Listening to music for folks who are deaf in one ear?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

If you really want to try this, what you want is to mix the stereo
signal down to mono. The mono setting on a pair of headphones does that;
so does the mono setting on any piece of electronics that has one. Then
just disable (or don't use) the other earpiece.

But simply standing back from a pair of stereo speakers has the same
effect, and if he isn't happy with that... Earbud and an iPod won't give
his good ear better sound than the existing stereo system; what it
*MIGHT* do is avoid feeding the sound to his bad ear, which might be
hearing just enough signal to be distracting.

Personal take: Is this something he has requested, or something you're
trying to do for him without discussing it with him? If the latter, I
would advise strongly that you just suggest it and let _him_ think about
whether it's worth trying. He may not be listening to music these days
as much because it reminds him of his frustration with the impairment as
because it's actually affecting his ability to hear it, and pushing him
too hard may not be the kindest thing you can do.

I'd also strongly recommend "try before buy", since it should be very
easy to walk into a store and ask for a demo. I'd also point out that
there are lots of options besides iPod, including the headphone jack on
his existing stereo system.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

<m_webster@comcast.net> wrote:
>My aged father in law is deaf in one ear (and I think he probably has
>some impairment in the "good ear" too). I think he might resume his
>interest in listening to music if we could buy him something that would
>help him hear better, as his hearing seems to be enough of an
>impairment that he no longer uses his stereo system. He was once a
>serious amateur musician, and spent a number of years fundraising for
>the local symphony, so I think his hearing impairment in general must
>be pretty significant for it to so completely interfere with his
>enjoyment of music now.
>
>So, ideas: we could buy him earbuds and an iPod (and stock it with
>music first, he has no internet connection!). Would the earbuds (that
>either come with the iPod or that are good/better aftermarket
>alternatives) play the same stuff in each ear, or would he be losing
>some of the sound (if the left and right have different channels)? Are
>there stereo/mono settings for these things (either on the iPod or on
>the earphones?) Or is it actually all mono, same channel piped into
>both ears? And would using earbuds and an iPod give his hearing ear
>significantly better sound than he gets with the stereo system he's no
>longer using (just by piping the sound more directly to his ear,
>without ambient noise, and/or by being "higher fidelity" )?

My wife has hearing in only one ear. I have made her up a bunch of
single-ear headphones, with two 47 ohm resistors to sum the two channels
together. This way she hears both channels in one ear. However, her
hearing is excellent, it's just only in one ear (due to a congenital
defect).

If you listen to just one side of the Mamas and the Papas, you only
hear one or the other. That's kind of an extreme example since most
recordings don't have such exaggerated separation.

>Is there a better alternative?
>
>He has already tried -- and rejected -- a hearing aid for the "bad"
>ear.

Well, the question is how good the hearing in the good ear is. It also
might be possible to use radical equalization to compensate to some extent
for his hearing loss in the good ear.

I'd suggest getting him a single-headphone for the stereo system. If you
don't want to make one, I think Stanton sells something like that for
DJs to cue with. Then I'd suggest a cheap graphic equalizer and see if
an exaggerated high-end will help him. If these work, then consider going
the ipod route.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I have the same problem being stereophonically challanged, hearing out of one esr only. You might want to try http://www.scansound.com/1-Bud.htm
They sell single earbuds set up for stereo.

Ken