How digital hearing aids work?

Question

I’ve been using my regular hearing aids for the past 3 years and I have to say that I have been happy with the results it gives. I have been told that this is an analogue product, but I’ve heard that digital devices work better and have extra features. I’m sure that this is true, and that digital is probably better than analogue, but I would still like to know how digital hearing aids work. How are they different from analogue hearing aids and are they really that much better?

Answer

Analogue hearing aids are quite rare these days as the vast majority are digital. Digital hearing aids are much more flexible in the range of sound processing strategies that can be used. Analogue hearing aids take the sound and turn it into an electrical signal or wave. This signal is then manipulated into different “shapes” and different filters are applied.  With a digital hearing aid, the sound is sampled and turned into digital information. This digital information can be manipulated in many different ways and the possibilities are much greater than that of an analogue signal. This information is then converted back into sound. 

Author: Paul Harrison

Date: Sunday 24th May, 2020

Published in: Hearing Aid Questions

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