Enjoy Listening to Music Again with Hearing Aids

Usually, hearing loss happens slowly as you age. Eventually, you may notice that the music you once enjoyed now sounds different. If you’re an avid music listener, you may discover when a new instrument begins to play, you won’t know which one it is. Lyrics could be difficult to understand. Overall, the music might have a flat tone. 

With hearing aids, you’ll be able to hear the sounds that you missed. Just like musical instruments, hearing aids need to be finely tuned to clearly hear with them. Adjustments from your hearing instrument specialist, along with your feedback on what is and what is not working will help find the best settings for you. Hearing aids can also help reduce tinnitus - the repetitive beeping, buzzing, or chirping noises that many musicians and music lovers experience when exposed to too much sound.   

How Can You Enjoy Listening to Music Again?

The default settings on your hearing aids are meant to improve speech sounds, so music may actually sound dull or flat. Simply switching the volume levels won’t help with this problem. 

Ask your hearing instrument specialist to program a music setting. When you want to listen to or play music, you can switch your hearing aid to this setting. 

Do Not Turn the Volume Up

There’s a range of sounds in music, where some sections may get louder and then softer. 

If you experience profound hearing loss, the wide range of sounds can be challenging to hear. Some new hearing aid users who listen to music tend to raise the volume very high which can cause more damage to their auditory system. 

Early hearing aid models were unable to handle these bigger ranges without distorting the sounds. Today’s digital hearing aids are significantly better at processing music. Simply communicate what you like or dislike about your hearing aid with your hearing instrument specialist. Everyone’s ability to hear is unique, so they will create a customized program just for you. 

Hearing Aid: Music Program

Hearing aids can have many different programs. These are special pre-programmed settings that help users hear clearer in different environments.

Hearing instrument specialists can create and customize these settings based on a user’s situation. So whether you are having a conversation with someone, or sitting in a noisy area where there’s music playing in the background, there’s a setting for that. You can control these settings by using a remote that pairs with the hearing aid, an app on your smartphone, or pressing a button on the hearing aid. Talk to your hearing aid provider for guidance.

A “music” program is needed for hearing aids to better understand speech sounds. Speech sounds in a normal conversation can range between 30 to 85 decibels (dB) (Remember the average person’s hearing threshold is 85 dB.). Human speech sounds can range between 250 to 6000 Hz. For a “normal” hearing aid setting, which is honed for normal spoken conversation, the range or frequency and volume are lower than what’s used for music. For example, a piano has approximately 40 percent more frequency ranges than the average female speech sounds.

Music vs. Conversation   

Music generally has more range in frequency and volume. It incorporates vital sounds that are softer or blaring than conversational sounds. This can be challenging for any hearing aid user.

Customized programs that enhance the sound of music, generally have more amplification in lower frequencies. This is vital to enjoying music. If you have any problems with listening to music with hearing aids, do not hesitate to talk to your hearing instrument specialist.   

Use Assistive Listening Devices

To stream sounds through your hearing aids, ask about our options that are available at Pure Sound Hearing.  

To take your first step towards enjoying music again, get in touch with us. Our hearing instrument specialists will guide you through a journey to better hearing. 

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