Digital Hearing Aids - The Most Advanced Technology
Have you heard about the revolution in digital technology that is sweeping across the nation? Well digital technology is not just related to TV's and other electronics. Digital is sweeping across the hearing aid industry as well and it is improving hearing levels dramatically.
Digital hearing aids contain today's most advanced technology. They are programmable hearing instruments with digital circuits. The differences between digital and analog circuits is significant. Digital circuits can be programmed to fit the individual's hearing loss and sometimes can be accomplished at specific frequencies/pitch.
Another benefit to digital hearing aids is that they offer improved sound clarity, less circuit noise, much faster sound processing, and improved noise listening versus analog circuits. By automatically adjusting the volume on digital hearing aids, it makes these some of the easiest to use on the market.
An Introduction to Digital Hearing Aids
Digital hearing aids represent the most advanced technology available today allowing the most precise fitting available. They have caused much excitement and also brought many questions as well. The basic concept of digital hearing aids is that they process sound digitally. That means that sound will be clear and no longer distorted. When wearing the older model analog hearing aids, the best way to hear better was to turn them up. However, with digital hearing aids the focus is on bringing understanding through control of the signal inside the hearing aid. For example, the sounds that you can and can't hear are different in pitch and differ in loudness. Digital hearing aids can adjust your amplification by changing pitches and volumes.
Hearing loss is not the same degree from different frequencies/pitches. Each frequency has to have a different amount of amplification because of the hearing frequencies at different levels. What a digital hearing aid does is it seperates the frequency response into different bands and channels. This allows the hearing aid to be tailored to your specific hearing loss.
The Difference Between Digital Hearing Aids and Conventional Hearing Aids
As opposed to digital hearing aids, which process sounds digitally and cuts down on distortion, conventional hearing aids simply increase the volume of all incoming sounds. This can make certain sounds too loud or too soft and create more distortion and noise. A good example of this is comparing a CD and cassette tape.
How Do Digital Hearing Aids Actually Work?
There are basically five major components to digital hearing aids: the microphone, analog to digital converter, the core, digital to analog converter, and the receiver. When sound waves are received by the microphone, those sound waves are converted to an analog (or electrical) signal. Once the signal passes through an Analog to Digital converter (or A/D converter), the sequence is changed to 1s and 0s. This sequence is then sent to the "core" where it is filtered further to different bands and channels and maipulated according to the programmed settings for the user's specific hearing loss.
The signal is then sent to a Digital to Analog converter (or D/A converter) that is manipulated to the specific hearing loss. The signal is then sent to the receiver where it is manipulated back to an acoustic signal that the user then hears. Basically, digital hearing aids have a computer chip that manipulate sound according to specific frequency and volume level to deliver a clear sound set precisely to the user's hearing loss.
How to select a digital hearing aid
There are many factors to consider when purchasing a digital hearing aid:
- How many channels and bands does it (hearing aid) have?
- What is my hearing aid specialists' recommendations?
- Does it contain a directional microphone?
- Does it contain multiple memories?
The Cost of Digital Hearing Aids
So you have finally decided to purchase a set of digital hearing aids. But you are worried about the cost, which sometimes can feel extravagant. The cost of one digital hearing aid from $1,700 to $4,500 at the retail level. There are many factors involved in the cost of a hearing aid, especially the research and development that goes into developing the technology for these hearing aids.
But just remember you can't put a price on quality of life. Digital hearing aids will improve your life in ways that you can imagine, but especially in ways you can't imagine. If you are worried about the high cost of hearing aids, visit us at Hearing Aid Express. We offer some of the most competitive prices on the finest digital hearing aids on the market. As always, we offer free hearing tests, free cleanings and adjustments, and free repairs. We also offer .50 cent batteries every day so come check out Hearing Aid Express!
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