Activation.

5.03.19

 

Switch on the 4th March.

Initial setting went OK. Noted that the higher frequencies sounded buzzy insted of a nice tone.

Speech was fantastic, although my voice sounded the same as Jennys'.

Buzzing continued to sound over the speech. However was able to have a conversation without too much difficulty.

 

Today have found that all high frequency noises sound like a buzz and tend to hide the real sound.

Sounds from various sources are translated in very different ways.

My Grandfather clock sounds exactly as I remember it even from across the room. The smaller clock sounds buzzy.

However I can hear the tick from a long way off as well as the ticks from small battery alarm clocks.

The sun birds and others in the garden are also buzzes not chirps. Although I can hear many more birds.

I can hear the cat walk across the bedroom floor , again buzzy.

If I scratch the material on my sleeve I also hear buzz.

The guitar sounds good and I can here each note without a problem. A problem occurs in the 300 to 400 Hz band , when I pluck a string I get the true note followed by a lower note almost like an echo with the wrong frequency.

Piano is good. Harry Belafonte sounded good but I could hear a buzz echo of the voice . However Jose Feliciano sounded good also all the instruments were good. Nice to hear the drums. Sometimes pick up the buzz. on the voice.

Overall music is good. Bach Toccata Fugue Beethovens' no 5 , just the slight buzz coming in like an echo.

I am able to follow an audio book even with the disastrous interpretation of the voices available on the Kindle.

Even had fair result with a TED talk as long as I could see the mouth.

 

 

10th March

After second mapping had to turn the volume setting down after that speech much better. Guitar however is very different and plucking strings with fingers I pickup the high pitch of the nail striking the strings and the strange double note effect is more pronounced Playing with the thumb is good.

The mini mic which I borrowed is great. Started using Angel for vowels and constant testing and found level 5 with noise introduced as background quite difficult. The american accent does not help.

Have great success listening to voice on the radio with the mini mike.

Still have the interference at high frequency listening to someone talk.

It will be a long time if ever that Susan Boyle singing wild horses sounds as it should. However using the left ear helps tremendously. Beethovens emperor concerto piano is really good ,full orchestra will have to wait....

Listened to 2 audio books on mini mike no problems.

 

15th March

Fourth mapping great. Sibilance in Ruths voice almost disappeared. Still happens with people on radio. Still cannot hear the radio clearly unless I use the mini mike.

Mandolin sounds quite good. Guitar about the same , acceptable but not great.

Volume has been set higher and helps a lot , still have to reduce the echo effect.

Downloaded spotify and have the Medel suitable music list, will have to check it out.

Will have to revert to the headphones for the time being, mini mike too expensive.

 

21 March

Fifth mapping.

Upped the volume and re-calibrated. Again an improvement, echo better.

Checked the guitar, much the same only F on the top string sounds way out. Low and high notes good. Still get the double note when playing loud note top string especially.

Going to have to listen to the radio to improve following speech. Pretty good using the mini mike but not without.

 

29/03/19

Still problems with the radio. Phone call on my phone good. Chatting together with 3 opeople , missed quite a few words, but one on one is going well.

NB

The better you are able to hear your own voice, the better the whole setup is.

The 'high pitch channel' as I call it comes from the sibilance and gradually is beginning to enhance the speech.

I can hear very high frequency, I remembered The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra and added to my phone. I can hear the record pops and cracks, something that has not bothered me for many years. Music however was not good.

Checking out Cochlears HOPE Notes. Very good even though it was mainly completed in 2010, it is still very well done.

 

1-04-2019

Listening through my CD’s. Some good , some bad. Patience , keep listening

Instruments

Percussion is perfect.

Good….

Harp, Piano, Clarinet

Flute vivaldi also depends on recording sometimes bad.

high notes best

Tuba, Trombone

Cello poor

Saxaphone bad

Baroque average

Bach well tempered clavier

 

Artists that sound good.

Harry Belafonte

Aznavour

Ismael Lo The Ballader

Kathleen Battle

Tenors and normal pop song voices badly distorted.

Disasters

french horn, trumpet, acoustic guitar.

So music with percussion, piano and flute are very acceptable and enjoyable.

Oscar Peterson ,Claude Bolling ,Vivaldi, piano concertos are all great listening.

05-04-2019

Finished downloading all parts of IMAP, 3.4 GB. Can now load it on any xp.

Real fun program

 

Decided to listen to Susan Boyle every day, the sibilance is much the same as when I first switched on and affected the speech so much.

Listening to speech the sibilance has now almost gone.

Radio and TV still hard work without streaming .

11/04/2019

Went to rehearsals at Cape Town City Hall. Wagner, Shostakovitch and Berlioz.

Loud passages were absolutely great, had to take my hearing aid out (it doesn't like loud music)

The last part of Berlioz was all it could ever be I was absolutely blown away.

The slow parts show much more distortion. Could hear the double note on the bell at one stage.

The piano in Shostakovitch was disappointing, could hear the mechanical part of the piano in the high and low notes. Slow notes are plumy. Fast and furious middle notes are great.

I couldn't believe how good the violins sounded. Live music is the best.

Came back home and picked up my guitar, it sounded worse than ever, double noting and almost scratchy, f on top string isn't like a note at all when plucked by itself.

Mandolin still good.

08/04/2019

Had a long conversation on the phone , a first with my son in a long time.

Noticed the audio fading in a strange fashion for the first time .

Also picked this up at table tennis, turning from facing the noisy tables to hear someone next to me.

Checked out the SCAN program , a lot is explained , the volume is being compensated.

Loaded up IMAP and played scales for flute, violin,guitar, marimba, harp and piano.

Big improvement on all except guitar. When played slowly at low pitch even the scale did not progress correctly until after about the 5th replay.

Pop voice still very distorted. Even my own voice when singing. I remember how good it was at the third mapping.

Angel sound , all instruments had slight distortion whereas IMAP sounded better. It's changed around.

Initially IMAP was so bad I thought that the settings were wrong.

Angel has the most comprehensive tests , the various modules have great learning potential.

Found the last word tests similar to audiologist test. Very challenging.

 

13/08/2019

Slow improvement. Still difficult to listen to the radio with the speakers.

Sounds such as birds,keys jangling, stirring a teacup now sound normal. The flute is now good.

Normal speech is really good.

 

15-10-2020

One Year on. The yearly mapping session made changes that I had to get used to, but overall sounds are changing slowly for the better. I have discarded the SCAN program and only use the program that has increased dynamic range for listening to music.

It goes to show that the right program makes all the difference.

My favorite singers, Barbara Streisand , Ella Fitzgerald have a long way to go before I will enjoy them again. I can say there is a slight improvement.

My left ear is now pretty useless even with headphones, time to get another implant.

With all the difficulties and challenges , overall the result is fantastic.

I can listen to the news, talk on the phone in the supermarket, no problem using the landline.

Definitely Magic !!!!