27/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

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22/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Often I get asked what will happen if Crystal Hearing isnt here next year - What happens to my aftercare? And i reassure all clients by informing them Crystal Hearing is the most prevalent website with natural search results on the Internet (more reading), and that with more and more people using the Internet over the next few years we will prove more and more successful. We do not need expensive branch premises or management structures and therefore we have so much less depending on our success. This gives us a massive cushion to absorb any dips in the market. Unlike some of the other companies around, as was seen this week with the news that Matalan Hearsavers Centres were bought out having run up a loss of £0.5m for the year 2008-2009.

Matalan were one of the expensive suppliers of hearing aids, even though they claimed to offer affordable hearing aid solutions, and it is no surprise to us to hear this news.

The best and most secure way for you to purchase your hearing aids is by utilising a local dispenser who is part of a larger group working in support of each other - and at Crystal Hearing this is what we can offer you. We are ever building our presence on the inetrnet as a GROUP, and assure you of our drive to supply low cost hearing aid solutions with great aftercare.

 To read the acquisition details in full click here

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22/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

I know what you’re thinking - these guys like Phonak! Well, i have to be honest, we have no ties with Phonak but they do seem to be leading the way with innovative technology and features that push hearing aids to the next level, making them a bit easier and more interesting to write about.

This new feature makes quite brilliant use of the binaural coordination capability of their latest range of hearing aids and it’s use is to allow the wearer of hearing aids to hear speech from one side whilst there is noise present on the other side. i.e. when sat with someone else in the car, or on an aeroplane where one has to constantly hear what the stewards/stewardesses say as they walk by whilst there is constant jet noise on the other side. The sound signal on the speech side is instantly transmitted to the other side, whilst the microphone on the noise side is muted - the video explains it better!

Here is an audible demonstration - click here

Watch the video and feel free to email us for further clarification.

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20/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Starkey launched their new S-Series range of hearing aids this month; with a micro-processor containing twice the memory and 3x the power of the successful Destiny range the S-Series should prove to be a big success for Starkey and compete with the likes of Widex in pure hearing aid performance. Still not delivering the binaural synchronization and bluetooth technology of Oticon and Phonak, but incorporating real-ear-measurement programming for exact fittings which should help iron out those troublesome fittings, and offering a new form of remote control via any mobile phones, using the DTMF tones that you hear when you press the buttons - what will they think of next! This means we can now offer CIC’s extra small in size with remote control compatibility as the hearing aid has no requirement for the ‘coil’ used to pick up a signal from a standard remote control. This should prove popular for clients who want the smallest of the small hearing aids with a bit of flexibility regarding programme and volume control settings, as they generally all have a mobile phone, and they now don’t have to remember to carry an additional remote control - also this obviates the additional cost of such items. Starkey are renowned as offering the best feedback manager of all the hearing aid manufacturers and now claim to have incorporated an new even more advanced system for reducing feedback - this should benefit all those customers who have experienced difficulties with unwanted whistling.

The E-Series use the same drive architecture platform of the S-Series but with fewer features to suit clients looking for a more affordable solution or because they have lesser needs due to their lifestyle or more mild hearing loss.

More information on Starkey hearing aids - Click here

Click Image

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16/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Frequency shift is a new technology which restores profound deafness in high frequency losses (i.e off the chart) by compressing and shifting them into audible lower frequencies. The only company offering this is Phonak with their ‘Sound Recover’ (Widex offer a frequency transposition technology, but we don’t have quite so much proven experience or literature)

If you have an audiogram like this - then Sound Recover WILL really benefit you so please read on:

Clients with this loss may still miss parts of speech and may have even been told this is as good as it will ever get. Well not anymore! This technology was first introduced for profound hearing losses and has been shown to significantly improve the way a ‘deaf’ person hears AND even talks, and is now being incorporated into all of Phonaks latest hearing aids meaning even clients with mild to moderate hearing losses can benefit from it. How? Well, most hearing aids frequency range tails off at 6kHz due to the limitations of the speaker units, and this means you still lose some marginal parts of speech, but with sound recover we can maximise the potential of the hearing aid by restoring those very high frequency elements of speech. So, although you may hear them at a slightly lower frequency, it is better than not hearing them. This can take getting used to for some people, but is generally easy to succumb to, once the benefits are realised.

Phonak Video links on ‘Sound Recover’ - Video 1  Video 2

Here is an audible demonstration showing the difference when sound-recover is used in Phonak hearing aids - click here  (you may need to turn your speakers up!)

Here is a great testimonial by a wearer of Phonak Naida using frequency shift - Part1, Part2, Part3

More information on Phonak Hearing Aids - click here

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14/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Here’s a great new development from Phonak I feel you should all know about - The click-and-talk is a device that has been created to work in unison with Sony Ericsson mobile phones and is a simple plug-in adapter which operates similar to the Phonak ‘duo-phone’ feature; i.e. when the phone is held close to the hearing aid (within 25cm) the adaptor triggers a programme switch in the hearing aid (utilising the Bluetooth/headset programme) and simultaneously sends the audio signal to the other ear - so the user now gets binaural listening on the telephone. This is a godsend for people on the move with a serious need for clear mobile phone communication. This feature can onlybe used with the current portfolio of Phonak hearing aids that incorporate binaural synchronization technology.

Further reading found on Phonak’s website - click here

More information on Phonak Hearing Aid Accessories and Hearing Aids - Click Here

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14/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Here is a new feature by Phonak - ‘duo-phone’  - which makes listening on your mobile phone much clearer. This is an extension to the feature ‘auto-phone’, which has been around now for several years, which is activated when a phone handset is held near to the hearing aid and the electromagnetic field in the handset triggers a programme change to a separate ‘phone’ setting (giving more mid-range amplification as telephones tend to shift the high frequencies to the mid-range). The new duo-phone not only switches the programme but simultaneously sends the audio signal to the other hearing aid!! So now phone users get binaural listening. Any hearing aid wearer who has gone from wearing one hearing aid to wearing two will tell you how much more benefit hearing with both ears gives.  Also, as an extra benefit we can reduce the volume of the hearing aid microphones, so if you are using your phone in a busy environment such as an office workplace, the background noise is attenuated whilst you are on the phone! This feature is proving invaluable for hearing aid wearers who really struggle on the phone or depend on the telephone for communication purpose.

The RNID sell phones which have a good magnetic induction strength such as the CL1100 (stock code T359)

Here is an audible demonstraton of Duo-Phone - Click here (please turn the volume up on your PC)

See also ‘click-and-talk’ by Phonak which allows the same with mobile phones

More information on all hearing aids and our discounts - click here

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13/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Crystal Hearing are leading suppliers of premium branded digital hearing aids.

 We have set up this blog to give weekly updates as to what is new in the market of hearing aids, and hopefully bring awareness to many features and hearing aids that may help you as wearers.

This blog was set up on 13th June 2009. We will be endeavouring to add many articles and welcome you to add your own comments or become a subscriber and add your own articles to help others.

Please click on the underlined text as this represents a link to further reading.

Crystal Hearing offer discounts of up to 50% on all the latest hearing aids compared to main high street retailers such as Hidden Hearing, Amplifon and Boots Chemists (aka Ormerods) etc.

Our main website is here - Crystal Hearing

All the best!

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