Hearing aid(s)

[BReeves]

Here is another tip to help when watching TV.
TV speakers suck as we all know. Get a sound bar with the added “clear voice” third channel.
What that does is take the voice audio from the TV and runs it through some electronics to clean it up and enhance the voices before sending it out into the room. You’ll be amazed at how low you can turn that TV down using a sound bar.

Thank you, thank you... Was not aware of sound bars with clear voice. Have an RCA sound bar that was a Christmas gift to my wife from work that sounds pretty good but does not have the Clear Voice feature. I can live with it if I turn the treble all the way up but still have to run it way too loud to understand what people are saying. I just ordered a ZVOX SB380 sound bar from Amazon, seemed to be the best for both clear voice and surround sound and wide enough to fit where the RCA is mounted on top of the TV. Doesn't have a separate sub like the RCA but I'm not really into booming base like some are.

Hoping this will eliminate the need for hearing aids as the biggest issue with my situation is understanding what is being said when watching TV. I have to have the volume up so high it drives my wife nuts. Should be here in a day or so, when I get it working I will come back with a report.

 

[DRC458]

Thank you, thank you... Was not aware of sound bars with clear voice. Have an RCA sound bar that was a Christmas gift to my wife from work that sounds pretty good but does not have the Clear Voice feature. I can live with it if I turn the treble all the way up but still have to run it way too loud to understand what people are saying. I just ordered a ZVOX SB380 sound bar from Amazon, seemed to be the best for both clear voice and surround sound and wide enough to fit where the RCA is mounted on top of the TV. Doesn't have a separate sub like the RCA but I'm not really into booming base like some are.

Hoping this will eliminate the need for hearing aids as the biggest issue with my situation is understanding what is being said when watching TV. I have to have the volume up so high it drives my wife nuts. Should be here in a day or so, when I get it working I will come back with a report.

I look forward to your review. I'm thinking about adding a sound bar myself.


.

 

[dennishoddy]

Thank you, thank you... Was not aware of sound bars with clear voice. Have an RCA sound bar that was a Christmas gift to my wife from work that sounds pretty good but does not have the Clear Voice feature. I can live with it if I turn the treble all the way up but still have to run it way too loud to understand what people are saying. I just ordered a ZVOX SB380 sound bar from Amazon, seemed to be the best for both clear voice and surround sound and wide enough to fit where the RCA is mounted on top of the TV. Doesn't have a separate sub like the RCA but I'm not really into booming base like some are.

Hoping this will eliminate the need for hearing aids as the biggest issue with my situation is understanding what is being said when watching TV. I have to have the volume up so high it drives my wife nuts. Should be here in a day or so, when I get it working I will come back with a report.

You’ll likely still need to use your HA’s but your the one that will make that decision.

 

[ronny]

I have sensorineural hearing loss. Simply put, the sensor hairs in my inner ear are shot. All the very high frequencies and very low frequencies are gone. All the other frequencies are at varying stages of hearing loss. The good news is that good hearing aids give me all the volume I need. The bad news is that with all that volume, I usually get loud gibberish.

There are some people who I simply can't hold a meaningful conversation with. Not gonna happen. Young kids are the worst. Teenage girls are iffy, especially when they're on the other end of a fast food PA system. Curiously, some deep-voiced men are just as bad. About 10% of the people I come in contact with have frequency ranges which allow me to have good quality conversations with.

I haven't been to a movie since "Saving Private Ryan". TV is a medium to be seen, not heard & understood. My wife's voice is one I can't master. I hate the phone. It is easy too withdraw and crawl into a hole. Thankfully, I fought that battle and won.

Now, the good. I have Starkey Livio's, not the AI model, though. Mind you, they have their weaknesses, for sure, but they have been instrumental in fighting that battle I mentioned. Sadly, their software falls short in some areas, but the groundwork is there for some really serious benefits. These aids have a lot of adjustments I can make myself, and, if needed, they(I) can communicate wirelessly with my audiologist to make other adjustments. They don't solve the human speech issue, but they certainly help. I'm sure the same tech is available from other mfrs. BTW, they ain't cheap.

I tried 2 different sound bars and, although they were better than my LG's speakers, they didn't help the speech issue, I didn't know about clear voice at the time.

 

[dennishoddy]

I have sensorineural hearing loss. Simply put, the sensor hairs in my inner ear are shot. All the very high frequencies and very low frequencies are gone. All the other frequencies are at varying stages of hearing loss. The good news is that good hearing aids give me all the volume I need. The bad news is that with all that volume, I usually get loud gibberish.

There are some people who I simply can't hold a meaningful conversation with. Not gonna happen. Young kids are the worst. Teenage girls are iffy, especially when they're on the other end of a fast food PA system. Curiously, some deep-voiced men are just as bad. About 10% of the people I come in contact with have frequency ranges which allow me to have good quality conversations with.

I haven't been to a movie since "Saving Private Ryan". TV is a medium to be seen, not heard & understood. My wife's voice is one I can't master. I hate the phone. It is easy too withdraw and crawl into a hole. Thankfully, I fought that battle and won.

Now, the good. I have Starkey Livio's, not the AI model, though. Mind you, they have their weaknesses, for sure, but they have been instrumental in fighting that battle I mentioned. Sadly, their software falls short in some areas, but the groundwork is there for some really serious benefits. These aids have a lot of adjustments I can make myself, and, if needed, they(I) can communicate wirelessly with my audiologist to make other adjustments. They don't solve the human speech issue, but they certainly help. I'm sure the same tech is available from other mfrs. BTW, they ain't cheap.

I tried 2 different sound bars and, although they were better than my LG's speakers, they didn't help the speech issue, I didn't know about clear voice at the time.

The clear voice is not the answer to TV listening, but it's an improvement. Every person has a different loss and different frequencies that need help. The greatest benefit is to my wife.

 

[BReeves]

May not be the answer for everyone but WOW! sure works for me. Hooked up the ZVOX SB380 this morning. It's unbelievable how low I can turn the volume down and still understand everything being said. If understanding voice on your TV is the main issue I give this thing 5 stars. $249.00 for this sound bar verses $3000.00 plus for hearing aids is sure worth a shot to see if it will work as well for you as it does for me.

https://www.amazon.com/ZVOX-SB380-Aluminum-AccuVoice-Subwoofer/dp/B0744N8TNQ

Humm.. Looks like Amazon changed the listing since I bought, now $299.00 from other sellers for the SB380? Maybe a discontinued model and I got the last one Amazon had. No matter to me as it works as expected. The above link will give you many other model choices with a comparison chart, pick one that fits your budget and needs. The "Clear Voice" function works and would assume it will work just as well no matter which model you buy.

 

[Shadowrider]

I also had never heard of Clear Voice until I read dennishoddy's post. So I went and grabbed the manual for my cheapo Samsung sound bar and sure enough it has a clear voice mode. Switched it over and it does help. I may upgrade as it appears everyone seems to have their own version and this is a bargain basement model.

I was reading up on this and I found a lot of people have this problem and it's compounded by the studios mixing. I found out why I've never been a fan of "Surround Sound". EVER. Wife has always wanted me to buy a big surround system. I never have because I can't stand the effect of it, even before I had much hearing loss. They jack with the sound hard in their mixing, they add in a ton of "effects" to the already packed sounds that they throw in there. They purposely play certain sounds on certain channels and then move certain ones around to create an effect of sound moving such as an explosion reverberating and dissipating. All of this seems to obliterate or overpower the dialog. It's always been maddening to me. Those of us with hearing loss know that it's very frustrating to be talking to someone right in front of you, and you can hear them talking just fine, but background sound makes it to where you can't pick up on what they are saying. The movie studios don't help this they make it worse. Clear voice does seem to negate some of this.

 

[Snattlerake]

I also had never heard of Clear Voice until I read dennishoddy's post. So I went and grabbed the manual for my cheapo Samsung sound bar and sure enough it has a clear voice mode. Switched it over and it does help. I may upgrade as it appears everyone seems to have their own version and this is a bargain basement model.

I was reading up on this and I found a lot of people have this problem and it's compounded by the studios mixing. I found out why I've never been a fan of "Surround Sound". EVER. Wife has always wanted me to buy a big surround system. I never have because I can't stand the effect of it, even before I had much hearing loss. They jack with the sound hard in their mixing, they add in a ton of "effects" to the already packed sounds that they throw in there. They purposely play certain sounds on certain channels and then move certain ones around to create an effect of sound moving such as an explosion reverberating and dissipating. All of this seems to obliterate or overpower the dialog. It's always been maddening to me. Those of us with hearing loss know that it's very frustrating to be talking to someone right in front of you, and you can hear them talking just fine, but background sound makes it to where you can't pick up on what they are saying. The movie studios don't help this they make it worse. Clear voice does seem to negate some of this.

That's me. trying to hear consonants especially "c, s, z, th, ph, sh" might as well be wearing earmuffs.

 

[CHenry]

Does anyone have experience or info on these? I'm really wanting some bluetooth aids and programable. The cheap ones I bought are fine really but a few issues make me want to upgrade and the price on these isnt bad.
https://www.listenlively.com/product

 

[BReeves]

Sure sounds interesting and about what good hearing aids should cost instead of the 3 to 5 grand the local places charge. Going to keep this in mind, thanks.