Gary B.
Don't be afraid. Make this "Discovery."
I bought the Apple iPod Pro 2, which is considered to be a "tunable" hearing aid device. I had good results with these earbuds except for two things. One: the batteries don't last all that long. Two: the buds fell out several times each day. Sometimes they landed in the toilet. So frustrating. Next major event was my adult children buying me a cheap pair of hearing aids off of Amazon. Wearing hearing aids is initially difficult and frightening. The non-tunable type of hearing aids that you generally see marketed are basically just amplifiers. The aids my kids bought me were good for acclimating me too the idea of hearing aids. But, the water in the sink sounded like a major waterfall inches from my ears, and the flipping of common light switches sounds like a large explosion. I can hear every ceiling fan bearing, and the doorbell sounds like an invasion is underway. Also, these aids squealed quite a bit. I have since learned that that means you've not inserted them into the ear for enough. So my first major point is: there is a learning curve. Unlike eyeglasses or contact lenses, which immediately fix a vision problem, there is much work to be done with hearing aids and acclimating. So I have been through the earbuds and a pair of cheapo hearing aids, which gratefully acquainted to the world of hearing. Now it was time to get serious. I checked Consumer Reports, where I am a member, and found the Soundbright Discovery hearing aids for about $250. These were the highest rated "non-tunable" hearing aids rated by CR. I read many reviews for the specific Soundbright Discovery aids, and I have to be honest with you that some of the reviews were quite negative. I learned over the years that there are often negative Nelly's and that it's best to put your faith in the majority rule. That's why I believe Consumer Reports and their high 85 rating. Also, I took some comfort in Soundbright's return policy. You should, too. Take that period of time to learn, and practice wearing hearing aids and making discoveries. The hearing aids arrived about two weeks ago and I wear them generally about 6 to 8 hours every day. I love that they are discreet and very difficult to notice. I love the case that also charges when I go. I like the app on my iPhone that lets me make me changes to the performance of the hearing aids, either individually or together. I am also relaxed now to know that the aids are not going to fall out, especially in any bathroom type scenario. I'm still hearing the water in the sink, and the light switches, and lots of extraneous noises that I guess humans have learned to filter out over a lifetime. But, I am hearing very much better and it is a great relief from frustration, and frankly - anger, when people around me are constantly having to repeat themselves. Where I think Soundbright could make some improvements is by offering a more concise instruction manual in the box. It is pretty puny, has a few areas that are confusing and error prone, and is not as thorough as I would like. Maybe Soundbright should work uo a detailed tutorial webpage. Understanding how Bluetooth relates to the hearing aids is an area I am still struggling with. The manual says that the Bluetooth connection is lost without three minutes of activity. What the heck does that mean? Also, the cleaning brushes for the rubbery cones, I didn't realize how important it is to use those (and frequently). Also, the wax guards are way more important than I had realized initially. Final tally is a thumbs up. These are very affordable at $250 and well worth it to hear so much better. There may come a time in the future when I will shell out a couple grand to buy tunable (prescription) hearing aids but for now, and the foreseeable future, these are going to work just fine. Thanks, Soundbright Discovery for bringing back a piece of my world that had been missing.