Even with the best hearing technology, there are some listening situations where you may still encounter significant challenges hearing and understanding.
Any time you are a long distance from the speaker or there is noise or reverberation, it will be more difficult to hear. For instance, churches with high ceilings, noisy ballgames, or in a large auditorium can all make understanding speech difficult.
If the hearing aid you received from us has a telecoil in it and it has been activated, you can take advantage of technology available at most theatres for live performances and many of the churches in town. These locations have systems in place to make your hearing easier by decreasing the negative effects of distance and noise between the person speaking, or singing, and you. The farther the sound of speech has to travel, the less distinct it becomes and the more chance that there will be noise between the speaker and your ears.
It works like this: the sound from a microphone worn by a speaker on stage is transmitted out into the auditorium to be picked up by a receiver and delivered to your ears. In some auditoriums (e.g., Eisenhower) you may borrow a receiver with a “neckloop” from Audience Services. The neckloop creates a signal that is picked up by the telecoils in your hearing aids. In other auditoriums (e.g., Schwab), the whole seating area is surrounded by a wire that creates a magnetic signal that can be picked up with your telecoils (no need to borrow a separate receiver — your hearing aids are your receivers.)
When you use a neckloop to pick up the signal, the sound is either delivered on an infrared light beam or an FM radio wave sound beam. A light beam must have a direct line of sight between the transmitter and your receiver. So, if you turn the receiver backwards or put it behind the person in front of you, the sound may be interrupted, or you may hear static.
