Any ideas about headsets and hearing aids?

[bushcaddy105]

Old age and industrial deafness have caught up. With not inconsiderable nagging from the family I have at last ordered new wizz-bang hearing aids. Can anyone help with advice about how to best incorporate aviation headsets with hearing aids? I currently use an ANR adapted Pilot brand headset run from aircraft power, but without Bluetooth. The new aids are designed to work with iPhones and iPads via Bluetooth. All ideas gratefully received!

 

 

[cscotthendry]

This may be wrong, but do you need to use hearing aids with headsets? As I understand, hearing aids just amplify and the whizz-bang ones do some noise filtering. This is similar to what ANR aviation headsets do. Just take the hearing aids out when you put the headsets on and if needed turn the radio/intercom/headset volume up.

 

 

[Geoff13]

I use my hearing aid with my headset. Mine is designed to minimise the effect of Tintinitus and it is most important that I wear it during periods of high background noise. I find I have no problem at all wearing it under my normal headset. The only time I did have a problem was when the battery died during a flight. My hearing aid then acts like a fairly effective ear plug and it took me a while to work out why one side of my headset had stopped working.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Geoff, did the tinnitus come from trucking?

 

 

[Geoff13]

Geoff, did the tinnitus come from trucking?

Probably a combination of Trucking plus my past life where I spent many years working with Tanks and other Armoured vehicles.

 

I have only had the hearing aid for a year and for me it has been extremely effective in helping to control what can at times be a soul destroying condition.

 

 

[Ayecapt]

I aggree in general with all the comments , especially about filtering and amplification. My HA boosts upper frequencies which in my case restores the hearing frequency balance so f and s dont get muddled etc

 

My only issue with wearing my hearing aids is that you have to remember that you are wearing them and be very very careful when taking your headset off. Otherwise you might spend the next hour looking for a hearing aid ....and you how difficult finding lost things in a aircraft can be...

 

I use a on ear type headset these days so its now less of a issue than when i used a full muff style headset. But still gotta check.

 

 

[ron dunn]

I am unfortunate enough to have lost almost all of my hearing in my latter life due to a family hereditry problem and have a cochlear unit fitted to my right ear.

 

Using their custom made cable I plug that into the receiver unit of the cochlear and the other end, which has a normal 7.5 mm jack into the headset plug, using an adaptor. Works fairly well for lower density traffic operations but would not be good enough for high density traffic areas. I estimate I get about 70 percent readability with this.

 

Do not know if the latter day hearing aids have such a facility.

 

 

[bushcaddy105]

Thanks all for your input

 

Yes, the wizzbang aids I've ordered have 16 programmable frequency bands and will be adjusted to provide the amplification needed for each of these bands. They also have some mechanism for being able to adjust for sound direction. I will also be able to use an iPhone app to adjust them myself if I need to. I'm pleased to hear that I should be able to wear them under my existing ANR headset. I'll let you know when I've tried them.

 

 

[Ayecapt]

Thanks all for your inputYes, the wizzbang aids I've ordered have 16 programmable frequency bands and will be adjusted to provide the amplification needed for each of these bands. They also have some mechanism for being able to adjust for sound direction. I will also be able to use an iPhone app to adjust them myself if I need to. I'm pleased to hear that I should be able to wear them under my existing ANR headset. I'll let you know when I've tried them.

Top stuff the direction bit is interesting. Because my hearing loss is different in each ear , my ability to determine where a sound comes from is useless. The hearing aids fix this . Of course it doesnt matter when using a headset since you hear everything in the center

 

 

[bull]

This may be wrong, but do you need to use hearing aids with headsets? As I understand, hearing aids just amplify and the whizz-bang ones do some noise filtering. This is similar to what ANR aviation headsets do. Just take the hearing aids out when you put the headsets on and if needed turn the radio/intercom/headset volume up.

I use hearing aids for all normal activities, but when I,m flying I have found that with the volume turned up full onmy headset I have no problem hearing calls etc, but with the aid in I get too much interference

 

 

[Bryon]

I use mine all the time normally, but not when I am flying as they tend to feedback too much

 

I only have top end frequency loss, so the volume control on the headsets is enough to make up for it

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

This is a very interesting chat. I don't wear mine when I'm flying. The first time I tried it was just too noisy ( I thought I had forgot to turn my ANR headset on). Mine are Siemens with the small pod behind the ear and the ear plug speaker and either they are not being sealed 100% by the headset or the aids are just magnifying the sound more.

 

 

[facthunter]

Aren't the ANR sets and the fancy hearing aids in a way doing the same thing? Most people end up with a high(er) frequency loss (above 5,000 hertz) but I also have a minus loss in the lower register so I can actually hear LOW frequency sound twice as well as normal. This might be good for hearing some diff noises or distant thunder but causes distortion, which is not helpful, particularly in a crowded bar or such. The original loss was instant and as a result of training with a Vickers Machine gun at Singleton years ago, mostly in one ear but they tend to equalise themselves over time. There's been plenty of tarmac exposure to RR Darts as well which have to be heard to be believed, especially from the front. Nev

 

 

[RetiredRacer]

This may be wrong, but do you need to use hearing aids with headsets? As I understand, hearing aids just amplify and the whizz-bang ones do some noise filtering. This is similar to what ANR aviation headsets do. Just take the hearing aids out when you put the headsets on and if needed turn the radio/intercom/headset volume up.

Scott, I've found this not the case. Hearing loss (in my case) not only reduces the volume it also distorts the human voice and the louder the background noise the more the human voice is distorted. It depends on the pitch of the voice as well, higher pitch is not so distorted but lower pitch is "what did that person just say?". The ANR headsets do overcome most of this problem by reducing the background noise and therefore the distorsion with radio calls. The hearing aids are designed to reduce (if not eliminate) the voice distorsion. There has been the odd time I,ve forgotten to take the hearing aids out but as soon as the engine fires up the louder noise soon lets me know I still have them so I remove them.

 

On our return flight yesterday, Robyn was flying so I did some testing with my hearing aids in and out. I have a Bose headset which I have found reduce my hearing problem the most. The Bose have a large ear cup and I have found they do cover the hearing aid unit behind the ear but the aids are doing their job and are magnifying what noise that is getting through. Hence the louder noise! I want to point out here that we fly behind a Lycoming, but the loud un-muffled deep throated

 

exhaust is not being magnifyied the aids are magnfying the more high pitched sounds what sounds like tappet clatter.

 

But there is a plus in this!! The radio calls are also louder AND CLEARER!!!!!!! Turn the headset volume down so the radio calls are not so loud and this also reduces some of the background noise that the aids have been magnifying and the calls still stay CLEARER !!!

 

Feedback was not there most of the time but it did raise it's ugly head so I'm going to have talk to my aids techo and see if that little bit of feedback can be adjusted out.

 

Bob

 

 

[Geoff13]

I have just had a 2 hour session with my Audiologist. Very interesting.

 

I personally have had no problem wearing my hearing aid with either standard headset or with my EQ-1 ANR headset.

 

If I don't wear my hearing aid I just turn up the headset.

 

Over the last 3 months I have felt my hearing aid to be not as effective in normal use, hence my visit today.

 

It was very enlightening. basically in the last 12 months my hearing has deteriorated a further 30% on what it was.

 

My hearing aid was mainly to help control Tinnitus but now it is there to help with hearing as well.

 

I had a long discussion with her about ANR headsets and ANR ear plugs.

 

BOSE have just bought out a set of ANR earplugs that can be blue toothed to the phone for hands free operation and wanted her opinion before spending the money to by them.

 

To cut a long story short she likes them especially for people like myself who have difficulty hearing in a noisy environment.

 

Her main -ve was to be aware of not having music etc turned to loud. But to wear as earplugs and the hands free phone setup she was very positive.

 

So off to the Bose shop and purchased a pair and set them up then Julie and I went to a little cafe she likes, and I hate because of the loud background noise.

 

After a little fiddling with the controls and finding a comfortable level of attenuation I found that I could totally block out the crying baby and hear almost everything that was being said in the cafe.

 

The one problem Julie noticed was that she couldn't hear me. Obviously because I could hear everything clearly especially myself, I was speaking much softer than normal and as such she really did struggle to hear me. (ahh they say payback is a b!tch)

 

So with the Audiologist, the anr earplugs and the previously very noisy cafe, I have overdosed on sound today so I think a little quiet time in my chair with my little dog who for some reason thinks the chair is hers may be the order for the rest of the afternoon.

 

 

[bushcaddy105]

Many thanks to all who have contributed to my initial post. Now for an update - I have been using the loan aids for over a month, and last week bought them. They are just so good! I keep hearing subtle noises that I hadn't been aware of missing (like hearing my boots crunching on gravel, and the variety of bird calls in the background). Conversations with a table of people in a noisy pub are now easy, and the aids aren't just focussed on where I am looking. I hear conversations behind me as well. At first they were not good with the ANR headset, producing a background hissing noise. The Audiologist added an automatic feedback suppression program and all is well now. The only minor issue remaining is that my own voice sounds different to me. I'll have to get used to that. As a bonus, I have set my phone to ring and send audio straight to the hearing aids, (great for flying) and music bluetoothed (now with correction for my hearing) straight to the aids sounds fantastic. The biggest regret is that I should have done it 5 years ago when aids were first suggested, and not listened to mates who told horror stories about how impossible aids were.