On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:37:18 -0800, Jim Wilkins
wrote:

On Nov 9, 1:05 pm, Don Foreman wrote:

Somebody oughta set up a foundation that provides hearing aids to
vets. Just about every vet I've talked to that's over 60 has some
hearing impairment, and the VA doesn't do squat.

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0031688227215a.shtml

Comments, experience???

Jim Wilkins

Straight amplification doesn't help much. Most folks with hearing
loss due to prolonged exposure to loud noises (like gunfire) have
much greater loss at higher frequencies -- like above 300 Hz!
Intelligibility of speech, particularly consonants, depends on higher
frequency content. So aids have to be frequency-selective, tailored
to the individual's needs. Otherwise, what sounds like untelligible
mumble just sounds like louder unintelligible mumble when amplified.

That's at least part of why good aids are so expensive. It's easy to
make something with some gain, but there's a LOT of microelectronics
in a good hearing aid. Mine are digital, each with five frequency
channels of different gains, and the whole works fits entirely inside
the ear canal.