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Month: April 2014
Hearing Aid Accessories For The Starkey Wireless Hearing Aid Ranges
5 Min read
7th Apr 2014
Wireless Hearing Aid Accessories
Wireless Accessories For Hearing Aids Deliver A Better Experience For You
At Worcester Hearing Centre we are constantly astounded and fascinated by the advances in hearing aids. Forgive us a moment but we are a bit nerdish and can get quite excited about the technology that delivers better hearing. We want to talk about a hearing aid technology that we think you should get a little excited about as well if you suffer from hearing loss, Wireless hearing aids and their accessories. Let’s find out more.
Hearing aids have evolved immensely in the last few years and they are no longer the stand alone devices they once were. Wireless accessories are now available for almost all hearing aids. The really do offer the opportunity for you to connect to your world with ease. We think that these devices can deliver real benefits for you, so we decided to talk about them. In this first article, we will have a look at the range of wireless accessories from Starkey.
SurfLink Accessories
SurfLink is the name of the range of wireless accessories available for Starkey hearing aids. The Bluetooth hearing aids can stream phone calls, audio from the TV and music directly to your hearing aids. They are really good devices with excellent audio quality. So let’s take a look at what they can do device by device.
SurfLink Mobile 2
This device is a connection to your mobile phone amongst other things, it is small enough to fit easily in a pocket or purse. It uses their patented system JustTalk™ to stream phone calls from a connected mobile phone directly to your hearing aids.
SurfLink Mobile uses your the microphone and receivers of your hearing aid’s to effortlessly pick up and send voices both ways. It can be used for any calls made on a smart phone including ones from apps like FaceTime®, Skype™, Viber and other telephone services on your smart phone
They have also included functionality that can help you in noisy environments, meetings or group settings. In these situations you can use it in the same way you would a remote microphone:
- The directional microphone capability on the device enhances and helps to focus on speech in a one-on-one conversation in loud or noisy situations.
- The omnidirectional capability allows better hearing in meeting or group settings where it is necessary to hear and understand more than one voice.
This handy feature really expands the functionality of the device and alone it makes the device a worthwhile purchase. But we aren’t finished yet, roll the drums please! The device also allows you to stream sound from any Bluetooth®-enabled TV or MP3 player. In fact from any audio device that offers a Bluetooth connection.
This combination of features really make this a fantastic device to choose to help you connect with your wider world. The device is exceptionally useful for active people, but even if you aren’t the most active, it is still worth considering. It is ideal for people who need to use phone calls for work, spend time in group settings and want greater flexibility while communicating. But having said that, what hearing aid user would not like to be able to talk to their loved ones on a mobile phone? So if you like easy phone calls, easy conversation in groups and even music direct to your hearing aids, this device is most definitely for you.
SurfLink Media
Like the SurfLink mobile, the SurfLink Media shows that the Starkey designers have sat down and really thought about the functionality that matters and ease of use. The SurfLink Media accessory allows multiple Starkey hearing aid users to wirelessly connect their hearing aids to a TV or media device.
Not many of the other manufacturers offer a device that can be used by multiple users. Connecting to the device is simplicity itself and it allows you to listen at the volume level you want, without bothering others in the room .
The device allows you to watch the TV or listen to your music by streaming sound directly from those devices direct to your hearing aids. You can adjust the volume through your hearing aids and you can even mute the ambient volume on the connected TV or radio while listening through your hearing aids..
The best part about this accessory is its ease of use, you simply set it up and everything else is completely automatic. You set it up, and it just works, effortlessly, it is asa simple as that. Once the device is all you need to do is walk into its field of transmission. You will automatically hear the streamed audio from whatever source you have connected. If you had multiple units set up in different rooms you would automatically change over to the audio being streamed from each device as you went from room to room. Its seamless, automatic and easy.
This accessory is perfect for Starkey hearing aid users who enjoy TV and music, but who have difficulty enjoying or understanding either, without turning up the volume. It is ideal for a household with two or more Starkey hearing aid users, because both can use the one device. Really smart thinking on the designer’s part.
SurfLink Remote
A remote is probably the most widely used type of accessory for many hearing aid users regardless of the manufacturer. The SurfLink Remote allows users of Starkey hearing aids to quickly and remotely change the volume, program memory, and other hearing aid features without having to touch the hearing aid itself.
It’s a simple, convenient and inconspicuous way for you to control your hearing aids. It also allows you to control them independently or together. This is a great accessory for any hearing aid user who may have poor manual dexterity, or vision issues. It also allows you full control of your hearing aids with ease.
Wireless accessories can be a game changer for people with hearing aids. They can really extend the power of your hearing aids and allow you to take full advantage of your hearing aid benefit in an integrated manner. Wireless accessories can really open up your world delivering easy communication over mobile phones and comfortable listening to TV and Music.
If you have any questions about any hearing aids and their wireless accessories in Worcester, give us a call on 01905 617 803 or book your appointment online now.
Tom Dixon Director of Audiology
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Hearing loss that affects Musicians & DJs
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As a Musician or DJ, You Need to Protect Your Hearing
Musicians, DJs & Hearing Loss
Musicians from classical to rock are often exposed to high volume ranges during their work, as are DJs. Good hearing is important to the livelihood of anybody involved in the music industry at a performance level. It is well known that musical performances can create sounds loud enough to actually cause permanent damage to hearing. Your audience is only exposed to these volume levels from time to time, you however are exposed at almost every performance or gig. This will result in hearing loss if you don’t protect yourself. That hearing loss will interfere with your ability to perform in your profession.
Musicians & Tinnitus
While hearing loss is a consequence of repeated noise exposure, many musicians often experience tinnitus. Tinnitus is another problem that can have a dramatic effect on the quality of life and general well being of someone who suffers from it. We probably call all name Musicians that suffer from both hearing loss and tinnitus, Will I Am, Chris Martin, Ozzy Osbourne and Phil Collins are just a few. It is simple, the more time you expose yourself to dangerous levels of sound, the more likely it is that irreversible damage will be done to your hearing.
Once you have damaged your hearing, it isn’t coming back. So you need to be careful to protect it when you perform, whether that is in a youth club disco or Cream, a local pub or a stadium. Performing musicians and DJs should use in-ear monitors, they will reduce the level of the sound you are exposed to while you are rocking that place hard.
Noise (music) Induced Hearing Loss
It may be music to your ears, probably not if you are playing the third request for Tom Jones at a wedding, but it still can deliver noise induced hearing loss. So what is the problem and what do you need to understand? The two issues here are the volume of the noise and how long you are exposed to it. The health and safety rules are simple. 85 dB and you can work eight hours, however, you are probably being exposed to 100 dB or more (definitely more if you are a metal head) for long periods of time.
With continued exposure at these levels the nerve endings in your inner ear are going to become damaged. These nerve endings are responsible for changing sound into something that the brain can recognise. The problem here is that these things don’t repair themselves, with some exposures, they take a beating but come back. This why you might leave a concert and have a dull feeling and whining in your ears. This is called a temporary threshold shift and results in tinnitus, buzzing or ringing in the ears. This my friends is your body telling you that you are taking the mickey!
Normally after a one off exposure the tinnitus and the temporary threshold shift resolves itself after a few days. However, lets be honest here ladies and gentlemen, you are slaves to the sound and will be having a lot more than one exposure! Continued exposure will lead to permanent hearing loss and tinnitus if you don’t protect yourself. This is why you need to take action to protect yourself, you will thank yourself, believe me. Because hearing loss and tinnitus have a dramatic effect on quality of life.
Roll Up, Roll Up, Get Your In-Ear Monitors!
In-ear monitors are pretty cool devices, you can use them to just listen to music or, and probably more importantly, you can use them to hear a mix of vocals and stage instrumentation for live performances. They are custom fitted for your ears, which means they can provide a high level of noise reduction of the ambient sound. Depending on the quality of the fit and the length of the projection into the ear, a custom fit in-ear monitor provides between 25 dB and 35 dB of noise reduction. Normally that is just enough to keep you safe from hearing loss. They are also convenient and easy to use.
It’s All About The Plugs, About The Plugs, No Noise!
I really don’t believe I just typed that! What about if you don’t need playback? The answer for you is custom-fitted musicians’ earplugs. These simple earplugs again custom fitted to your ear which can be used with differing sound filters. The custom fit helps to protect you and the sound filters can make specific sounds softer, while not compromising the overall sound experience. Bog standard earplugs cut off high-frequency sounds, making the music dull, musicians’ earplugs solves this problem by reducing the volume without distorting any of the frequencies of sound.
No Excuse Not To Protect Your Hearing
The advancements in hearing protection options for Musicians and DJs that have been made leave you with no valid excuse not to protect your hearing. You would be stupid, not to! The process to get them is easy and we can have them ready for you within a week or two at most. If you want to protect your hearing, and you really should, give us a call on 01905 617803 to have a chat.
Tom Dixon Director of Audiology
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