Re: Recommendations for video-conferencing setup
On 2020-11-11 10:44, Tim via users wrote:
On Wed, 2020-11-11 at 08:58 -0800, ToddAndMargo via users wrote:
> I have lost a lot of my high frequency hearing and
> have tinnitus. Consequently, I have trouble
> understand folks on the phone when there is a lot
> of white or other background noise. Machine shops
> are hell on me. Crappy cell phone audio does not
> help either.
>
> I was thinking of using a dual ear headset on
> my office phone. Two headphones would help block
> out background noise. And I have used single ear
> Panasonic headset before and liked their audio
> quality. But I am not sure Panasonic has a
> dual though.
I'm in the same boat - tinnitus and can't hear anything above 15kHz,
beyond the squeal of the horizontal output stages of old CRT TV sets.
Ironically, the top audio frequencies transmittable on analogue TV and
radio are the same (15kHz). Even those without tinnitus usually have
some hearing loss of high frequencies with age, worse if they've worked
in noisy environments.
Headphones that cover both ears can significantly help in understanding
speech. It helps with hearing problems, it helps block out background
racket, and both sides of the brain are used independently in
understanding speech with independent processing from each ear, so
hearing things with both ears really helps, too. And using a
speakerphone can be useful for anyone who finds it easier to understand
speech when both ears can hear what's being said.
By the by, even before my hearing started to degrade, I always found it
easier to understand what people said through my left ear than my right
ear, when using a telephone that could only be heard in one ear at a
time.
Connecting headsets and headphones to telephones can be difficult, at
least with traditional landlines. They often have no socket for it,
and require specific impedances, and types of microphones. But when it
comes to mobile phones, it's easier. Many gaming headsets can be used
directly (bluetooth or plugged in), and while some may be bass-boosted
for more gaming excitement, many of them are optimised for speech
clarity. I found the Sennheiser GameOne headsets good for comms,
though they aren't cheap.
If you're lucky, you could have an office phone with a general purpose
headset connector. Otherwise, you can unplug the handset, and plug it
into a buffer amplifier between the phone and a headset.
In my field, most comms headsets have a dynamic mike, and they
definitely need a buffer amplifier to be able to used with telephone
systems (which invariably use a DC powered electret condenser mike).
Getting yourself one of the expensive mobile phones can help a lot with
audio quality, but of course that won't help when the other side of the
call is using a lousy phone. A friend bought one of the $100 Nokia
phones a couple of years back, and that had terrible sound. Whenever
he rang me it was very hard to hear what he said, and it used sound
level muting to try and cut out background noise. It only transmitted
loud audio, so if he spoke quietly, or moved too far away from the
mike, it was extremely muted. I got really sick of continually telling
him to get closer to the phone throughout every phone call.
Mine cuts out at about 2500 hz in the left ear and 2200 hz
in the right. At about 2100 Hz, the two ears hear
different pitches.
I have had a bit of help with the ringing with various things.
If you eMail me directly off line, I will give you my run down.
Got is down about 60%. My hearing recovery though. No one
wants to hear about vitamins on this list.
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