Over the last 6 years I have gained a lot of knowledge of the whys and hows of hearing and hearing aids.

1- If you need a hearing aid get one and use as much as possible. There are tiny hairs in your hear that transfer the sound you are hearing into an electric pulse telling the brain what you have heard. If you have lost some of your ability to hear and the hairs are not feed by a hearing aid your hearing lost will increase faster.

2- I became unhappy with the sound of my guitar, keyboard and amplifier. The part that I am still puzzled me was how do I the volume and the EQ on my instruments. Listening to music with a hearing aid does bring the entire spectrum of highs, mids, and lows but they will also take away the quality of the sound. I love the acoustic sound of my guitar; it sounds rich and beautiful. With the a hearing aid it’s terrible. When the highs are increased you lose the warmth of the sound. I was told that the brain over a period of time will adjust and make the sound normal/natural again. Not true. The brain will adjust but the sound of music will not be what you heard when you were younger. Neither are my voice, my walking, my energy, and looks.

3- I have my wife and a younger musician friend check the quality of my sound periodically. When playing out I ask someone how my volume is. I do my best to keep my settings the same way. My Audiologist is able to check the length of time I use my hearing aids – adjust the EQ – sends me to remove wax when needed.
My job: keep enjoy and playing my music, everything else is what it is.

John C.