Listening at live performances: a new level of hearing
I've posted in the past about attending live theater and using the assistive listening devices (ALD). Without ALDs, results were not satisfying, I had tried using on the processor:
1) Everyday program: sound is "mushy" and I understand very little of the dialog, though music sounds nice
2) Noise reduction program: dialog is easier though my comprehension is low, and music sounds very flat and quietI use the theater's ALD FM or infrared neckloop system. The neckloop requires I use the t-coil settings on my CI processors. With t-coil, the comfortable volume range is narrower. In other words, sounds get quickly either too loud or too soft. Another drawback is neckloops by their nature are mono only, and thus not so great for musicals.
A few live theaters, and almost all movie theaters have ALDs that support stereo and come with disk headsets -- and not earbuds. In that case, I use either the supplied headset, switch my CI processors on to the t-coil setting, and position the headset disks over my ears and next to the processors. While the sound is generally good -- subject to the volume comfort issues mentioned earlier -- the pressure of disks on my ear cartilage gets uncomfortable after a while. Sometimes I replace the headsets with my own A/V stereo cable setup. and this results in best sound.
This weekend we went to see two musicals: Tales of the City and [Title of Show]. I had left the A/V cables at my office, so this time I experimented between using the neckloop/t-coil setting and using one of my regular speech processor programs. The results were surprising: I found myself following along the dialog and songs better without using the assistive listening systems! My processors -- set to the Everyday program -- pick up the performers voices well enough that I don't benefit as much from the amplification provided by the ALD. I am able to distinguish between their voices and the music, and I would say I understood 80% of the lyrics at [Title of Show]!
One area where I heard better with the ALD was during [Title of Show] when "answering machine messages" were played, with sound booming around the theater. I suspect that the CI speech processing strategies don't handle surround-sound well. This is similar to the difficulty I have following dialog in IMAX theaters, which invariably don't provide ALDs. Everything sounds fuzzy and overwhelming.
By the end of each show this weekend, my comprehension was going downhill. A friend pointed out that just like lipreading for long periods, at that point my brain was probably exhausted and telling me, "enough!" Nonetheless, I left the theaters quite pleased at how much I was able to follow the show, and how much more I enjoy going to musicals.
I continue to be amazed that after 8+ years, my hearing continues to improve, my brain is still learning how to translate the incoming signals into words and music. Onward!
1) Everyday program: sound is "mushy" and I understand very little of the dialog, though music sounds nice
2) Noise reduction program: dialog is easier though my comprehension is low, and music sounds very flat and quietI use the theater's ALD FM or infrared neckloop system. The neckloop requires I use the t-coil settings on my CI processors. With t-coil, the comfortable volume range is narrower. In other words, sounds get quickly either too loud or too soft. Another drawback is neckloops by their nature are mono only, and thus not so great for musicals.
A few live theaters, and almost all movie theaters have ALDs that support stereo and come with disk headsets -- and not earbuds. In that case, I use either the supplied headset, switch my CI processors on to the t-coil setting, and position the headset disks over my ears and next to the processors. While the sound is generally good -- subject to the volume comfort issues mentioned earlier -- the pressure of disks on my ear cartilage gets uncomfortable after a while. Sometimes I replace the headsets with my own A/V stereo cable setup. and this results in best sound.
This weekend we went to see two musicals: Tales of the City and [Title of Show]. I had left the A/V cables at my office, so this time I experimented between using the neckloop/t-coil setting and using one of my regular speech processor programs. The results were surprising: I found myself following along the dialog and songs better without using the assistive listening systems! My processors -- set to the Everyday program -- pick up the performers voices well enough that I don't benefit as much from the amplification provided by the ALD. I am able to distinguish between their voices and the music, and I would say I understood 80% of the lyrics at [Title of Show]!
One area where I heard better with the ALD was during [Title of Show] when "answering machine messages" were played, with sound booming around the theater. I suspect that the CI speech processing strategies don't handle surround-sound well. This is similar to the difficulty I have following dialog in IMAX theaters, which invariably don't provide ALDs. Everything sounds fuzzy and overwhelming.
By the end of each show this weekend, my comprehension was going downhill. A friend pointed out that just like lipreading for long periods, at that point my brain was probably exhausted and telling me, "enough!" Nonetheless, I left the theaters quite pleased at how much I was able to follow the show, and how much more I enjoy going to musicals.
I continue to be amazed that after 8+ years, my hearing continues to improve, my brain is still learning how to translate the incoming signals into words and music. Onward!