Is It Possible to Play Steel While Wearing Hearing Aids

Harold Parris · From: Piedmont, Alabama USA

I damage my hearing by shooting a snake with a loud pistol. My neighbor found a Copper Head in my back yard and on short notice I didn't use any hearing protection to shoot the loud pistol. I would like the input of anyone with similar experience. If it is possible to play while wearing hearing aids what brand,name or model would you recommend.

Thanks Very Much,
Harold Parris
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EMCI Double 10,Session 400,Webb 614E and Gretsch Nashville Pro Steel Amp, Keith Hilton Digital Sustain pedal and Seymour Duncan KTG -1, Hughes&Kettner BATT
Harold Parris email hparris9@aol.com

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I've worn hearing aids for 10 years. No problem with music. It may take a short period to get used to hearing the full frequency spectrum but that's all.

I started out on low end Rexton hearing aids (what insurance would pay for) and now have Starkey's that I had a co-pay. Starkey's are rechargeable batteries and have more features but to be truthful the low end Rexton's properly adjusted sound as good.

Be careful with the cheap hearing aids being sold on line as most are just amplifiers and do not compensate for high frequency loss (common in us seniors). Just allowed is over the counter hearing devices to be sold by stores. I don't
know all about them but if they can't be programmed/adjusted for your specific hearing loss, as determined by a hearing test, I would avoid them.

If you are a Costco member, their hearing aids are "real hearing aids" and priced reasonable and do hearing tests.

Ken Morgan · From: Midland, Texas, USA

I’ve worn ReSound hearing aids for many years. Took a bit to get used to, as the frequencies they boost often seem exaggerated, so adjust accordingly. In your head bass might seem a bit light, as hearing aids just don’t work well below the range of human speech.
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67 Shobud Blue Darling III, scads of pedals and such, more 6 strings than I got room for

Ken Morgan
Midland, TX

Bill A. Moore · From: Silver City, New Mexico, USA

I've had some Seimens for almost 5 years now, and until a couple of months ago all was good. (One quit, and I'm waiting for the VA to get replacements).
Once you realize that the sounds you can't hear are moved into a frequency range you can, things get easier. The guy set mine up with a "Live Music" setting that is helpful when playing, or even listening.

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

My audiologist tells me that if I had a smartphone I could trim up the EQ on my hearing aids to where playing music wouldn't sound like an old-style telephone.

Don't have, don't want a smartphone, so the hearing aids come out and my instrument EQ gets trimmed up so it sounds a bit woofy, and I cross my fingers. Winking

About 10 years ago I read on another forum that someone who went to a (rare in the US) Ventures show complained that Don Wilson's guitar sounded tinny. At that point, Don had been onstage banging out "Walk, Don't Run" for half a century, so likely there wasn't a lot of high end left and he was just compensating

.....I thought it was a word-to-the-wise moment!

Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

Hearing aids are designed to reproduce the conversational human voice. I’ve always found them to lack fidelity & distort with amplified signals.

I’ve had a much more pleasurable experience using Shure IEM’s through a Behringer mini mixer coming from the line-out of my amp.

George McLellan · From: Duluth, MN USA

The VA set me up with my hearing aids. No problem playing with them in, even with drummers on shows.
Geo

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Bill A. Moore · From: Silver City, New Mexico, USA

Dave, "smart" phones aren't really that smart, I use my $11 LG to connect to my hearing aids. Mine are old enough that they require a "pendant" worn around the neck to interface to blue tooth. Sure makes listening to the phone call easier! I know the most of the newer ones don't need that device, I hope my new ones are that way!

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

I just switched from Resound Lynx-9 to Starkey...the Resounds were pretty good, but the Starkey have achieved truly natural sound. these are the latest "Evolv" AI-based models, a real leap over anything form even a few years ago.
The All Around program is OK for music, but the Music program EQ is just a bit more natural - doesn't over-emphasize the speech frequencies that the all Around program does, intentionally.
The only way to get them to really sound like you can still really hear is to go to a good audiologist, get the best you can afford, and then work with them over a few months to tune up the response as your brain gets used to processing stuff it hasn't heard for a long time....definitely not a "put them on and forget them" thing....
And there was some sort of insurance deal I somehow was eligible for that cut the cost from $7K (Crazy, I know...) to $4K, and had interest-free payment over a year, so ask!
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Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor

chuck lemasters · From: Jacksonburg, WV

When I play with the Starkey aids in, it sounds like I am playing through a stereo chorus pedal. The music setting on the hearing aids doesn’t seem to help. Visited the audiologist last week for adjustments…added compression helped with my non music related complaints, but like Dave Hopping, I just remove them for playing. When I was playing regularly with a too loud band, I found I could hear better with when I wore earplugs with a 9 or 15 db filter…

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