Re:FDA Finalizes Rule to Deregulate Hearing Aids
by radicalbyte on Saturday May 06, 2023 @06:04PM
(#35845738)
My small bluetooth DAC/amp with mic cost $120 and I have IEMS ranging from $20-$300. With the top combination you're looking at $300 for a single ear for the quality option.
That is comparable to a pair of glasses.
Re:FDA Finalizes Rule to Deregulate Hearing Aids
by skybrian on Saturday May 06, 2023 @10:16PM
(#35847268)
I use AirPods for music. The battery life isn't long enough to wear all day, so they'd have to do something different for hearing aids.
I can also play music using the bluetooth support on my hearing aids, but the sound isn't as good, since they're optimized for voice and have little bass. (They let some sound through, so that's normally not a problem.)
Also, hearing aid algorithms are tuned to maximize voice comprehension rather than to make music sound good. The default setting on mine makes a piano sound like a toy piano due to boosting the treble so much. I have another setting for live music.
Re:FDA Finalizes Rule to Deregulate Hearing Aids
by an_d_rew on Sunday May 07, 2023 @11:21PM
(#35857720)
You can import your audiogram into your iphone and it will program your airpods to match.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211218
It’s bloody amazing.
A thousand blessings, health, and happiness to EVERYONE at Apple’s accessibility team for this!
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)01708-4 (their current devices are almost there)
My guess is they do enter the OTC space within the next year or so or in true Tim Cook fashion just sell a higher binned version of airpod with OTC hearing aid capability. Their watch series 4 already has FDA medical device certifications.
As for the rest of the market, the amount of margin has been insane for hearing aids. I say look at IEM market which uses same balanced armature technology: They charge at a minimum 20x what Knowles charges for the drivers. Chinese sellers figured it out and sell IEM's with the same drivers and only 3-4x markup. It's killed all but the highest custom end of IEM markets (most of the companies merged).
Hearing aids once again have the same balanced armature drivers and mark up at least 200-500x the driver cost. There is of course some cost to the DSP and paying someone to customize it but most of it is pure regulatory capture to get the FDA approval.