Posted on 11/16/2022 7:12:23 AM PST by Red Badger
Hearing loss is thought to affect as much as 15% of American adults, but hearing aids aren’t always easy to come by. A team of scientists exploring low-cost alternatives has turned to Apple’s AirPods as a potential solution, assessing them alongside conventional hearing aids to find they stack up surprisingly well.
Not only are hearing aids expensive, obtaining them usually involves a series of medical exams, a prescription from an audiologist and then follow-up visits to ensure they are properly tuned. US authorities have made moves to improve access to these devices, with the FDA recently establishing a new category for cheaper, over-the-counter hearing aids that meet certain requirements.
Researchers at Taipei Veterans General Hospital have also been exploring ways to improve the quality of life for sufferers of hearing loss. This led them to Apple’s AirPods, which since 2016 have carried a feature called “Live Listen" that enables mobile devices to act as microphones that relay enhanced sound to the user’s earbuds (or Beats headphones).
In their experiments, the researchers compared basic US$1,500 hearing aids, premium $10,000 hearing aids, AirPods 2 and AirPods Pro, the upmarket version of the earbuds with noise cancelling capabilities. The four devices were tested by 21 subjects with mild to moderate hearing loss, with the researchers reading out short sentences and asking the participants to repeat them verbatim.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
” Plus I look cool at 60. “
I think airpods make a person look like a robot. I call them maggots.
Lol that was a funny skit- thnaks for the memory
My deafness was caused by years of B-52 engines, then years of steel shop work, followed by years of power plant operations.
And I wore hearing protection!
My SIL is working on the B52 re-power program.
We spent quite a bit of time at the Dayton Air Show looking at the one on display.
I know it’s popular to trash the military these days but I was impressed by the men and women who accompanied the plane.
Lol! I threw that line in at the last second. I thought it made me look pretentious like I was ignoring people instead of actually being able to hear them, but my kids said I looked like a cool hipster or some crap like that. ha!
I have an Android phone, but I don’t know anything about how to enhance hearing on it with earphones. I’ll have to try to figure it out because my hearing aids help but have limitations.
“Not only are hearing aids expensive, obtaining them usually involves a series of medical exams, a prescription from an audiologist and then follow-up visits to ensure they are properly tuned.”
The medical exam (one exam, not a series) is essential to rule out serious medical conditions as the cause of hearing loss. I know two people who, as a result of the medical exam, learned that their hearing loss was the result of a brain tumor.
Use an Apple product?
I can’t, wrong polarity or something.
That’s why Limbaugh died, right? /s
Look up “Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro”.
They work very well.
“my kids said I looked like a cool hipster ...”
You got it. The kids view these gadgets entirely differently.
No idea, never paid much attention to him.
My legit hearing aids also function as Bluetooth connected ear pieces for my phone and music.
They are Philips.
$1800 for the pair with a better fit and insurance against loss and damage.
AND I don’t look like a dork walking around.
Got mine from the VA....................😉
bump
You’re paying way too much if you’re spending $10,000 for a hearing aid or even a set of hearing aids with conductive crossover for one ear. Yes, hearing aids have been overpriced for decades, but there are much less expensive alternatives available online that are every bit as good as the most expensive models out there.
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