Making final decision to get cochlear implant for single sided deafness

[Jason77]

2 hours ago, Rubella said:

@pdk  Is Pavarotti still a disaster for you?  My son is starting out his career as an operatic tenor...and I do love classical music and music of all kinds.  I am not a critic and will enjoy my son regardless, but does it sound bad or just not correct?   I feel like soprano would be less appealing with a CI.    I have read the Med El is supposed to have a slight advantage for music, perhaps, but not sure if that still holds given other technology advancing.  I'll wear a HA in my right ear if this happens.

I hope you aren’t correct about the soprano. My wife is a classically trained soprano and I would love to be able to enjoy her singing again like I did when we first met. Got to the point where it was terribly uncomfortable with hearing aids and I couldn’t understand the words.

[Kylie]

Classical music including live singing of all kinds sounds great to me with my 1 CI. I am a soprano myself so I'm quite fussy, but it's really lovely to listen. It just did take time, it is not the first sound to resolve.

[pdk]

11 hours ago, Rubella said:

@pdk  Is Pavarotti still a disaster for you?  My son is starting out his career as an operatic tenor...and I do love classical music and music of all kinds.  I am not a critic and will enjoy my son regardless, but does it sound bad or just not correct?   I feel like soprano would be less appealing with a CI.    I have read the Med El is supposed to have a slight advantage for music, perhaps, but not sure if that still holds given other technology advancing.  I'll wear a HA in my right ear if this happens.

Pavarotti is sounding better. With complex sounds I still get what I call 2 channels. The real one sounds ok, I hear the words and melody. The melody is good. However as the notes get higher I get a scratchey sound on top which gets more dominant. So I can still enjoy the overall sound. Soprano is much better, Kathleen battle sounds much better. I am able to sing to myself.

I must say everyone is different. Whatever distortion I hear is a small proportion of my music enjoyment. It's still improving.  The program settings are very important  . Your audiologist can control what you hear to a great extent.

My hearing aid during the first 2 years of my first implant helped a lot and definitely delayed my second implant. However that ear died.

Being bilateral is amazing.

Keep listening and it will get better.

 

[pdk]

Just listening to this lady, almost perfect.

http://tatianaevamarie.com/

[Rubella]

Thanks for the musical link - I'll enjoy that today.  I am fully aware that all is not like real hearing and I can totally accept that.  I'll adjust and be happy about being able to hear better overall if that is the outcome.