Understanding Digital Hearing Aid Differences

Hearing aids have come a long way through the years. The differences between digital hearing aids of today and the old-fashioned trumpet held to the ear of decades ago are enormous. As hearing aids shrank to fit first behind the ear, and later inside the ear, it was only a matter of time before a digital hearing aid made a difference in the hearing aid industry.

What's Different About Digital Hearing Aids?

The differences in digital hearing aids from analog hearing aids are similar to the difference between analog telephones and digital phones. Analog phones worked by transmitting sound waves, and analog hearing aids worked the same way. Digital phones work by sending a digital signal – ones and zeroes – and that is also how digital hearing aids work.

The difference between a digital hearing aid and an analog hearing aid is in the way the acoustic input information is coded and processed. Digital speech processing is considered to be a superior technology over other methods of speech processing. Digital processing means a computer, not a mechanical device, does the processing. Computer programmers have proven that computers are good at performing routine, repetitive tasks. Converting sound to a digital signal and processing the signal is one of those routine tasks at which computers excel. Digital speech processing is a big difference in digital hearing aids, because it is the digitizing of the process that enables computers to be able to understand the commands required to amplify and transmit sound.

Adapting To Different Environments

Another difference between a digital hearing aid and a hearing aid that uses old technology is that a digital hearing aid can be adjusted to adapt to different environments. A digital hearing aid can adapt from an environment with a noisy background to the environment of a person watching television at home alone in a quiet room. Digital sound processing is simply more sophisticated than other technologies.

Lower Power Requirements

Digital hearing aids also require less power needs than their analog counterparts. This saves the user not only the cost of batteries, but also the inconvenience of changing batteries, and the indignity and disappointment of missing out on a conversation. Analog hearing aids rely on custom circuitry; they cannot be custom programmed, and they cost more.

A digital hearing aid is the best hearing aid for seniors who are losing their hearing due to aging. Digital sound processing provides the sophisticated sound management techniques that do more than merely amplify sound. Digital hearing aids make a difference because they process the signal based on speech patterns and do not just turn up the volume.