The basis on which hearing aids work can be explained as - When sound enters through a microphone, it is processed and amplified and delivered to a receiver. This sends the output either directly to the ear canal of the user, or via tubing to an "earmould" and into the ear canal.
Digital Hearing Aids
Digital hearing aids are manufactured using technology wherein the analog waveform is simply converted into a series of numbers for processing. Digital hearing aids have a distinct advantage over analog hearing instruments because they have features and advanced signal processing schemes.
Some of the potential advantages that a digital hearing aid could have when compared to their analog counterpart are in the following important aspects -
Gain Processing
Digital Feedback Reduction
Digital Noise Reduction
Digital Speech Enhancement
Directional Microphones
Analog Hearing Aids
The technology used in analog hearing aids, amplifies all types of sounds.
There are programmable analog hearing aids, wherein the sounds can be amplified differently, as per the requirement. For e.g.
softer sounds could be amplified more while loud sounds, less or not at all. Analog hearing aids are not expensive and work well if it needs to be used in quieter environments.
Comparison
Digital hearing aids are more in use today because of their versatility and adaptability. They provide better sound enhancements and improved communication ability despite presence of background noise. Digital hearing aids provide great flexibility to suit individual user needs. Analog hearing aid signals can carry noise or distortion making the speech signal blurred and tough to follow. Digital technology filters out the unwanted noise around keeping the speech signal crystal clear.
