Cannot understand dialogue on TV--------what to buy

[julian abram]

Tom,

I am deaf. Since 2011 I use a cochlear implant to hear. Even with the implant, I have to use an aid of some sort to hear television audio due to it's typically poor quality. I used a set of wireless Sennheiser headphones. They come with a base which you plug into your television or stereo. Then you can adjust the volume at both the base station and on the headphones. They work well.

These allow my wife to set the volume on the television to suit her and I can then adjust the volume on the headphones to suit me. It results in both of us being happy.

Ken you probably are aware of Phonak TV Link/ Compilot. After I got my Cochlear I switched from wireless Sennheiser headphones to TV Link/Compilot. The signal is transmitted directly to your Cochlear processor so no distortion, it's the best "almost normal" hearing I have all day. Just like your headphones, you can mute the TV and still hear the audio through your compilot signalling your Cochlear. Also you have volume control in the compilot.

[Gordon Eyre]

I too have very poor hearing and use bluetooth headphones. The beauty of headphones is the clarity that they provide not to mention the increased volume. I use Sony headphones and like them a lot. They are less expensive than the Bose noise canceling headphones and if you get the over the ear type they pretty well cancel out the extranious noise. When my wife and I watch tv together she uses the regular speakers and I watch with my earphones. We are both happy and of course we both like to have the printed words on as well. Actually watching with a headset has really increased my pleasure for watching movies on tv. I hear almost everything perfectly.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken you probably are aware of Phonak TV Link/ Compilot. After I got my Cochlear I switched from wireless Sennheiser headphones to TV Link/Compilot. The signal is transmitted directly to your Cochlear processor so no distortion, it's the best "almost normal" hearing I have all day. Just like your headphones, you can mute the TV and still hear the audio through your compilot signalling your Cochlear. Also you have volume control in the compilot.

As a matter of fact, last year when I upgraded my sound processor and hearing aid to the AB Q-90 system, I got a compilot. I use it in the morning when listening to the news. I intend to try it listening to music and if it's as good as the television audio, I will buy a 2nd one to put in my shop just so I can listen to music while I am woodworking. It's amazing what getting rid of the acoustic environment effects does for your hearing when you are deaf like us!

I don't use my Sennheiser headphones anymore but they worked well before I got my Compilot. I was recommending them for someone who doesn't have a Ci.

[David Bassett]

My hearing is deteriorating and I have trouble watching movies on TV.......should I buy a soundbar........or something else

Two problems with hearing the dialog. The first, having enough volume while suppressing other noise, has been covered well. (And I'm saving the links! ) But there's another problem, especially with movies (DVD / BluRay), where the dialog is buried down in the mix. (The theory is, in a big room, e.g. a movie theater, the volume is high enough the dialog is "normal" and we tolerate (/enjoy) the very loud explosions etc. but at home we turn down the maximum volume due to a smaller room or desire to not bother others and that leaves the dialog very low.) This is the problem I have.

I've done some research and there are AVR with amps that *claim* to process the sound so dialog is reduced less as you turn down the volume. (As a percentage of the mix, it becomes greater, more pronounced.) Since these are fairly expensive solutions I haven't experimented with this myself. (Yet at least.)

PS- some TV speakers are absolute garbage, in that case a good sound bar would be a huge improvement and might be enough for now.

[Art Mann]

My wife and I were having the same problem. We bought a sound bar with sub woofer and adjusted the sound profile so that dialogue is emphasized. The product wasn't very expensive - maybe $150 or so. That pretty much solved the problem for us.

[Nike Nihiser]

Make sure you do your homework and make sure any headphones you get are compatible with your tv. I wear hearing aids and had a pair of Sony headphones that worked via bluetooth from a box plugged into the back of the Spectrum cable box. I decided to get rid of the cable and go to a streaming service (direct tv now in my case, but doesn't matter which one you have). I found there was no jack to plug the Sony headphone box on the back of my 2 year old Samsung tv, So I had to get a set of headphones to pair up directly to the bluetooth ready Samsung. It was easy to do, but then I discovered that on the Samsung you could either have the headphones on or the tv speaker but not both at the same time. Luckily, I was in the market for a new tv and found that the Sony Bravia (which I bought) can be set to both headphones and the external speaker. I also use closed captioning for most viewing, but it's not available for everything. Hope this helps

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

My SO uses various types of ear things to help with hearing, being if it is music or TV.
The problem we have, is we can no longer talk about the show/movie, or anything else for that matter while she is wearing them.
Slowly we just quit watching anything together.
Just thought I would point that out so you are know of a new issue it might bring up.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Another option is a FM transmitter from Walmart (less than $10) plugged into head phone jack, and a pair of "Work Tunes" ear muffs. I use this set up in my shop to listen to you tube music.

[Wayne Lomman]

My wife is profoundly deaf. We always have the captions turned on. Both myself and our daughter are fine with this. We can all converse about the show and there is a whole new level of entertainment comparing what was said with what gets written on the screen. If it doesn't have captions, none of us watch it.

This is a low tech approach but necessary. Deafness takes many forms and money/technology cannot solve all the issues nor can it keep up with changing deafness which is where my wife sits in the spectrum. Our best solution has been to adapt our lives to suit the disability, same as we have gotten rid of steps etc to assist with mobility. Cheers

[Keith Outten]

I am also a big fan of the Bose noise cancelling products. I currently use the wireless QC30 earbuds for everything from my CNC Router in my shop to lawn mowing and bush hogging on my tractor. Most of the time I listen to music from my phone but there are times when I use them just for the noise cancelling capability.

[Chris Parks]

I am also a big fan of the Bose noise cancelling products. I currently use the wireless QC30 earbuds for everything from my CNC Router in my shop to lawn mowing and bush hogging on my tractor. Most of the time I listen to music from my phone but there are times when I use them just for the noise cancelling capability.

I have always wondered how noise cancelling headphones work, if I am wearing a set and turn on my tablesaw do I not hear the saw and thus work in silence?

[Keith Outten]

You will still here a faint hum from machines running unless you are listening to music. I expect the volume is relative to how well you can hear, for an old set of ears like mine background noises are faint. My tractor is a 40 hp diesel and my lawn mower is a 25 hp Kohler that is right behind the seat and both are much more comfortable riding with noise cancelling earbuds. I have a fairly nice set of Peltor hearing protectors and the earbuds are far superior. I have a very old 15" planer that is so loud it will wake up the dead so I wear the Peltor headset on top of my earbuds when I am planning lumber.

I also trail ride in the mountains on an ATV and most of the time I wear my earbuds which reduces the whining motor noise and I get to enjoy my own music on long rides. I have also used both the Bose wired and wireless models and I found the wired ones reduce more noise.

[Al Launier]

I find the thread to be interesting. Frankly I hadn't thought much about noise cancellation as a remedy for better understanding of dialogue.
In my situation the loss of hearing is very significant, the left ear being much worse than the right, whereby I must use hearing aids. I have difficulty understanding people with higher frequency voices, usually women, (sometimes that's a blessing in disguise with my wife) and it's almost impossible to understand what is being said on DVDs and theater movies where the background music is so loud that it dominates everything. Increasing the volume to hear the dialogue only worsens the situation. As a result I watch very few of these shows.
So, are you all saying that noise cancelling devices will solve that problem?

[Nick Decker]

This is something I've struggled with for quite a while and have spent a lot of money on. I have quite a bit of high freq. hearing loss. It's especially bad for watching movies, and the reasons for this have been noted earlier.

Everybody is different, of course, and is at a different stage of deterioration, so what works for me might not work for you. I haven't tried Bose, so can't comment on them. I have tried several different Sennheiser units with varying degrees of success. The SET840 linked to earlier didn't work well for me at all, so I returned them. The ones I've been using for the last two years are these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yup, they're expensive. You'll have to decide if they're worth it to you.

The best thing about them is customization, both at the headphone and at the base unit. That means they're more likely to remain useful to you as your hearing gets worse. Customization at the headphones means you won't have to get up to change settings if you change the source audio. If none of the settings work for you, I'd say you probably need to look into hearing aids.

A couple of things I don't care for: They pretty much cancel out ambient noise, which means I likely won't hear the phone or someone knocking at the door. Also, if you don't turn the speaker down on the TV you'll get a bit of an echo effect. I live alone, so not a big deal for me.

If you buy from someone (like Amazon Prime) with a liberal return policy your journey will, of course, be less expensive.

[Al Launier]

This is something I've struggled with for quite a while and have spent a lot of money on. I have quite a bit of high freq. hearing loss. It's especially bad for watching movies, and the reasons for this have been noted earlier.

Everybody is different, of course, and is at a different stage of deterioration, so what works for me might not work for you. I haven't tried Bose, so can't comment on them. I have tried several different Sennheiser units with varying degrees of success. The SET840 linked to earlier didn't work well for me at all, so I returned them. The ones I've been using for the last two years are these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yup, they're expensive. You'll have to decide if they're worth it to you.

The best thing about them is customization, both at the headphone and at the base unit. That means they're more likely to remain useful to you as your hearing gets worse. Customization at the headphones means you won't have to get up to change settings if you change the source audio. If none of the settings work for you, I'd say you probably need to look into hearing aids.

A couple of things I don't care for: They pretty much cancel out ambient noise, which means I likely won't hear the phone or someone knocking at the door. Also, if you don't turn the speaker down on the TV you'll get a bit of an echo effect. I live alone, so not a big deal for me.

If you buy from someone (like Amazon Prime) with a liberal return policy your journey will, of course, be less expensive.

Good info Nick. Would it be advisable to have a hearing evaluation by an audiologist to determine which model would be best suite for oneself, os is this not needed?