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Hearing devices and hearing aids

Posted on: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 by Louis Adamou

Daniel Waters. Do you wear a hearing aid? Do you find noisy environments or listening at a distance difficult?

Dan Waters introduces hearing devices and systems that can assist hearing aid users. These types of products can amplify and enhance the quality of the sound for you....

Room loops

A room loop is normally a wire that goes around the room and plugs into the TV and an amplifier. The sound of the TV is then sent directly to your hearing aid (when your hearing aid is switched to the ‘T’ setting).

Benefits:

Loop system can assist in several ways:

they ‘carries’ the sound of the TV directly to your hearing aid, so it’s like you’re listening to the TV with headphones
there’s no limit to the number of people that can use the loop at one time
the loop also cuts out background noise so you can focus purely on the TV
you can have a second microphone so you can hear other sounds like conversations or the doorbell.

A room loop can also be used for listening to a conversation. Instead of plugging into the TV, the person you are talking to would speak into the microphone included in the pack. The loop works equally well wherever you are in the room, so you are free to wander around.

Ideal for people who…

…use a hearing aid with a T switch. Loop systems that are used for TV watching are not really portable, so if you spend a lot of time watching TV and if you have background noise that needs blocking out then a loop is a good choice.

Personal listeners

Personal listeners are mobile phone sized products that amplify sound and transfer it to your ears via a variety of options: headphones and stethosets (if you don’t have a hearing aid), or ear hooks and neckloops (if you have a hearing aid with a T switch).

Benefits:

you can benefit from personal listeners whether you have a hearing aid or not
they are very flexible because you can amplify the TV, stereo, conversations and any other sound that you want to hear
all personal listeners are portable so you can use them in restaurants, pubs, meetings etc
there’s a wide choice of listeners so you can buy one that best meets your needs and budget.

Ideal for people who…

…have an active life and need hearing support in a variety of situations, then a personal listener is a very useful tool.

TV listeners

TV listener products are excellent for TV and stereo listening. On some models an additional microphone can be purchased to be used for conversations.

There are two types of TV listener:

short range infra-red TV listeners which need a clear line of sight between you and the TV
long range TV listeners work using radio waves which can go through walls. This means you can listen to the TV or stereo anywhere within range, so you could still hear it when you’re in the next room making a cup of tea or relaxing in the garden.

Benefits

they have no wires to trip over and are very easy to set up and use
you can walk around with the receiver (neckloop if you have a hearing aid or stethoset if not). The operating range can be up to 100 metres so you can even listen to the stereo in the garden.

Ideal for people who…

…don’t like fiddly wires or are liable to trip over them. If you watch a lot of TV or enjoy music then TV listeners are a good choice. They are more expensive than loops and most personal listeners.

Are you looking to get more out of your hearing aid?

Our dedicated Customer Service team can help recommend room loops, personal listeners and TV listeners. We’ll always recommend the most suitable product rather than the most expensive.