Wayne's World

Energy Harvesting Approaches to Powering Hearing Aids   Note:  For those expecting to find the continuation of Directional Microphone Mismatch, as mentioned in last week’s post, please note that some recent information has been presented that will relate to improving the robustness of matching two omnidirectional microphones to create a directional listening experience.  As a result, the second part is being

The Lion Roar is the Voice and Sound of Africa   Old male lion Off in the distance in the savannahs of Africa, you listen, and a roar comes out of the deep, creating an uneasy trepidation.  The lion’s roar is indeed the voice and sound of Africa.  It sends an awesome message to the world that he is lord

Self-Fitting of Hearing Devices – Part I   Self-fitting of hearing devices is an inherent feature of OTC or DTC (over-the-counter; direct-to-consumer) hearing aids.  What can we expect now that this is becoming an active feature of hearing aid sales? The real issue, as expressed by Bess1, is not how an OTC or DTC hearing aid delivery system benefits hearing

Movies too loud?  Do the high loudness levels of many movies help to tell the story, or are the high loudness levels provided to cover a weak story? – Snarky question by this article’s author   High Volume Story to Tell, or Weak Story to Hide?* Movie viewing has been enjoyed for decades. During this time, there have been significant

Two previous posts discussed 3D printing.  This technology is currently being used in the hearing aid industry, as it is in many other industries, for modeling, and even for some product fabricating, especially earmolds and custom-molded shells for in-ear products.  A previous post described Stereolithography (SL) and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS).  This post describes two additional 3D printing processes likely

A previous post opened a conversation about 3D printing.  This technology is currently being used in the hearing aid industry, as it is in many other industries, for modeling, and even for some product fabricating, especially earmolds and custom-molded shells for in-ear products. Four different types of 3D printing processes likely to be encountered, are: Stereolithography (SLA) Selective Laser Sintering

Much has been written about 3D printing.  For those who fit hearing aids, especially custom-molded types, or earmolds, many of us have been told that the shells have been 3D printed.  But, what does this actually mean?   What is 3D Printing? This is known also as desktop fabrication, or additive manufacturing.  It is unique in that actual objects are

The transition from vacuum tube to transistor hearing aids occurred in the mid 1950s.  The transistor allowed for a single power supply, and voltage as low as 1.4. Being able to operate on 1.4 volts reduced tremendously the power requirements, both in size and required voltage from that required for vacuum tube hearing aids.  Essentially all hearing aids made this

Previous posts have talked about early vacuum tube and transistor hearing aids, and the hearing aid batteries they used.  A tremendous change occurred in hearing aid size in going from vacuum tubes to transistors as amplifiers.  Much of that related to changes in the battery size as well, as previously discussed. This post is intended to show how some of

In researching vintage hearing aid batteries, occasional references are made to the power supplies (batteries) used.  However, for most individuals, never having been exposed to out-of-date hearing aids, there is little reason to expect to know what some of the sizes and types were. This post will review some of the commonly-used batteries and cells at the time, but which