Renachelw Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 Hi Guys, If you are unilateral or have had normal hearing in the past before being hit with hearing loss, how would you compare the sounds that you hear with the CI now? https://auditoryneuroscience.com/prosthetics/music Came across this link as well as a few others, the CI versions are usually either robotic or lacks melody. Is this common? Or is this just how older implants were like? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel the Stranger Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 Hi @Renachelw, I never had normal hearing. I also didn't listen to the link but I know for sure in my first month post activation that music does not sound robotic nor lack melody. I can say I'm enjoying it the same way I used to with my HAs. I'm not saying that music is perfect, nor that I'm hearing music the same way than before but it is definitely heaps better than what I expected according to other people experiences. Renachelw and Jewel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted June 21, 2018 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 @Renachelw I had normal hearing in both ears until age 13. So I have heard with normal acoustical ears, hearing aids and now with cochlear implants. I have never found a CI simulation that even comes close to how I hear with my CIs. I think the simulations all sound robotic and lacking in full tones. Voices and music sound wonderful to me now. I can tell when a familiar person’s voice is off due to a cold. I hear various accents. The return of music to my life has been one of the most wonderful gifts of this journey. However for me, music (especially musical pitch) took longer than speech or even speech in noise. I trained musical pitch and it helped a lot. Jewel, Mary Featherston and Renachelw 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renachelw Posted June 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks @Mary Beth That's wonderful! Voice and Music sound quite natural to me now, even though I have yet to map. I gradually increased the available volume, and now the loudest seem soft to me. My audiologist says this means I'm getting used to the CI now, but I wonder if this means I will have to keep increasing the volume because all sounds will seem soft in future? (I mean, will I eventually be immune to loudness?) What happens when I reach the max volume available? Also I still find it very difficult to differentiate male and female voices in songs.. I'm afraid I'll never be able to differentiate. All singers sound too similar, I cant identify their uniqueness anymore. How did you manage to train pitch? My violin sounds weird for the high notes. Now, I'm not sure if what I'm hearing is normal, or what i used to hear is weird. I have no idea which is the correct version. I'm so confused haha. My audiologist did mention of the possibility of one electrode being a misfit or smth like that, hence sounds around 2000Hz, I cant differentiate. Might have to turn off that electrode. What happens when an electrode is switched off? And also, how do I identify symptoms of implant migration? Sorry for having so many questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted June 22, 2018 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 @Renachelw smile. I’ll do my best and I hope others jump in and respond too. Music took me awhile so as I continued to get used to my CI and kept listening and training music, things improved. Voices sound all unique now...not all the same. Give your brain time to sort it all out. In the beginning we do need frequent boosts in volume but then everything stabilizes and we no longer need volume increases. I know that with Med-El implants when an electrode is turned off for whatever reason the frequencies shift so that all frequencies are still covered by the remaining electrodes. Many people have electrodes turned off with their CIs and do just fine. Fortunately I do not know anything about implant migration. You may wish to discuss that with your CI team. Surgeons use different techniques to secure our implants. You can ask how your implant was secured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kara of Canada Posted June 25, 2018 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 Hi I do have an electrode turned off. It doesn’t affect my outcome to hear at all. The specific electrode was drawing too much power. Audi said it may not have lined up perfect with the right hair cells in the cochlea. On my new one I do not have any turned off. I also got the longer electrode this time. So who knows! As for music it took me three months with my first to even begin to understand it. I would listen to the songs over and over to get it to sound good. I’m not big on new music as I didn’t listen for almost ten years because I couldn’t understand it. So I am still a work in progress! It will take me years to get where @Mary Beth is lol! Practice ,Patience perserverance! Only way to get there!! Best of luck! Mary Featherston 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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