Analog Hearing Aids

Analog hearing aids were the only type available until recent years. Now though there are also digital hearing aids to choose from. The major difference between analog and digital hearing aids is in regards to how the sound is processed in the device. It is generally felt that the new digital device is superior but there may still be reasons why people would choose analog.

What are Analog Hearing Aids?

An analog hearing aid works by increasing the loudness of any sound before it reaches the ear drum. This should then mean that those people who are hard of hearing will be better able to make out sounds. This is often a real life changer for people; where before they struggled with conversations they can now hear every word.

Analog hearing aids are made up of four main parts; the microphone, the amplifier, battery compartment and the speaker. The microphone picks up sound which is then amplified and sent to the speaker; the device is powered from a small battery. The sound that gets picked up by the microphone is changed into an electrical signal. Transistors then amplify this electrical speaker and it is directed to the speaker. This speaker is the part of the hearing aid that is directed towards your ear drum.

Some analog hearing aids are particularly good at amplifying quiet sounds because they have a special feature called automatic gain control (AGC). The digital device works differently than the analog one because the sound picked up by the microphone is converted into data. This data can then be effectively manipulated to produce high quality sound; this is the advantage that the digital device has over the analog.

Why Choose Analog Hearing Aids Rather Than Digital Hearing Aids?

The main reason why people tend to choose analog hearing aids is to do with expense; these tend to be a lot cheaper than digital. There are also programmable analog devices that contain computing technology and are able to adjust to different environments to ensure optimum listening ability; these are a bit more expensive. The analog hearing aid is also quite simple to use and this appeals to a lot of people.

Another reason why people might choose analog type hearing aids is that this has worked well for them up to now. If something isn’t broken then why try to fix it? Analog devices can be effective and this is all that is important. If you can pay less money and your hearing is improved adequately there is probably no real advantage in choosing something more expensive.