Amplified ear phones for TV viewing by the hard of hearing

[cmac2012]

I've seen these around before, my dad had one for a while, but that was years ago and one would think that good tech is available on this score. My mom's new husband is pretty fit for 95 and is up on all the NFL latest. We were talking a few days ago about Charles Woodson retiring.

But his hearing is weak and he's one of those who are too stubborn to get a hearing aid. I watched several games with him during Thanksgiving and he blasts the sound. Would sometimes take a while to mute the commercials and whoa, that was painful at times.

Nobody comes over to watch a game with him. This has likely been going on for some time. It wears on my mom a bit also. My idea is to introduce him to music on Youtube with good headphones and then use the same phones so he can hear TV mega loud while the rest of us hear it at normal levels.

I'm going to try to put together a football party after we get it working, if we get that far, and bring friends over to watch the game.

My fantasy setup would be some sort of control box that also feeds a room microphone into his headset, with him being able to control the ratio of each, and of course the volume level. I don't worry much about it damaging his hearing. He shoots for the same volume level from the speakers as it is.

Perhaps this sort of setup would enable him to see what he's missing with hearing loss. I can communicate with him but the steady focus on talking very loud and right at him gets in the way of spontaneous wit overmuch.

[Drago]

The people who refuse to get hearing aids piss me off to no end. When my vision went I got glasses, when my teeth went I got crowns, when my knees went I got wheels, when my pants refused to stay up I got suspenders. I have to shout at my fellow geezers to get my job done then they get PO'd because I'm shouting at them. They make 60-80k a year with full AFL-CIO health benefits, they can afford hearing aids. I only met one person where aids and surgery provided no improvement.

[Medmech]

Get him a gaming headset, problem solved. Personally I like Turtle Beach but there are so many on my he market it's hard to choose. Most of them connect via optical out which most newer tv's already have.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Drago

The people who refuse to get hearing aids piss me off to no end. When my vision went I got glasses, when my teeth went I got crowns, when my knees went I got wheels, when my pants refused to stay up I got suspenders. I have to shout at my fellow geezers to get my job done then they get PO'd because I'm shouting at them. They make 60-80k a year with full AFL-CIO health benefits, they can afford hearing aids. I only met one person where aids and surgery provided no improvement.

It pisses me off a bit but oh well, he has a lot of good points. He's been a sovereign force for so long, financially independent since about age 45, that he a tough one to move. But he is capable of thinking.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Medmech

Get him a gaming headset, problem solved. Personally I like Turtle Beach but there are so many on my he market it's hard to choose. Most of them connect via optical out which most newer tv's already have.

Good advice. He has a new-ish Samsung flat screen, probably has that capability.

I'll research it.

[Air&Road]

Originally Posted by Drago

The people who refuse to get hearing aids piss me off to no end. When my vision went I got glasses, when my teeth went I got crowns, when my knees went I got wheels, when my pants refused to stay up I got suspenders. I have to shout at my fellow geezers to get my job done then they get PO'd because I'm shouting at them. They make 60-80k a year with full AFL-CIO health benefits, they can afford hearing aids. I only met one person where aids and surgery provided no improvement.

HUH?..... WHAD'YA SAY?

[OM617YOTA]

Bought these for my dad a few months ago:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N3B2F3I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

They use RCA or 1/8" headphone jack input so we had to get a fiber-rca converter to work with his TV, but they work great. TV speaker volume can be set at a reasonable level for everyone else listening and Dad can have his own volume however loud he likes. It's adjustable right on the headphones. Built in rechargeable battery, just plunk them on the base station and let them do their thing.

He's got hearing aids but for some reason refuses to use them? Only on "special occasions," which has happened once in the several years he's had them. I don't get it.

[Drago]

Originally Posted by Air&Road

HUH?..... WHAD'YA SAY?

I suspect it's passive aggressive with some of them. You have to give them your full attention when speaking with them.


I imagine I'll have a set in the next five to ten years along with my dique splint

[cornemuse]

Originally Posted by Drago

The people who refuse to get hearing aids piss me off to no end. When my vision went I got glasses, when my teeth went I got crowns, when my knees went I got wheels, when my pants refused to stay up I got suspenders. I have to shout at my fellow geezers to get my job done then they get PO'd because I'm shouting at them. They make 60-80k a year with full AFL-CIO health benefits, they can afford hearing aids. I only met one person where aids and surgery provided no improvement.

I've had ear problems for 50 years, I go to a otorhinolaryngologist (ENT specialist!). He told me I would never be able to wear hearing aids, ever. If I stick anything in my ears, they get an infection, period.
People dont not get hearing aids for other reasons.

I deal with it, (also tinnitus), I dont have any problem telling others to deal with it also.

-c-

[cmac2012]

I think it unlikely that my mom's husband will start wearing an in-ear device. My hope is to set up some large over hear headphone for use watching football games and also have a room mic feed into the mix somehow. That way he could use it for TV sports and enjoy communication with friends at the same time. Putting on headphones for a special occasion would be far more bearable than a full time device for me, pretty sure, haven't tried an in-ear device yet however.

Originally Posted by cornemuse

I deal with it, (also tinnitus), I dont have any problem telling others to deal with it also.

I have a client, has given me regular business for almost ten years but he goes off now and then on his belief that I need a hearing aid. Gets obnoxious after a while. I am losing a bit of hearing but it's not that bad. I can hear every word of normal conversation if back ground noise is minimal and the person isn't looking away from me. People will mumble in the next room or around the edge of a wall or corner and complain that you can't hear them. F - 'em. People don't have to shout for me to hear them. I really do think if I get anywhere near as bad as my new step-dad I'll shop around for an in-ear device. One would think that the devices would be evolving.

[link]

To the OP, if he has an iPhone or similar, it can be used to degrees with headphones or ear buds as a cheap but kind-of effective hearing aid. If the guy is otherwise functional it will help him a lot to get fitted for in ear, or behind the ear, or even mounted to glasses. A small custom fitted piece goes in the ear. The technology has come a loooooong way in the last few years.

Typically, most people enjoy being tuned out and that is almost always the unspoken reason for refusal to get hearing aids. As noted above, there may be other reasons. The bad news is that hearing aids are expensive............

[sunedog]

Both my late parents had significant hearing loss in their later years. Went through several pairs of headphones for the TV for exactly the reason you wrote.

After trying them the first time, my dad said he could hear the script girl in the wings ruffling the pages. He never accepted hearing aids, but he loved his headphones.

These were the ones they liked the best - Sennheiser RS120 On-Ear Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Dock:

="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FTVEK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00"]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FTVEK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

[cmac2012]

Looks good, I'll read a bit more. Something wrong with that link, I did a search on what you called it and found this:

Amazon.com: Sennheiser RS120 On-Ear Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Dock: Sennheiser: Electronics

[cmac2012]

One thing I'd like to know more about. Found this in Amazon reviews:

Q: These cancel out the TV speakers. What if I want to use TV speakers, must they be unplugged or is there a switch?

Answer: Strange. In my case, they do not cancel out the tv speakers. But I'm sure that is because I have my Sennheiser cable connected to the cable tv box. Try that. I have to have it that way because my Samsung tv does not have the compatible connection for the Sennheiser RS120 cable. But my Comcast cable box does and neither Best Buys, Samsung, nor Sennheiser could help me find any other answer.

[sunedog]

Originally Posted by cmac2012

One thing I'd like to know more about. Found this in Amazon reviews:

Q: These cancel out the TV speakers. What if I want to use TV speakers, must they be unplugged or is there a switch?

Answer: Strange. In my case, they do not cancel out the tv speakers. But I'm sure that is because I have my Sennheiser cable connected to the cable tv box. Try that. I have to have it that way because my Samsung tv does not have the compatible connection for the Sennheiser RS120 cable. But my Comcast cable box does and neither Best Buys, Samsung, nor Sennheiser could help me find any other answer.

Several hook up tutorials here:
Sennheiser - Headphones & Headsets - Microphones - Integrated Systems