Phil O'Keefe Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 If you could wear a pair of earplugs that augmented your hearing - giving you increased sensitivity, or that altered the sensitivity at specific regions of the frequency spectrum while allowing you to block out specific sounds that you didn't want to hear, would you wear them? Well get ready, because they're coming, and "bionic hearing" is not too far into the future. http://www.technologyreview.com/news...aring-gadgets/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted September 1, 2015 Members Share Posted September 1, 2015 I have an old friend who is an audiologist, and through him I've been learning about the terrific improvements in hearing aids over the last decade or two. They don't just turn up the volume any more - the technology has gotten far more sophisticated and effective. I'm thinking this "bionic hearing" might be an attempt to expand the technology to the crowd that already hears ok. Can these things restore the upper ranges for the over-40 crowd? I could go for that, definitely. Can they cancel out tinnitus somehow? That could be a lifesaver for a lot of people. Some people, like my son, has hearing damage in a specific range (from going out with buddies target-shooting for fun) so a device that could spot-cancel the range that distorts for him would be great. I'm not sure the average member of the public will get all that excited, myself. It's not like they show any particular interest in high fidelity playback, that's for sure. But I can see this being very cool for certain people. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted September 1, 2015 Members Share Posted September 1, 2015 I just watched a report on the Today show this week about the severe danger ear buds present to the hearing of young people. Apparently because of their design, the trap hearing in the inner ear canal and cause more damage than the ear buds of yesterday. http://www.today.com/health/generation-deaf-doctors-warn-dangers-ear-buds-t41496 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted September 1, 2015 Members Share Posted September 1, 2015 Those would be very cool. I'd check 'em out for sure. On a related note, I have to say switching to IEMs a couple of years back has probably added years to my hearing. Not only do I not have ringing-ears after a gig anymore, but the condition I had where my left ear heard things more muffled sounding than my right (I couldn't listen to conversation with one ear bud in just the left ear---I had a hard time making out what people were saying) is almost completely gone. I still have some tinnitus that I've had for years and years now. That's probably with me for life, but as long as it doesn't get much worse, I've gotten used to dealing with it. But yes....Bionic Ears.....yum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beck Posted September 3, 2015 Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 Pretty cool. I could use something to tune out the sound a a window air conditioner at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted September 3, 2015 Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 This sounds very cool, Phil. I wonder if it has some cool advantages for the audio mixer/recordist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 This sounds very cool' date=' Phil. I wonder if it has some cool advantages for the audio mixer/recordist?[/quote'] I think it might - at least at some point in the future as the technology progresses and matures. Let's brainstorm a bit - what sorts of things can you imagine that it might be able to do that would benefit audio engineers / mixers / recordists? What features would you want it to have? How might it make our lives easier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted September 4, 2015 Members Share Posted September 4, 2015 I like walking in the woods in the middle of the night during a full moon. I haven't experienced any thing that improves my hearing as much as that does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 I like walking in the woods in the middle of the night during a full moon. I haven't experienced any thing that improves my hearing as much as that does. The sound of a quiet forest has always been something I find particularly healing and soothing. I'm not sure if it snows much where you live, but sometimes that's even better IMO... to be outside, and yet to experience peaceful stillness and silence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted September 5, 2015 Members Share Posted September 5, 2015 If you could wear a pair of earplugs that augmented your hearing - giving you increased sensitivity, or that altered the sensitivity at specific regions of the frequency spectrum while allowing you to block out specific sounds that you didn't want to hear, would you wear them? Well get ready, because they're coming, and "bionic hearing" is not too far into the future. http://www.technologyreview.com/news...aring-gadgets/ Sometimes yes I would wear them. Cupping hand around ears has limitations, as does inserting fingers/cig filters/toilet paper etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted September 5, 2015 Members Share Posted September 5, 2015 I'll stick to my foamies; currently Hearos blue from Waltram.They brickwall the din of a music bar by 33db -makes crappy bands sound good and as an added benefit conversational speech is still audible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mandolin Picker Posted September 5, 2015 Members Share Posted September 5, 2015 Let's brainstorm a bit - what sorts of things can you imagine that it might be able to do that would benefit audio engineers / mixers / recordists? What features would you want it to have? How might it make our lives easier? Wouldn't it be nice if it could look and see what the true sound is versus the augmented sounds caused by the room. Then no matter where you record or mix (a small bedroom or live venue), you would be hearing the true sound. Even nicer if it helps to augment loss of hearing from age or abuse. I lost a lot of top end from hearing sirens all the time during my career as a street medic. To get that back would be awesome (and would help my mixes too!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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