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TV background music overpowers the speaker. Why do they do this?
Hearing Loss | Last Active: Oct 30, 2020 | Replies (30)Comment receiving replies
Hi Ray - We have been struggling with the same issue here. It's really disconcerting for me, as an almost-normal hearing person to try to pick out the dialogue. My husband misses much of the speaking and I have to repeat. We are trying something new - there are speakers which allow you to raise the dialogue decibel level while muting the background sound. It is supposed to have a feature that levels the volume so commercials and promos are do not increase in volume too.
Ours should arrive tomorrow, so after we set up and try it, I'll report back on how it works.
Sue
Replies to "Hi Ray - We have been struggling with the same issue here. It's really disconcerting for..."
My neighbor has hearing loss but it's nowhere near as bad as mine. He claims that the sound bar that he uses on his TV has helped him hear the TV. I believe ZVOX is the brand. I'm reluctant to buy one because my wife has normal hearing. A better solution would be the TV accessory for my hearing aids, which would stream the sound to me and I can control the volume that I need while my wife would adjust the TV volume for her comfort. The only bad thing about the hearing aid TV accessory is that it locks me into this brand of hearing aid. If I change hearing aid brands, I'd have to buy a new TV transmitter. As bad as captions are, they help. If the time comes that I watch more TV, I may purchase the Resound TV transmitter. We really need compatibility with ALL hearing aid brands.
Tony in Michigan
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I'll be interested to hear more about those speakers you ordered. What are they called? Where did you get them? One of the best ways to make home TV accessible is to install a hearing loop in the TV room. It sends sound from the TV directly to a person's hearing aids IF those hearing aids have telecoils. Loop systems are amazing. Many performing arts centers have installed hearing loops. All you do is push the button on your telecoil equipped hearing aids and the sound comes directly to you. It's like having binoculars for your ears! In 2018 the national HLAA convention was held in MInneapolis. We attended a musical at the Guthrie Theater. They had installed a hearing loop in the theater. It was incredible. It is so frustrating that this communication access accommodation isn't standard. Other systems work too, including FM and Infrared, but it requires picking up a receiver and using either a headset or personal connector. Much easier to just push a button on a hearing aid!