A Word To The Wise
BUYER BEWARE!
Do not be misled by some unscrupulous advertising you may see. Hearing aids that are advertised as “DIGITALLY” PROGRAMMABLE are still ANALOG instruments and are NOT capable of 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP).
Some ads are very cleverly written to make it sound like the hearing aid offered has 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP) when in fact, the hearing aid is actually only Digitally Programmable. “Digitally Programmable” simply means that the hearing aid can be connected to a computer to be adjusted, NOT that the hearing aid in question is digital.
One cleverly misleading ad we recently saw declared in bold type that the hearing aid offered was “100% Digitally Programmable”. The idea of course, was to make it sound like it was a true 100% Digital Hearing aid, which it obviously was not.
Such advertising is silly at best and patently dishonest at worst! The fact is that EVERY “Digitally Programmable” hearing aid, is by it’s very nature, “100% Digitally Programmable”.
Don’t be misled by such shady advertising efforts. True 100% Digital hearing aids are generally more expensive than Digitally Programmable hearing aids, so if you see a “Digital” hearing aid advertised at a remarkably low price, read the ad carefully to see what is really being offered!
The sad fact is that many unwary patients thought they were getting the benefit of 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP), and even paid a higher price for it, when in fact, the hearing aids actually contained analog circuits.
THE 100% DIGITAL (DSP) ADVANTAGE
Our Tier 3 hearing instruments have true 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and are able to process incoming sounds “digitally” rather than “conventionally” like analog instruments.
Here’s how it works. DSP instruments convert incoming sounds into a string of number codes. In other words, the microcomputer in the hearing aid assigns a different number (that is, a “digit”) to each part of the incoming sound signal. This assignment of digits can occur at a rate of up to 150 million times a second!
The computer in the hearing aid then manages these digits – changing some, rearranging others – into a new code especially designed to match a patient’s specific type and degree of hearing loss. Adjustments can be made MUCH more rapidly and precisely than in an analog circuit without losing or degrading important parts of the sound signal.
After the digital hearing aid does it’s processing, the specially shaped signal is converted back into a new set of sound signals specifically shaped for the listeners special hearing needs.
The markedly superior processing power of Quality 100% Digital hearing aids offers tremendous advantages. Not only can the necessary shaping of the sound signal be completed more rapidly, and accurately, but the sound produced is much cleaner, sharper, and clearer than even the very best analog circuits can produce. In addition, much more complicated and exacting sound processing algorithms (computer programs) can be applied to the sound signal during processing.
Result… the clearest, sharpest, best sounding signal reproduction in the industry as well as the quietest hearing aids available when no sound is coming in to be processed!