[Microfiche]

Hi, my name is Al, and I am a first time poster. I have searched the forums, and while there was some info regarding equipment for the hearing impaired, I could find nothing that directly addressed my needs.

I experienced SSHL (sudden sensorineural hearing loss) last summer, losing virtually all the hearing in my left ear. The threshold on that ear is now around 110 dB up to around 2500 Hz, then improves to the 65-75 dB range above that frequency, but has zero speech recognition.

Unfortunately, I already had profound to severe hearing loss in my right ear, as the result of otosclerosis, and this is the only usable ear I have left now. My hearing threshold in the left ear ranges from about 85 to 65 dB.
I have a hearing aid for my right ear, but not for the left as there is no point.

What I am looking for is a way to slightly increase the maximum volume output, so that I can hear either my Samsung S7 phone or my iPod Classic for listening to podcasts only while cycling. As it stands, I can just barely make out podcasts using stock Samsung earbuds. I did have some other earbuds that seemed louder, but I seemed to have lost them, and I have no idea how to determine whether some earbuds would provide a higher dB output than others. Ideally, a Bluetooth connected option would work best. When I cycle indoors on my trainer, I use over the ear Bluetooth headphones with my hearing aid in, but this is not an option outside with my helmet on.

Any information or suggestion research material would be greatly appreciated, and I am not scared to spend some money. I just don't have the technical knowledge to understand how to best resolve this issue, and from browsing the forums, it would appear there are many here who do...

Thanks!

 

[Niouke]

as you may have noticed smartphones have a limited power output, that leaves you with two choices:
- get more sensitive earbuds. a quick look at the cheap models showed me that the sennheiser CX1.00 are pretty sensitive (in dB) and only cost 30€, it is worth a try.
- get a more powerful source. Amplificators like the FiiO A1 are commonly used to power 'large' headphones, as smartphones often send a signal that is not powerful enough to drive them. It will also work with IEM's (in ear monitors) and will make them YELL on command.

I'm looking into the wireless requirement, I used to have a sony bluetooth device that allowed me to used wired IEM's over bluetooth, but the volume it produced was not higher from a stock smartphone.

 

[Niouke]

the sound blaster E3 does bluetooth, and can be used as a wired amplifier/DAC. It also has a built in microphone so you can take your calls with any earbuds IMO it fits your bill but costs 120€, maybe there are cheaper options that I'm not aware of.

 

[Microfiche]

the sound blaster E3 does bluetooth, and can be used as a wired amplifier/DAC. It also has a built in microphone so you can take your calls with any earbuds IMO it fits your bill but costs 120€, maybe there are cheaper options that I'm not aware of.

Thanks - I hadn't even realized something like that existed (which I guess is why I am here!)
I am in Canada - looks like teh E3 would be pushing $200 after taxes.
Considering the impaired hearing and that I am mostly listening to podcasts - are there cheaper options that might be suitable?
Will these have negative effects on earbuds (i.e. overpowering them)?

 

[Microfiche]

as you may have noticed smartphones have a limited power output, that leaves you with two choices:
- get more sensitive earbuds. a quick look at the cheap models showed me that the sennheiser CX1.00 are pretty sensitive (in dB) and only cost 30€, it is worth a try.
- get a more powerful source. Amplificators like the FiiO A1 are commonly used to power 'large' headphones, as smartphones often send a signal that is not powerful enough to drive them. It will also work with IEM's (in ear monitors) and will make them YELL on command.

I'm looking into the wireless requirement, I used to have a sony bluetooth device that allowed me to used wired IEM's over bluetooth, but the volume it produced was not higher from a stock smartphone.

Maybe that is what I had with my other earbuds - they were more sensitive in dB?
I know that they were noticeably louder.
Where would be a good source of information to help me understand this a little better?
I would like to get a better grasp on how all the specifications interact on a high level...

 

[Niouke]

with too much power you could overload the earbuds, I don't know about damaging thougt, I guess it could be possible but would require an insane volume. I guess that you could buy "regular" bluetooh earbuds, but I don't know if the volume will be loud enough for you.

Maybe that is what I had with my other earbuds - they were more sensitive in dB?
I know that they were noticeably louder.
Where would be a good source of information to help me understand this a little better?
I would like to get a better grasp on how all the specifications interact on a high level...

yes the previous earbuds were probably more sensitive, the theory behind it is pretty close to loud speakers so I guess you could google the basics pretty easily. You could also search/post in the sound science of this very forum, I'm pretty sure the knowledge is there.

 

[Microfiche]

with too much power you could overload the earbuds, I don't know about damaging though, I guess it could be possible but would require an insane volume. I guess that you could buy "regular" Bluetooth earbuds, but I don't know if the volume will be loud enough for you.
yes the previous earbuds were probably more sensitive, the theory behind it is pretty close to loud speakers so I guess you could google the basics pretty easily. You could also search/post in the sound science of this very forum, I'm pretty sure the knowledge is there.

I guess that brings up another question. Do some Bluetooth earbuds have more "output" than others?
What specification would tell me this?
Am I correct in my thought that because they are not hard wired, that they would have their own amplifier?
Really, with my hearing and what I am trying to listen to, sound quality is not the number one concern here, so if there was a Bluetooth unit that was louder, that would be ideal.

 

[Niouke]

In the articles section of head-fi I found a loudness calculator: https://www.head-fi.org/f/articles/headphone-power-calculator-spreadsheet.17131/ you will see that the combination of output power of your smartphone, sensitivity and impedance of your headphones allows you to calculate the loundess of the whole system, that should allow you to compare the earbuds and see which one would be the most loud with you smartphone.

As you guessed bluetooth headphones are: bluetooth receiver+DAC+amp+speaker in one package. According to the calculator loudness should be mesured in dBSPL, however on the bluetooth earphones I checked this characteristic wasn't available. My guess is that these packages are limited in loudness by law like the stock smartphones so they won't be any louder than the stock samsung earbuds. Your wireless requirement is tough because only audiophile grade hardware is louder than the consumer grade hardware because it is made to drive special headphones, but in the audiophile world bluetooth is frowned upon because you usually loose sound quality over it. The sound blaster hardware is at the crossing of consumer and audophile worlds and I can't think for now of other options, maybe other people will?

 

[Microfiche]

In the articles section of head-fi I found a loudness calculator: https://www.head-fi.org/f/articles/headphone-power-calculator-spreadsheet.17131/ you will see that the combination of output power of your smartphone, sensitivity and impedance of your headphones allows you to calculate the loundess of the whole system, that should allow you to compare the earbuds and see which one would be the most loud with you smartphone.

As you guessed bluetooth headphones are: bluetooth receiver+DAC+amp+speaker in one package. According to the calculator loudness should be mesured in dBSPL, however on the bluetooth earphones I checked this characteristic wasn't available. My guess is that these packages are limited in loudness by law like the stock smartphones so they won't be any louder than the stock samsung earbuds. Your wireless requirement is tough because only audiophile grade hardware is louder than the consumer grade hardware because it is made to drive special headphones, but in the audiophile world bluetooth is frowned upon because you usually loose sound quality over it. The sound blaster hardware is at the crossing of consumer and audophile worlds and I can't think for now of other options, maybe other people will?

Thanks - that helps. I guess Bluetooth is not a good option. Unfortunate.
This really is way more complex than I had hoped it would be.
I have no idea what sensitivity any of the earbuds I currently have are, so I have no baseline to determine what I should be getting.
I guess it will end up being trial and error...

 

[Microfiche]

Would something like a FiiO - E06 (or A1) Portable Headphone Amp do what I need? I can get one of those from around $45 CAD.

 

[Microfiche]

Answered my own question. Picked up a FiiO A1 and a set of a-JAYS Five and it gets both the iPod and S7 loud enough to hear in my one ear.
Decent solution for $100 CAD. It is not a huge volume increase, but I didn't need one.