Hearphones for Unilateral Deafness from Sudden Hearing Loss?

[DC Hearer]

After using these for a while, I've stopped using them regularly (somewhat like my CROS hearing aids, which were worse). They are helpful for my complete deafness on one side, but the form factor needs improvement, and the control limitations are frustrating. In brief, I'd love to have something (even WITH the current form factor) that would channel only sound from the direction I am looking at/facing.  This comes closer than anything I've tried so far, so it's clearly better than nothing.  I'm sure in an ideal world it would be so smart that when someone speaks on my deaf side, it would pick that up, and that in noisy situations, it would focus on sound in the directly I'm facing (and maybe that is how normal ears work, but I wouldn't know...), but I'll take the latter for now.  Or even two custom settings that would allow me to switch quickly between set-ups.  I'm sure all of this can be available through firmware and app software updates, but I'm equally sure that there may be regulatory considerations, as well (not to mention a small market).  

Apple now allows you to use the "Live Listen" function with Air Pods; previously, it was limited to compatible hearing aids.  If all you have is one-sided deafness, it's another alternative for a noisy restaurant as your phone acts as your microphone.  It has its own drawbacks, but I have my phone an my Air Pods with me all the time, and works with just one Air Pod.  

[ST - Hearphones]

Hi Watney,

I understand.

"I need to be able to leave one earbud out, so I appear approachable."

You can leave one of the ear-buds out. There's an option to disable in-ear detection in the Bose Hear app. However, if you do this, the microphones in the removed ear-bud remain active. If the ear-bud is just dangling down you may pick up noise as is brushes against your clothing.

"There's nothing more off-putting than talking to someone with headphones on. Removing one lessens the drama."

Yes, it can be off-putting to talk to someone with headphones on. I've found, when people realize I can hear them, it's not an issue. That's not going to help with strangers approaching me to engage in conversation, for people who know me, they understand why I'm wearing my Hearphones.

ST

[Evaneo]

Hello,

Here is my return after 7 months of use :

After going through the solutions available to me (I tested a conventional hearing aid at $ 3000, I wore 20min and then I put my pair of hearphones haha ​​^^) and I must say that Bose realized a great product and that is given in the relation to the price of conventional hearing aids offered by hearing care professionals..
I lost 45db on my right ear (flat curve or almost) and although this is far from perfect in terms of sound (we can not compete mother nature ^^), it allowed me to recover a pseudo stereo and this is of great help morally speaking.
Since my SSNHL, I have hyperacusis, the noise reduction option is just a huge help in noisy environments (typically, baby crying or barking dogs was a real pain for me before : thanks Bose !)

There is still a lot of things for improvement, such as the ability to transfer sound captured on the deaf side to the good side (for those who are completely deaf and looking for a similar system to a CROSS hearing aid) as well as a more efficient system (equalizer) that allows to test each ear so that the profile is perfectly adapted to our hearing ability (like "Aumeo" device).

Other than that, this product should really be tried if you suffer from unilateral hearing loss.

Finally, living in Europe, I look forward to this product is distributed because I had to send my hearphones to the after-sales service in the US (after a known problem rubber that comes off after 6 months) and this is very restrictive. This implies having to pay expensive shipping costs (with insurance) and to know someone who lives in the United States or Canada because the Bose service absolutely needs an address in one of these two countries to operate the warranty.

Once again, thank you Bose 🙂

[ST - Hearphones]

Hi Evaneo,

Thank you for coming back to tell us how you are doing with your Bose Hearphones.

There's always room for change and improvement, and we appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Yes, Bose Hearphones are sold and supported only in the US right now. It can be difficult if you are elsewhere. We haven't announced plans to make Bose Hearphones available in other parts of the world.

Sincerely,

ST

[Evaneo]

It's nothing, It's with pleasure 😉

It is unfortunate that Bose is not planning to market its product anywhere in the world because there is clearly a market to take ! I hope it will come later.

[ButchNH]

I'm in the same boat as others with hearing loss mostly on one side and am considering hearphones to help with this issues. I appreciate the moderator answering questions as much as possible. My son recently got a pair of Apple Airpods and has shown me the I listen app that will turn his I-phone in to another microphone.  I'm curious if the ap for the hearphones has this feature as well?

[ST - Hearphones]

Hi ButchNH,

Thank you for joining the Bose Hear Community. 

That's an interesting question. Bose Hearphones use the multiple microphones that are built into the earpieces. The microphones are directional and the signal processing is optimized to improve your experience of conversations in noisy environments.

The Bose Hear app does not use the microphone in your mobile device.

Bose Hearphones can also use Bluetooth to connect to your iPhone. If the app you mentioned connects the microphone in the iPhone to Bluetooth earphones via Bluetooth, then it might work with Bose Hearphones. 

The best way to know how well Hearphones will work for you is to try them. And if you interested in this specific application, you can install the app and hear how it works.  You can Try Bose Hearphones in store. If that's not convenient, you can order them online. Please follow this link to read about the Bose 30-day trial.

ST

[tlastrange]

No, the Bose app does not allow the phone to act as an external microphone.

[SSD audiophile]

There are three options for us Single-Sided deaf headphone users.

One is to convert the stereo signal to mono via settings on mono-capable audio devices or mono adopters in the case of wired headphones if you want to use Bose or any other kind of normal stereo headphone while SSD. The other option is to buy specialty headphones where both left and right stereo speakers are in one ear cup. The only stereo headphones purpose built for the single-sided deaf communuty currently available are the 2E1: Two Ears in One and not always available for sale the Yuni 3D printed models. I own all three. I personally don't like the sound of mono converted stereo music even if coming through a great headphone like Bose but I use via bluetooth and phone audio is set to mono.

[Kevinrp]

They help very much for conversations, background noise. But a unilatarel option would work even better.