Sound Tech Technical Question

[MikeBjerum]

I know we have had a few with knowledge in sound technology around here, and Alf is our resident retired spurt.  A quick question as I deal with sounds at this new point in my life.

I recently obtained hearing aids and have noticed a few things. The most annoying right now, and my specialist is working on, is "S" and "X" sounds. As I listen to broadcasts and recordings it is generally not an issue, but with some recorded or amplified speakers these sounds come through as harsh hissing. My fine ear lady is making strides with the built in equalizers.

When you work with systems is this something you specifically need to deal with?

[alfsauve]

Sibilance

It's the high frequency r-u-s-h associate with “S”, “SH”, “CH”, “J”, and “Z”. 

In live or recorded sound this varies by performer, by microphone, by arrangement and to some extent by room acoustics.   During rehearsals and sound checks we can adjust the equalizers per mic/channel to smooth it out.  In today's all digital world there can be separate settings for each song and they can be recalled at the touch of a button. 

With everyday hearing it's a compromise.  Different sources, live vs streaming vs recorded, etc. have different mixes and qualities.   Personally, I'd adjust it so  whomever I listen to the most (spouse) sounds great and then just suffer with it for the other sources.   Of course with your own "speakers" on your TV/computer you sometimes can adjust things there, but I find the mix/quality varies so much from show to show that  there's no winning.

Now combine this with any tinnitus you may have......

[MikeBjerum]

Tinnitus ...  Hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss for decades!

The thing I find interesting, or frustrating, is that everything will be fine, then something will come on the radio or tv that is bad. I can take the aids out and everything sounds fine, put the aids back in and its there, until the speaker or song is over. Just one digital gadget hating another digital gadget.

I had some tones that sounded tinny, but after a few visits she has those fixed. It is interesting to watch her work on it. Forty-eight channel sound board on her screen, she moves slides up and down, and everything in ears changes.

[PegLeg45]

Alf pretty much covered it.

I would add (and it goes with Alf's summation) that I've noticed certain TV commercials and shows have this issue.....particularly those annoying yearly Medicare plan commercials on all the channels that "old folk" are supposed to watch the most. I noticed late one night I had the bedroom TV volume fairly low and every time a commercial came on it would hiss and pssst pssst. My wife actually sat up and asked if we had a mouse because she could hear what she thought was squeaking. I muted the TV and it went away. 

Some TV's have a menu feature to adjust for this.

[Big Frank]

I wore earplugs at work, at first it was only for the first 6 hours and all overtime, because OSHA said it was okay to go deaf 2 hours a day.   Then we had to wear them all the time. I wear ear plugs all the time when I shoot, although I wore a new pair of amplified electronic ear muffs last time. They're not nearly as effective but worked just fine. It was nice to be able to hear everything, and in stereo too. And I used to always wear earplugs when I mow the grass, but my latest lawnmower with the exhaust pointing forward doesn't sound that loud, and I quit wearing hearing protection. But my ears have still been going waaah-waah-waah-waaah for a really long time. I'm so used to it that I don't even notice it most of the time. Kind of like after 20 years or so of daily headaches, I started to not notice when I only had a minor headache, but if I thought about it, it was always there. If I have the TV of radio on, it drowns out the sound in my head. At least I don't have a loud whistle or ring like my friend's wife. I think hers goes back to a ruptured eardrum from diving in the deep end of a pool when she was a kid. Mine must just be from a lifetime of loud noise.

When I got my hearing checked at work and stepped into the (almost) soundproof booth, it was LOUD in there. The silence was deafening, as I like to say. When I put the headphones on I didn't know if I heard a tone or not half the time. I just kept pressing the button and passed every time, but have some high frequency loss, way above conversation levels.

These Walker's muffs have a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 23 dB and the foam ear plugs I normally wear have a NRR of 33.

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

Frank,

I took the hearing test four times over a three week period. Twice in the same day and place. Like you I pushed the button too many times. They say if you even hear the slightest to signal. With the tinnitus and in anticipation I ended up with "superior" hearing. After talking to the Audiologist I retook it and identified many issues.

The first Audiologist was a referral from my primary doctor doing a follow-up on my hospital stay. This was the only tester that asked detailed questions prior to testing. The other two asked for minimal general information before, and then after the test gave detailed descriptions of what they found. Their narratives were exact details of what I would have said if asked before. To me, these are tests I can trust!

The reason I took it so many times is that you can't shop around and compare if you don't take their tests. Fortunately they don't charge. The tests are almost all identical in the way they are administered, and the three could be laid one on top of the other and the lines were 95% identical. My worst ranges are the higher, with some loss in other different areas, and when background noise is added high tones go completely away and everything else worsens. Interesting to see how each range reacts to the addition of different backgrounds.

Two of the places, plus one phone call estimate that would describe theirs over the phone, were most interested in explaining connectivity, and that these were high priced earbuds (my description of their sales pitches). One pushed their "very affordable" in the ear product. The more they described it I realized that my custom Wildears electronic earplugs already do everything they were selling - Simple amplification.

When all was said and done I did some math. I could have bought 50,000 pair of those quality foam plugs for the cost of this sound system I now wear.

Regardless of cost or hassle, it is nice to be able to pick out more details in sounds, say huh less (they say it will take months to quit the habit), and the sound of our granddaughter's voice is priceless. I haven't heard or understood her well for a couple years.

[Big Frank]

That's great, Mike. I don't have grandkids or kids, but think MasterCard can stuff their "priceless" commercials. They don't have a clue.

As for the math -->

[Jim Kennedy-ar154me]

I also have tinnitus. Is it pronounced

Tin I us
or Tin nit us
??

[Rastus]

I have had tinnitus since I was 8 or 9.  It sucks....

[alfsauve]

I also have tinnitus. Is it pronounced

Tin I us
or Tin nit us
??

I've heard it both ways and my ENT said either is good with him.  I prefer the Te-ni-Tus.

I've discovered different parts of the world do put emphasis differently
Re-nay-sance instead of ren-a-sance in Europe
The British value the privy-cy over our pri-va-cy
The medical industry used saunt-a-meter instead of cent-a-meter for a while.
Or my sister, master gardner, uses clem-a-tus instead of climb-at-us.