Just got fitted for them this morning, and I'm still processing this.
I have moderate-severe cookie bite hearing loss in a very text book pattern, meaning I'm missing roughly 50% of my mid range frequencies. It's hereditary. My grandfather couldn't hear, my mom can't hear, my brother can't hear, my cousins uncle etc can't hear. It's all deaf all the way down on that side of the family.
My brother took the plunge about 5 years ago. My mom about 4. I put it off for whatever reason. Probably because I'm typically averse to change and I did'nt want the stigma of my invisible disability becoming immediately visible to people.
I was fully ready to go to Costco to get some Jabras for a few grand, but last minute I looked and it turns out hearing aids are now covered by my insurance. So I called my audiologist I had a test done with in 2023, and they were booked through the end of November, except for one cancellation literally the next day. I snagged that appointment asap. Very lucky.
It took 3 weeks to get my custom molds in and get a fitting appointment for this morning.
In the end I was on the hook for a couple grand, a little less than the Costco hearing aids and have a more comprehensive fitting service (multiple appointments over the course of the year) and the top of the line Starkey's with the AI neural network.
Moral of the story, ALWAYS check your insurance just to be sure before you pay out of pocket. You might be pleasantly surprised, or you might not.
Some thoughts on my first 4 hours with them. They're currently set to roughly 45% of the gain I "need" to bring my hearing inline with "normal" baselines, and it will increase slowly over the next 45 or so days.
I feel like I'm eavesdropping on people. I can hear conversations 15 feet behind me clear as day.
I can separate different conversations in a crowded deli. I was in line with about 5-6 other people and I heard what each individual person ordered. There was at least 8 or 9 different people talking at once and I heard all of them. It was a bit of an information overload.
The floor boards are loud.
The fish tank is loud. Had to order a quieter aerator.
The fridge makes noise I guess?
The wood wick candle on my desk sounds like a roaring bonfire right next to me. Out of curiosity I turned it up to 100% just to see what that was like and what the fuck is even that?!
Seltzer water is loud. Had no idea about that.
My mechanical keyboard is obnoxiously loud.
Music sounds kinda like ass in them when it's streamed directly to them but that's to be expected with the driver size and that it's tuned to human speech, not deep bass and soaring highs.
BUT when listened to on the car stereo it sounded good. Different, much less warm and bass driven (because I'm missing the mids) Playing with the gain slider was like eqing it in real time. Wild stuff. I will listen to my record player with really nice speakers after work and see how I like it.
I'm not sure why they can't replicate those sounds with the direct stream, but I digress. Probably the audio driver/decoder in conjunction with the physical drivers.
Chip bags are stupidly loud, I want to know who invented that bullshit.
I fucking STOMP around. I'm a loud mother fucker.
My 2 stroke dirt bike surprisingly sounds pretty much the same. A little more ringing in the exhaust note and I can hear the engine itself moving a little more, but largely the same.
The rain on the hardtop of my wrangler sounded like fire crackers. The sound had so much texture, it was wild.
Anything else I should listen to? I know it will take a couple weeks to get used to this, but it definitely sounds overwhelming right now, and I now believe my brother when he said you'll be asleep on the couch by 6 pm.
