For individuals who need extra help hearing, remote microphones, such as the Widex Sound Assist, can help give hearing aids a boost, making sounds clearer. Here’s how these devices work and how they can help.
Imagine you’re sitting in a noisy restaurant during happy hour with a group of friends. Someone tells a joke. You laugh and nod, like you get the punchline, but the truth is, you didn’t understand a word your friend said. Or let’s say you’re at home with your spouse and they’re telling you about a story they recently saw on the evening news, but they’re three rooms away. All you hear is “Blah, blah, blah.” Or your spouse has a very “soft” voice, making it difficult to hear them even in the best circumstances.
These are just three common situations patients describe to us often, and sometimes these are patients with advanced hearing aids.
That can be frustrating for the hearing aid wearer because it seems turning their hearing aids up should help. But the fact is, turning the volume up on their hearing aids just amplifies the sound. It doesn’t necessarily help the hearing aid wearer understand speech better in noisy backgrounds, for example.
Add to that the fact that distance and environment also can make it difficult for even the most advanced hearing aids to pick up every sound. For example, no matter how loud you turn your hearing aids up, it’s tough to overcome the acoustics of open room designs, bare floors and walls, and high ceilings. In addition, it’s hard to understand a conversation partner when they’re in another room.
The good news is that assistive listening devices, including remote microphones, can boost hearing aid performance and can help the hearing aid wearer communicate better, especially in one-on-one conversations.
A hallmark of assistive listening devices is that they are small and can be hand-held, bringing the sounds you want to hear closer to your ears, filtering background noise out.
Here’s how you could use a remote mic. If you’re at that same happy hour, for example, and trying to understand the joke your friend is telling, but you’re having trouble hearing over the chatter, a remote mic could help. All you would have to do is ask the friend to clip the mic on or speak into the remote microphone. The sound is then transmitted directly to your hearing aids, reducing competing noise so you can understand your conversation partner more clearly.
If you happen to wear Widex Moment hearing aids, a new device called Sound Assist now can help improve communication in a variety of situations. Widex Sound Assist is a small square-shaped device that can connect to Widex Moment hearing aids, acting as a remote microphone to stream sound to the individual’s hearing aids.
Sound Assist offers:
- Partner microphone mode – One-on-one conversations with friends and family sound clear wherever they are. Sound Assist can be clipped on to the clothing of your communication partner or worn on a lanyard around the neck for direct streaming of their speech into your hearing aids. As long as the device is within range, the partner can even be heard if they’re in another room.
- Table microphone mode – Hear important meetings, lively dinners, and group conversations more easily. Simply place the microphone in the center of the table, perhaps on a glass turned upside down, or closer to someone you have difficulty hearing.
- Hands-free phone calls – Use it for great sounding calls on the go.
- Streaming mode – Audio streaming from a connected Bluetooth device to your hearing aid. This allows streaming from a computer, such as during a Zoom or video call and is popular with many people who work remotely.
- Remote control for Widex Moment Bluetooth hearing aids – Lets the individual control their sound easily. The remote microphone is also a miniature remote control to adjust the hearing aids.
- Telecoil mode – Sound Assist offers telecoil functionality even if your hearing aids don’t have telecoil.
Roger FM
Another option to help boost hearing aid performance and bridge the understanding gap is Roger FM. This wireless microphone has been available for a few years and is helpful for all, but especially for those who experience poor speech clarity, a greater degree of hearing loss, or anyone who needs to hear well from a distance. It has the capability to work with a large variety of Widex and Phonak hearing aid models.
Fortunately, a wide range of assistive technologies are now available. If you have problems understanding others, especially in complex listening situations, be sure to talk with a doctoral-level audiologist about all the assistive listening systems available. An audiologist is an expert in both hearing aids, and assistive listening technology. The audiologist can make recommendations for your specific needs, and can best explain how each type of technology works, as well as any cost involved.
