Hearing Ear How are you? – One month on report

21st September 2010

It has been just under one month since I was upgraded from my Auria processor to the Harmony. I am now using clear voice 24/7! This is surprising as I thought that I would not be able to have my processor’s sound go up and down.

Hearing in general sounds have “normalised” to the extent that my hearing is less acute than it was 2 and a half weeks ago. I still get the odd “wow” moment and I do hope that there will be more to come.

The results have been interesting so far. I have found that Clear voice works better in some environments better than others. I am now used to the more peaceful sound of traffic outside.

At a recent football match the whole experience was “heaven” Clear voice did an excellent job killing practically all of the unwanted low frequency background noise! The result was a very peaceful experience with the odd clear sounds of fans chanting!

At a couple of gatherings with friends and family painted two different pictures. One was in a group of 10 people all talking very loudly. Clear voice seemed to struggle to work at reducing “unwanted” noise as all sounds were competing for attention! I was able to hear the people closest to me but not the people down the other end of the table.

At the second gathering, I think the group was slightly smaller so listening was easier as less sounds were competing for equal attention!.

My worst hearing performance occurred at a recent work meeting within my workplace conference centre. The room acustics were just dreadful Clear Voice got rid of the air conditioning noise but did little to assist with the echo in the room. The result was people sounding as if talking down a long narrow tunnel. Some voices were clearer than others.

Music in general sounds very good on the whole. There are some rare instances where some musical pieces sound better with or without clear voice. This element I find rather confusing. High frequency sounds are generally better than the low frequency ones for me. Vocal clarity varies for me from singer to singer. Harmonies sound sweet and smooth and able to pick out individual voices. I am also attempting to expand my musical listening library to include bands or groups I have never heard of or listened to, for example the XX (Mercury prize winner) and Pepper and Piano  (from must be the music on Sky 1).

Tv watching has greatly improved since I last reported on this with everything sounding more normal.