These days if you open up a hearing aid brochure or go to a hearing aid manufacturer's website, you will most likely run across the term “memory”. In this instance, “memory” refers to various environmental programs the hearing aid user can access. Specific listening situations can be addressed by the user with the memories, manipulating the hearing aid’s gain, frequency response, and microphone mode (directionality) providing optimal sound quality. Here’s an example: A memory called “auditorium” normally will increase overall gain to ease the strain of listening from a distance, which can be convenient in places of worship or theaters.
“Normal” is the only memory needed for many people
It’s vital to point out that the majority of modern hearing aids have automatic functionality (frequently called “adaptive technology”); they’re able to gauge incoming sounds and make automatic adjustments to speech, background noise, and environmental sounds. So as you go about your daily life — from the loud winds on a golf course to a serious meeting to a bustling airport terminal — these hearing aids automatically adapt to provide you with absolute premium sound quality.
Lots of hearing aid wearers favor the “set it and forget it” method, placing their hearing aids in only one memory (for Starkey hearing aid wearers, this is the “Normal” memory). Since the hearing aids automatically adjust to varying environments, many individuals can hear well in most daily hearing situations.
However, certain situations may arise in which your hearing professional may desire to program additional memories to further complement your listening experience:
- Music listening: Live music plays a big part in many people’s lives and is enjoyed all over the world. If you’re one of those that value going to concerts, performances, playing an instrument or just listening to the radio, you’d want to have a music memory setting. The music memory setting enhances the distinction of songs and provides a more full and rich sound quality.
- Restaurants: To help improve comfort and reduce listening effort in busy environments like restaurants, crowds, or big meetings, you have numerous memories to choose from. How the hearing aid mic performs in these memories may be modified by your hearing healthcare professional.
- Outdoors: An outdoor memory that reduces wind noise to the fullest extent can be enjoyed by an array of different individuals from bikers, hunters, gardeners and golfers.
If you’re using our latest hearing aid technology, you can also create a custom memory in the Thrive Hearing app. This allows you to save your hearing aid settings for any of your favourite, unique locations. Watch the video below to see how it’s done!
Most hearing aids also boast car, auditorium and television memories too. To access these memories, a push-button function on the actual hearing aid or a remote control may be used. Utilizing different memories can be an awesome way to personalize your hearing aid experience.
When a hearing aid memory isn't quite enough
No matter how well a hearing aid is programmed though, at some point you might encounter situations where the acoustic environment is unpredictable or challenging. In these difficult environments, patients wearing Livio Edge AI hearing aids can activate Edge Mode on their devices. With a double tap or short press of the hearing aids, Edge Mode instantly conducts an AI-based analysis of the current listening environment, then optimizes sound - taking things like masks, distance and background noise into consideration. These smart, on-demand adjustments optimize listening clarity and comfort in those challenging environments.
It is recommended to have a conversation with your hearing professional about your everyday life and personal listening needs. They can help guide you towards the technology and memories that will best suit your lifestyle. If you’re looking for a hearing professional in your area, we can help you find one! Call (888) 919-6824 or click here.