audio cable.

Supposedly a new law is supposed to quit broadcasters from blasting commercials above normal audio levels. I also have a problem with loud background sounds/music overpowering voices in movies and tv programs. The headphone with volume control helps significantly.


26 posted on 02/09/2013 6:33:28 PM PST by TomGuy
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To: randita

Might just work for you. I know we love our TV center now. Thrift stores can be your friend. If your patient...

As a bonus, now my music is wonderful too. music on those tiny 5.1 speaker systems is like listening to 4 transistor radios to my ears, with a boom box add-on. But real speakers, man they sound good.

Good luck, nice of you to be so concerned.


27 posted on 02/09/2013 6:37:34 PM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: randita

This sounds idential to a situation here. I went to Best Buy and found a pair of wireless earphones. They came with a cradle for recharging. They are comfy around the ears and cost about eighty bucks. She wears them all the time and the rest of the family is also very grateful.


28 posted on 02/09/2013 6:42:03 PM PST by AD from SpringBay (We deserve the government we allow.)
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To: randita
At least some TV’s are capable of outputting audio via RCA cables as well as via the speakers.A simple adapter available at Radio Shack can allow the use of standard MP3 player headphones.I have such a setup because I live in a condo and sometimes play the TV loudly.
29 posted on 02/09/2013 6:43:38 PM PST by Gay State Conservative ("Progressives" toss the word "racist" around like chimps toss their feces)
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To: LittleBillyInfidel

I am not hard of hearing but closed caption has saved my sanity. I have 5 loud boys (and a beautiful girl) that I love but, I haven’t heard a movie or tv show in 18 years. Thank you for paying for this service, even if you are only doing it because it is required.


30 posted on 02/09/2013 6:44:29 PM PST by momto6
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To: randita
You can come off of your TV Audio output jacks and with an adapter use & it to plug in Desktop Computer speakers with a headphone jack built in :>} Use the speakers volume adjustment for headphones. I wear hearing aids and that's how I do it. But I'm not deaf to the extent the person you're trying to help must be. I'm at about 50% hearing loss.
31 posted on 02/09/2013 6:55:53 PM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: randita

You can try adjusting the TV sound. Set it to mono, with no theater sound, and then turn the mid range and highest frequencies as high as they will go with the bass as low as it will go. Works for me.


32 posted on 02/09/2013 7:26:19 PM PST by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: randita

Amazon features a variety of “personal sound amplifier” devices in their “Health and Wellness” department that you might find suitable. These include headphone systems such as the Sonic SE4000 Super Ear Personal Sound Amplifier, priced at $22.95, and which gets four stars from users. Or the Williams Sound PKT D1 EH Pocketalker Ultra, which goes for $120, and is rated at five stars.

My own device, the Earglasses® Sound Amplifier, wouldn’t be suitable, since its modest amplification is best suited for use by those with less profound problems.


33 posted on 02/09/2013 7:35:15 PM PST by earglasses (I was blind, and now I hear...)
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To: randita

Friend of mine just got hearing aids that are bluetooth capable, so they’re also wireless headphones for any bluetooth device. There’s gotta be some sort of bluetooth audio for TVs. Kind of an expensive solution, but pretty cool.


34 posted on 02/09/2013 7:35:29 PM PST by discostu (I recommend a fifth of Jack and a bottle of Prozac)
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To: randita
The Rocketfish rocket boost wireless headphones:

Link: Rocketfish

35 posted on 02/09/2013 7:48:17 PM PST by jonrick46 (The opium of Communists: other people's money.)
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To: randita

My mother in law was very hard of hearing. I bought her a stereo amplified listener from Radio Shack and got a lightweight set of stereo ear phones to plug into it. She could adjust the volume to suit her.

It was also good for when we had visitors, for she could join in the conversations while using it. It amplifies the sound and does not require a connection with the audio source.

My listener is about twenty years old and they still work great. ‘Mother’ has been dead since 2001 and now I occasionally use them to listen to the birds singing.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104056


36 posted on 02/09/2013 7:52:28 PM PST by rw4site (Little men want Big Government!)
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To: jonrick46

huh?

Huh?

BTTT


37 posted on 02/09/2013 7:54:56 PM PST by Chickensoup (200 million unarmed people killed in the 20th century by Leftist Totalitarian Fascists)
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To: randita

You can buy wireless headphones that connect to the TV. I was tired of hubby cranking up the volume so I saw $15 headphones at Big Lots.. You can get more expensive ones, but these work great.


38 posted on 02/09/2013 7:56:21 PM PST by Hildy (Did)
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To: randita
Well, you have heard some sound suggestions hear, I hope that they deafinetely stereo you in the bassic dearection.
39 posted on 02/09/2013 8:03:57 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: randita
Has he seen a certified audiologist and received professional counsel on this? I did, and it helped me greatly to understand the kind of treatment I needed. It worked.

I hope you realize that overdoing the wrong kind of supplemental amplification will just make things worse. If the sound level he wants hurts your ears, it will cause more noise-induced hearing loss, aggravating his condition -- probably presbyacusis. Just boosting the loudness across the audio spectrum can make it painful in the frequencies which do not need to be amplified. And that's all turning the volume up, or using store-bought headphones will do.

So far, on this thread, I haven't seen any wise counsel on this. All seem to be advising to just boost the sound, and likely that is the WRONG approach, over time.

Don't steer your relative with advice that will harm him more. See that he gets professional advice. Do some research on this with the experts, The American Hearing Research Foundation

Find him a professional near you: http://www.asha.org/findpro/

He should also find funding help for the tests and device. I did. Unsure about who you can contact for information about audiology services and hearing aid coverage? There are a variety of resources at the state and national level that may have answers to your questions. Is he a veteran? Is the hearing loss service-related?

More loud noise will just make his condition worse -- slow enough so you won't be blamed for it -- but worse. Now you know.

One of the things I've done with TV and/or DVD movies is to turn on the "Closed Caption" feature. It helps you get the speech a little better, a kind of synergy.

Again, if he hasn't gotten advice from a professional audiologist, it's way past time. If he already has and refuses it, or won't -- figure out whether it's your problem or not, eh?

40 posted on 02/09/2013 8:07:48 PM PST by imardmd1
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