Technology Levels of Hearing Aids

Levels of Hearing aids technologies

Living with hearing loss means constantly managing noise.

Electronic Chips

All digital hearing aids have chips just like computers. A chip is a small circuit board with all of the electronics on it. The electronics provide the functions of the hearing aids.

Most hearing aid manufacturers use one chip for an entire line of products and program them to be an entry-level hearing aid for one client, medium or premium hearing aids, for other clients. That means they activate and deactivate features depending on the level of technology the hearing aid will be sold at.

They perform the same in the most common listening situations and differently in more complicated listening situations with a lot of background noise. The entry and premium levels of hearing aids work the same in a quiet room but differently in a restaurant with a lot of noise.

Premium Level

Uses cutting-edge technology to reduce noise in more complex sound situations, like having a party with friends in a noisy restaurant. Delivers the best speech clarity. Delivers the most natural sound.

Mid-Level

Works well in a quiet environment but not the best in a noisy environment. It has basic noise reduction but allows you to better adjust sounds in each frequency group.

Entry-Level

The entry-level cannot manage noise very well. This level of hearing aids is good for communication in a quiet environment. It also works better for people who have the same amount of hearing loss across all frequencies because this technology doesn’t let you adjust individual frequencies, but rather a small group of frequencies together – low, medium, and high.

• Technology Levels and the Difference in Advanced Features

  • Hearing aids amplify sounds based on frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz. These frequencies are divided into groups we call channels. Hearing Aid software has handles to control these channels. Depending on the level of hearing aids, we can adjust small or large groups of frequencies.

  • For example, a 3-channel hearing aid may treat all sounds from 250 Hz to 1000 Hz as a low-frequency channel, 1000 Hz to 3000 Hz as a mid-frequency channel, and 3000 Hz to 8000 Hz as a high-frequency channel. More channels (up to 12) provide more precise identification, processing, and adjustment of the sounds.

• Advanced Features Include:

  • Noise Reduction (Up to three types)

  • Directional Microphone (Wide or narrow-angle)

    • Fixed: Does not alter the sound around but picks up the best in front.
    • Adaptive: Follows the loudest noise behind you as it moves.
    • Multi-band: Follows multiple sound sources behind you, suppressing them.
    • Super Beamforming: Forms a four-microphone array, providing maximum sound pickup in front and maximum suppression behind.

  • Frequency Lowering

  • Feedback Control

  • Own Voice Detection

  • Motion Detection

  • Data Logging

  • Wireless Connectivity (Android, iPhone, both, or none)

• Extra Comfort

  • Premium level hearing aids have some features that provide extra comfort and make adaptations to hearing aids much easier and faster.