I’ve never seriously looked at buying a good hearing aid because (a) I can hear well enough (I only have trouble when I’m talking to chronic mumblers, especially during loud parties), (b) I resent having to pay out of pocket — why can’t my insurance (Medicare + United Health) cover the purchase?, (c) the ones I’ve tried make everything sound metallic and unnatural, (d) I’m lazy, and (e) I hate the appearance of the flesh-colored kind — I want only tiny black ones that wrap around your ear but without the tinny distortion — I want their amplification to sound really great.
It hit me the other day that mini-cassette recorders of the ’80s delivered great sound via headphones. You’d put the headphones on, plug them into the player and hit record — everything would sound much more pronounced and super-specific, way above the level of your natural hearing. So why don’t they sell devices today than can do the same (i.e., absorb and transform natural sound into something that’s much more treble-y and bassy)?
