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Using Headset with Hearing Aids…

Piper J3

Well Known Member
I posted this about a year ago in VAF > Main > RV General Discussion > Deaf Pilots. I’d like to post here in the RV-12 thread if moderators will allow - reason is many Light Sport Pilots are older folks who may be afflicted with hearing loss. The original post didn’t get much play I think because the post was difficult to find. Maybe the moderators would even allow this to become a sticky thread.

I have been using hearing aids in conjunction with aviation headsets for over twenty years and not satisfied with the result until I discovered hearing aids that are Bluetooth controlled by cell phone. The hearing aids I wear are behind-the-ear. The problem with using conventional hearing aids is feedback when the headset is placed over the ear. Because the hearing aid is trapped inside the cup of the headset the microphone and transducer get into a feedback loop.

Enter new hearing aid technology that includes Telecoil option. Telecoil receives electromagnetic signals instead of acoustic sound waves. This solves the feedback problem when wearing headset in conjunction with hearing aids. Not all hearing aids have Telecoil – it is an option that is specified at time of purchase.

Here’s the setup… Have your audiologist make a special program titled “Airplane” that is selected on your cell phone. This program does several things automatically – shuts off (mute) microphones in both hearing aids, turns on Telecoil, and sets correct gain (volume). I have an Active Noise Reduction (ANR) headset, so in essence, I have double the background noise reduction – hearing aid microphone shut off and the ANR. Dead quiet and zero feedback... win-win situation. The Telecoil has outstanding audio quality. I can finally hear ATC and CTAF very distinctly. Intercom in the airplane is now pure pleasure. With the above setup my RV-12 now sounds like a very quiet turbine... :D
 
I got my audiologist to make one of the programs for use in a plane with a headset. That program is down 6db from the normal listening mode. Works very well and no feedback.
 
Which Hearing Aids

Jim & Norman,

Can each of you share the specific brand/manufacturer and model number?

This might help the rest of us who have not been able locate a hearing aid which successfully works inside of a headset.

Thanks
Richard
 
Sure…

Philips Brand HearLink 9010 miniRITE T
Purchased at Costco - Mar 2019

The key is a digital hearing aid with multiple programs selectable by Bluetooth cell phone. Hearing aid needs to have Telecoil. Most mfgrs have Telecoil option when placing order.
 
Phonak Marvel 70. I had to insist on Telecoil option as the young things saw it as old technology and couldn’t understand initially why Bluetooth wouldn’t work. Actually they were very helpful - just different technology experiences.

+1 for what Jim says, best I’ve heard in an aircraft since my young days.

Jack
 
I started out with Costco brand many years ago and they programed it for me, I then got a set Phonax aids and had them program them now I have Signia and they are programmed. None of these aids had the Tela coil
 
CQ headsets

Disclaimer....I do not wear hearing aids. But just a thought, have you tried the CQ headset in the ear headsets? I would reach out to them and see what they are doing with pilots that wear hearing aids. It may be worth a try and they stand behind the product that if it does not work they will take it back. They are excellent to deal with and it is an outstanding product. It's like all the other stuff we use in these planes it takes a little trial and error to make it perfect for us. They are a VAF advertiser as well.
 
Disclaimer....I do not wear hearing aids. But just a thought, have you tried the CQ headset in the ear headsets? I would reach out to them and see what they are doing with pilots that wear hearing aids. It may be worth a try and they stand behind the product that if it does not work they will take it back. They are excellent to deal with and it is an outstanding product. It's like all the other stuff we use in these planes it takes a little trial and error to make it perfect for us. They are a VAF advertiser as well.

I wear "in the ear" hearing aids and recently switched to the Quiet Technologies in the ear headset. (Similar to CQ, just different brand). Of course I have to remove my hearing aids when wearing them, but man, the sound quality difference is HUGE from my Lightspeed Zulu headset. Radio transmissions are MUCH better and the music sound quality is far superior. When listening to music through Garmin audio panel, it has gone from sounding like AM radio quality to true hi-fidelity sound. Since I'm already used to something being in my ear, the switch was easy.
 
My problem with the in ear headset is that I need the hearing aids to correct for the frequency loss. It doesn't matter how loud in the ear or headsets are when you have losses at certain frequencies. Went flying once while my aids were being repaired. Everything was fine till I went to depart the airport that I flew to. The ground controller was now a female and I could only make out maybe one out of ten words. Finally got my passenger to tell me what she was saying. Take off was fine the controller was a guy and I could hear every word. It's a real bummer!
 
I forgot to mention in post #1 above that Telecoil program can also be adjusted for frequency equalization just like the normal hearing program and TV streaming program.

Such things they have these days…
 
I find it absolutely amazing the technology that they can package into such a small space and including rechargeable battery.
 
Piperj3...as you say, the telecoil is required. OK, but please confirm/explain, where does the electromagnetic transmitted signal come from? Is it emf energy from the headphone speakers? If so, I wonder how effectiveness varies with different headphones, anr and non anr.
 
Telecoil was originally developed for hearing aids to improve sound quality when using land-line telephones; hence, the name Telecoil. Now with Bluetooth cell phones, the audio is “streamed” directly to the hearing aid and Telecoil is not required.

Telecoil is essentially a half-winding of a transformer with other half-winding being the voice coil in the headset speaker. EMF inductance transfers signal from one winding to the other.

I have only used Telecoil hearing aids with ANR headset. I would imagine that non-ANR would work well also, but you would not have the double effect of noise reduction. The ANR headset cancels background noise, and then when using Telecoil, the hearing aids microphone is muted, so the hearing aid essentially becomes an ear plug that blocks sound from entering the ear canal.

Flying is largely visual, but to truly enjoy, the ability to clearly communicate with passengers, hear radio, and not be droned-out by engine noise enhances the experience.
 
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Piperj3, right, that's what I thought. Thanks. A friend was discussing hearing aids and mentioned that his audiologist did not think hearing aids would work with headsets...that he would have to remove the AIDS while flying. I guess the audiologist did not factor in the old telecoil possibility.
This topic should be in the general section and might even be a good article in Sport Aviation or Kitplanes.
 
My problem with the in ear headset is that I need the hearing aids to correct for the frequency loss. The ground controller was now a female and I could only make out maybe one out of ten words. !

Only hearing 1 out of 10 of her words is why I'm still with my girlfriend !!
 
In-ear headset

I wear hearing aids (behind the ear). When I fly, I just switch them out for my Quiet Technology Halos. This has worked great for me. Caveats that I can think of are (a) not everyone likes in-ear, it's a subjective thing, and (b) I don't need a ton of frequency boosting; people who do need that probably need hearing aids under headphones.

I will say that if you ARE able to use the in-ear headsets, I think they are just a better mousetrap than headphones. My next pair will probably be a CQ, as they advertise here, a buddy really likes his, and I've had trouble getting maintenance support lately from Quiet Technology for a wire that I broke.

Disclaimer....I do not wear hearing aids. But just a thought, have you tried the CQ headset in the ear headsets? I would reach out to them and see what they are doing with pilots that wear hearing aids. It may be worth a try and they stand behind the product that if it does not work they will take it back. They are excellent to deal with and it is an outstanding product. It's like all the other stuff we use in these planes it takes a little trial and error to make it perfect for us. They are a VAF advertiser as well.
 
My next pair will probably be a CQ, as they advertise here, a buddy really likes his, and I've had trouble getting maintenance support lately from Quiet Technology for a wire that I broke.

Doug,
When you are ready to switch, I'll have a headset for you. And I'm not aware of anyone ever having a problem getting support from CMW :D
 
Piperj3, right, that's what I thought. Thanks. A friend was discussing hearing aids and mentioned that his audiologist did not think hearing aids would work with headsets...that he would have to remove the AIDS while flying. I guess the audiologist did not factor in the old telecoil possibility.
This topic should be in the general section and might even be a good article in Sport Aviation or Kitplanes.

With my earlier hearing aids I had to remove them - they couldn’t cope with the feedback - but my current aids with higher processing speeds work just fine. However, I use the telecoil setting for all the reasons others have outlined. It gives the best performance by far.

Jack
 
I'm a relatively new hearing aid user.... Phonak Marvel M-90's for a couple years now. I'm a rusty pilot and haven't flown since I've had them more than a few times. I didn't really have any feedback issues with them under my old flightcom headset, but mostly I ended up just taking them off and turning the volume up. Felt like they were inside the ear cup but not a of of extra room so I wasn't sure how well they'd be picking up the sounds inside the cup. Was looking for something with a bit bigger cup.
It never even dawned on me to try the t-coil!
To date, I use the t-coil through an FM receiver with a neck loop, to hear the audio system at church.... but otherwise I have not run into a single place to use it. My phone at work is a landline but it doesn't power it...and no other phones I have do it. Never found a looped room either.
Anyway, I'll have to give it a try in the headset!

oh...any suggestions for headsets you like that fit over the ear well enough to include the behind the ear aids?
 
Amazon has over the counter in-ear hearing aids that are essentially just amplifiers for $100 or less. They seem to work well with my Bose A-20 and A-30.
 
I started the original Headset with Hearing Aids thread back in 2021. I’m now wearing Costco Kirkland 10.0T hearing aids which are made by Sonova / Phonak in Switzerland. The key to using T-coil is the ability to mute the hearing aid microphone. This makes the hearing aid itself act like a hearing protection earplug and when using a ANR headset you actually get two means of noise attenuation – hearing aids, when muted, acted as passive noise reduction and then of course the ANR headset. I have also upgraded to Lightspeed Zulu3. Audio quality and noise reduction in the RV-12 is very good…
 
Been flying with hearing aids (Siemens) since 2010. I’m on my 3rd set, fully digital, behind the ear. I fly with Bose A-20’s, as well as my wife’s Lightspeed Zulu’s and a DC non ANR.

From day one, I’ve not had any issues nor have I needed special programming. I have 3 settings, Normal, Noisy and TV, all manually or Bluetooth adjusted. Before engine start I enable noisy setting and drop volume 2 clicks, then its go fly. No issues hearing ATC, ATIS or intercom chatter. Lucky I guess?
 
telecoil

I have new haring aids, and you guys were ab-so-lute-ly right: now I have Telecoil (in Dutch: RINGLEIDING), and it works as a charm.
Thank you very, very much Forum!!
 
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