Advantages of Digital Hearing Aids

Analog hearing aids are a thing of the past and the future is all about digital. There are many

advantages of digital hearing aids over analog hearing aids, and this article will discuss them for

you.

-Digital is far more comfortable than analog. High intensity sounds are a problem for those

wearing analog hearing aids compared to digital. There is still some discomfort on digital aids,

but it has been fixed for the most part and there is a noticeable difference. Digital aids reduce the

intensity of environmental sounds which will make things more comfortable for you.

-Noise reduction favors digital. Digital hearing devices are able to reduce noise gain from low

frequencies. There have been studies of the noise reduction that you actually gain from digital

hearing devices, and while the results are mixed the experts all agree that you are able to improve

speech recognition.

-Feedback reduction is far better in digital than analog. The feedback reduction system is

advanced in digital so moderate feedback has been eliminated through a cancellation filter. If

you are bothered by the jaw movement when someone is talking but you hear what they are

saying later, this feedback reduction will eliminate that.

-Speech enhancement favors digital. Specific segments of speech have increased intensity with

digital aids. Digital speech enhancement technology is now being added to hearing aids and

while the effectiveness has not been studied as of yet, one can assume that it will make listening

to speech better than on analog aids.

-Directional microphones have been added to digital aids. There was some trouble developing

the technology of directional microphones into digital aids, but it has been worked out and the

advantages of these microphones are amazing. When you put these microphones with a DSP, the

benefits you receive are far enhanced.

However, it is important to note that there are some disadvantages to digital aids. For one, the

price of these aids is a lot higher than analog aids. For some the increased price is not worth the

advantages you gain. Another problem digital aids are facing is there are still bugs that need to

be worked out but there is a small list of people who are willing to volunteer to help fix the bugs.

Until the bugs are all worked out many people are avoiding them.