Quote:
Originally Posted by thegeek
Not to be a troll but a serious hearing aid is really not something you'd diy.
My father has serious hearing loss on both ears, and so my familiy know a little about how hearing aids work/are in real life.
You could easily make a small mic and a small amp but it would probably not work very well. The human air is very adaptable but any kind of "unnatural" input can be very uncomfortable, you'll know if you've ever actually tried any kind of audio-enhancement toy/gadget/tool.
It's really not just as simple as "turning up the volume".
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way before humans got to this :
there was this :
which while not a perfect solution was a solution for those who formerly could not carry on a simple conversation and so were shut out of human discourse through no fault of their own.In a perfect world we would all have perfect dolutions but since we are what we are,knuckleheads mostly,we do what we can with what we have and that is the engine that has always driven the inventive mind.
does not this gentleman look happy ?
Not up to todays state of the art but damn good enough at the time considering the alternative !
Back to the DIY "Hearing Helper"
I can see a couple of ways to go here for a simple little device that would cost pennies on a dollar and while not perfect may be a stop gap for an elderly gentleman with a distaste for an actual hearing aid,something I can dig considering how long I fought wearing glasses just to see not wanting to accept my own physical defeat to age.
I would go with either a Rat Shack "clone" (see above link) and some KOSS "clip on" headphones or maybe even a belt pack device with a built in omni-mic capsule (also radio shack,around $2) to a simple resistor splitter to a simple Chu Moy Pocket Amp style amp.Add a neck cord or belt clip to the casing and you have a simple device coming in at around $25 that may mean the difference between enjoying a good conversation with freinds or being totally shut out from and human interaction without the frustration of not being able to hear the conversation.Would do no harm and maybe some good.
All out ?
Get a hearing test then armed with the graphs whip up a custom EQ curve specific to the person,build that into the amp case,lock that sucker down and party on !
Could be a fun excercise just to do it and considering the knowledge that may be gained never a waste of time