What is the difference between analogue and digital hearing aids?
Analogue aids Hearing aids with analogue technology are capable of splitting incoming sound signals into different channels according to their frequency bands. These are then converted into an electronic form and ‘stretched’ or compressed according to the hearing loss. A drawback of this type of processing is that once the signal is reverted back to soundwaves there is more chance of distortion, resulting in a less natural sound. Digital aids Hearing aids with digital technology contain highly advanced signal processing microchips which turn the incoming sound into binary codes i.e. 1’s and 0’s, which are then manipulated. Once the re-coding of the binary signal is complete it is reverted back to soundwaves and the sound/signal is much more of a true reproduction of the original signal. Additionally, digital signal processing (DSP) allows the hearing aid to “search” not only for different sound frequency and intensity, but also for speech. More sophisticated digital aids combine this t
There are two different types of technology used to process sounds in a hearing aid, digital and analogue. Analogue aids use more traditional technology and many amplify all sounds by the same amount, which can make some sounds too loud. Digital technology can make the aid more flexible with more features than analogue aids. Typically digital aids amplify sounds in a more sophisticated way so all sounds remain comfortable. Almost all of the hearing aids supplied by The Hearing Care Centre are digital.
