Overcoming artificial sound
Some new hearing aid users report that their hearing aids have an “artificial” sound. This has become less of an issue as most hearing aid manufacturers have developed sophisticated technology to make hearing aids sound more natural. However, any time acoustic sound waves are converted to a digital signal and then back to an acoustic signal (which is needed to fill in the gaps resulting from hearing loss), we lose some of the “naturalness” of the sound.
The culprit behind artificial sound
Some of this lack of natural sound comes from a slight delay between the environmental sound reaching the eardrum naturally versus the sound coming from the hearing aid. This is called the comb-filter effect. Even though this delay is minimal, it creates a slight artificial or tinny sound that many first-time hearing aid users notice if they have a mild-to-moderate hearing loss.
Image by Widex
Reducing sound delay
Widex is reportedly the only hearing aid manufacturer to significantly reduce this delay using its proprietary Widex ZeroDelay™ technology. It’s a new ultrafast signal pathway that lowers the processing delay between the hearing aid microphone and receiver to below 0.5 milliseconds; most other hearing aids have a delay of 3-8 milliseconds. Incredibly, even a delay of 3 milliseconds can result in a comb-filter effect that the hearing aid wearer experiences.
Here is a short video to show how ZeroDelay works.
Mild to moderate loss is affected more often
It is important to point out that the PureSound program is most effective for people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss because they are more disturbed by the comb-filter effect. People with more severe hearing loss do not notice the comb-filter effect because most or all of the environmental sound is processed by the hearing aid itself.
Putting the Moment to the test
In a study conducted by Widex, 21 participants (13 with mild-to-moderate hearing loss and 8 with normal hearing) reported their experience using the PureSound program compared with a program with a standard hearing aid delay in 20 different sound environments such as:
- Indoor and outdoor situations
- Traffic noise
- Quiet sounds
- Speech
- Hearing their own voice
- Noisy surroundings
- Specific brief and broadband sounds
Participants found…
85% of the group with hearing loss preferred the PureSound program overall. Widex says the result shows that the PureSoundTM program has superior sound quality for the target group of new and experienced users with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. Interestingly, 100% of the participants with normal hearing preferred the PureSound program because it was perceived as a more natural sound. Study participants used descriptions such as “more natural,” “less noise,” and “clearer” when describing the PureSoundTM program compared to the standard delay program.
Image from Widex study results
The Widex Moment
Styles
The new Widex Moment comes in both behind-the-ear and custom in-the-ear styles.
Rechargeable
It is one of the smallest rechargeable receiver-in-the-ear hearing aids to use a lithium ion battery.
Bluetooth® connection
Some of the models can directly stream to iPhones/iPads and can stream to Android devices using a portable streaming device.
We are currently offering a 6-week free trial of the Widex Moment (ends August 31st!). Call today to book an appointment with an Audiologist at the Broadmead Hearing Clinic: 250-470-2926 or Oak Bay Hearing Clinic: 250-479-2921.