scribbler86
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2008
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 0
Recently saw my audie and got a new map on both CIs (both Freedoms) and it solved the buzzing/humming problem (changed the rate to 750 from 900 on the left to match that of the right ear at 750, after telling her that the left ear heard speech better with the 3G at 750...).
Now, it seems that every time I solve a problem, another one arises... sooo frustrating trying to get the map down - but then, there's no one size fits all. I do have four maps on both - and two on the 3G as well.
Some things that I found interesting:
Speech sounds best with both Freedoms on - the quality "sounds" good, is comfortable, and intelligible for one-on-one conversations. But once I hit a classroom (even quiet ones where the prof is the only one speaking), the quality gives away to muffled speech - this is evident on all four maps, even the BEAM one as well.
On the other hand, when I put the 3G on, the speech problem is solved - even though the sound quality isn't as pleasing, the speech is intelligible. Weird?
Music - I've played with different combinations: LF+RF (left ear Freedom, right ear Freedom), LF+R3G, L3G+RF, etc and found interesting things:
Anything Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Cole Porter (I'm a Broadway nut, so hence the showtunes) sounds best (and is most inteligbe) on the LF+RF combination.
Anything contemporary or with a strong base in rock/pop, fits better with the L3G+RF combination - meaning Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Spring Awakening, Wicked and anything by Sondheim (heavy syncopation). This is especially weird, considering the 3G was originally mapped for my right ear (N24C) while the left ear has NEVER used the 3G, having been implanted with the Freedom.
Anything that doesn't belong in those two sections works best with the LF+R3G but not used as the right ear likes the upgrade to the freedom that it doesn't like the 3G sound...
Yet the 3G works better than the Freedom on that ear (I did notice that with the Freedom, there is a heavy vaccumn effect where sounds feel like they're being pulled from outer space while with the 3G, sounds feel grounded and "easier" to hear and not so tinny... )
I did try "Rent" on the F+F combination but for some reason it just didn't sound "rumbly" enough and that the two men singing the title song "Rent" sounded like two schoolboys... yet on the 3G+F combination, the trademark "rumble" sound was there and lyrics were EASY to pick out and sounded on-pitch... (the lyrics pratically disappeared with the F+F except for the higher notes, especially during "Seasons of Love").
For speech comprehension - still having a hard time understanding speech without signs or lipreading (visual cues) in everyday situations - even though the right ear has heard for over 18 years and the left ear for almost a year. Yet when I put on showtunes, I'm able to follow many of them (and recongize the opening chords to several before the vocals starts as well) - even the difficult ones like "La vie Boheme" from Rent, "Masquerade!" from Phantom of the Opera, - and the ones where you have multiple voices singing multiple things simultaneously. Yet I can't follow a simple table conversation - only that of the Bohemians in "Rent" - complete with music and dancing.
Care to explain this theory?
Now, it seems that every time I solve a problem, another one arises... sooo frustrating trying to get the map down - but then, there's no one size fits all. I do have four maps on both - and two on the 3G as well.
Some things that I found interesting:
Speech sounds best with both Freedoms on - the quality "sounds" good, is comfortable, and intelligible for one-on-one conversations. But once I hit a classroom (even quiet ones where the prof is the only one speaking), the quality gives away to muffled speech - this is evident on all four maps, even the BEAM one as well.
On the other hand, when I put the 3G on, the speech problem is solved - even though the sound quality isn't as pleasing, the speech is intelligible. Weird?
Music - I've played with different combinations: LF+RF (left ear Freedom, right ear Freedom), LF+R3G, L3G+RF, etc and found interesting things:
Anything Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Cole Porter (I'm a Broadway nut, so hence the showtunes) sounds best (and is most inteligbe) on the LF+RF combination.
Anything contemporary or with a strong base in rock/pop, fits better with the L3G+RF combination - meaning Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Spring Awakening, Wicked and anything by Sondheim (heavy syncopation). This is especially weird, considering the 3G was originally mapped for my right ear (N24C) while the left ear has NEVER used the 3G, having been implanted with the Freedom.
Anything that doesn't belong in those two sections works best with the LF+R3G but not used as the right ear likes the upgrade to the freedom that it doesn't like the 3G sound...
Yet the 3G works better than the Freedom on that ear (I did notice that with the Freedom, there is a heavy vaccumn effect where sounds feel like they're being pulled from outer space while with the 3G, sounds feel grounded and "easier" to hear and not so tinny... )
I did try "Rent" on the F+F combination but for some reason it just didn't sound "rumbly" enough and that the two men singing the title song "Rent" sounded like two schoolboys... yet on the 3G+F combination, the trademark "rumble" sound was there and lyrics were EASY to pick out and sounded on-pitch... (the lyrics pratically disappeared with the F+F except for the higher notes, especially during "Seasons of Love").
For speech comprehension - still having a hard time understanding speech without signs or lipreading (visual cues) in everyday situations - even though the right ear has heard for over 18 years and the left ear for almost a year. Yet when I put on showtunes, I'm able to follow many of them (and recongize the opening chords to several before the vocals starts as well) - even the difficult ones like "La vie Boheme" from Rent, "Masquerade!" from Phantom of the Opera, - and the ones where you have multiple voices singing multiple things simultaneously. Yet I can't follow a simple table conversation - only that of the Bohemians in "Rent" - complete with music and dancing.
Care to explain this theory?
