$1 hearing aid could treat millions with hearing loss

Re:$1 hearing aid could treat millions with hearing loss by tyingq on Thursday September 24, 2020 @08:51AM (#24578094)

At first, it seemed like a laudable effort. I hate it, though, when someone makes a github repo and sticks a single zip file in it: https://github.com/bhamla-lab/LoCHAid-2020-PLOS-ONE

So I found the pdf in the zip file where you can see what it is. It's a MAX 98306 amp. The only peripherals are the typical filter capacitors, resistors, volume pot, microphone, etc. So, it's basically this: https://www.adafruit.com/product/987

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Re:$1 hearing aid could treat millions with hearing loss by magicalhippo on Thursday September 24, 2020 @10:10AM (#24578747)

Actually it uses two IC's and the more interesting one, in relative terms, is the MAX9814[1] microphone amplifier with automatic gain control.

I suspect there are cheaper class-D IC's that could be used than the MAX98306, but for a prototype why not.

It also puts the volume control potentiometer on the amplifier output which seems wasteful for a battery operated device.

[1]: https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/products/analog/audio/MAX...

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Re:$1 hearing aid could treat millions with hearing loss by dcassett on Thursday September 24, 2020 @01:09PM (#24580887)

I was surprised to see a git repo consisting of one zip file. And that zip file itself contains a zip file.

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Re:$1 hearing aid could treat millions with hearing loss by jdubner on Thursday September 24, 2020 @09:10PM (#24585533)

And not even a ReadMe file to accompany either ZIP file.

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Re:$1 hearing aid could treat millions with hearing loss by andai on Thursday September 24, 2020 @10:14AM (#24578787)

Looks like that's it in the first photo in the article: he's holding it in his hands and using earbuds. Presumably it would go in a pocket or clip on to your belt.

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