I am looking for ideas.

My wife has hearing aids in both ears, and has lost most of her hearing in her right year. Unfortunately engine/tyre/wind noise is amplified along with speech and makes it difficult for her to hear me speak in her (working) left ear.

I am thinking of using a microphone and single ear headset combination to assist our conversations.

So I am looking for that combination, powered by the car, for a reasonable price..
There seems to be 3 types
For Motorbike Intercom
For Rally Car Intercom
For Classrooms

With various specifications, connecting plugs, power supplies, and speaker/mics I am finding it hard to come to an answer.

Please has anyone any ideas or experience in this field? FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

No experience yet (thankfully) but thinking about it wouldn’t it be better to have a chat to an Audiologist before anything else?

I say this as one of my Son’s best friends pursued this career and she really has a passion for it and seems to know what she’s talking about on the odd occasion I have chatted to her about her job. Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

I've had a similar problem (even when the ears were younger), in noisy performance cars, try Demon Weeks who sell intercom systems: https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/motorsport...unication/

A lot of these are for trackday / helmet use but Demon Tweeks are very helpful and should be able to find you something unobtrusive for day to day use. Worth a try.

Thanks David, good idea. I will float the question in a local deaf aid dealer. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Ian, have a chat with your Doctor as most Hospitals have Audiologists resident there, your Doc should get a referral for you, mind you heaven knows how long you might have to wait if it’s official!  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Dennis
Do you have any preferences (or advice) on which one.

I was thinking along the lines of installing earphone/mic components at head height above doors, from a wired in system.
Trying not to have anything to wear on head.

Thanks

and thanks again David FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

I’ve used Bike to Bike , and I’ve used Rider to Pillion . When I did my Honda MAC day with the instructor (a class 1 Police Motorcyclist ) he took me way out into the wilderness and we did follow with commentary each way . When it was his turn to lead the speed he was carrying was phenomenal , lots of turbulence over the helmet and screen but even when is he was 100 yards in front the bike system was as clear as a bell . The bike to pillion I had was cheaper but was essentially an intercom with a push button , that was more sensitive to wind noise , but of course in a car you don’t get wind over the microphones . You can get acivated by talk rather than press to talk which is probably more useful In a car .

Could I also suggest you look at a site called Starkey Headsets . They provide all sorts of hearing protection / in ear / over comms .

I’ve just bought a set of over the ears ear defenders that have built in amplification but shut out loud noises ( gunfire in my case ) at a point . They have input for comms as well . Not saying they’d be any good in your case ( and would look daft ) , but it’s just an example of the sort of kit Starkey can supply . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Thanks Martyn
Do you have a link to one you think I should look at, I will try to find its handbook on line. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Boxbrownie wrote:

Ian, have a chat with your Doctor as most Hospitals have Audiologists resident there, your Doc should get a referral for you, mind you heaven knows how long you might have to wait if it’s official!

IanMetro wrote:

I am looking for ideas.

My wife has hearing aids in both ears, and has lost most of her hearing in her right year. Unfortunately engine/tyre/wind noise is amplified along with speech and makes it difficult for her to hear me speak in her (working) left ear.

I am thinking of using a microphone and single ear headset combination to assist our conversations.

So I am looking for that combination, powered by the car, for a reasonable price..
There seems to be 3 types
For Motorbike Intercom
For Rally Car Intercom
For Classrooms

With various specifications, connecting plugs, power supplies, and speaker/mics I am finding it hard to come to an answer.

Please has anyone any ideas or experience in this field?

axle wrote:

Boxbrownie wrote:

Ian, have a chat with your Doctor as most Hospitals have Audiologists resident there, your Doc should get a referral for you, mind you heaven knows how long you might have to wait if it’s official!

Most hospitals only do special cases now with normal ones going to the like of specsavers.

I am still stupid enough to have faith in the NHS..... ......we’ve recently had reason to thank them from the bottom of our hearts and the treatment was second to NONE......and also our Son being a Doctor we have to say that don’t we?  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

I’ve just looked at the Starkey site again Ian , and all the headsets are incorporated into ear defender cans which would be expensive look silly and not be comfortable . I know this might sound daft , but have you considered using Bluetooth through the car speakers ? If you don’t have it as standard you can use a blue tooth adaptor through the aux input ( very cheap ) . Then you just need to connect that to a Bluetooth microphone. I suppose feedback could be a problem though ?

Back to the bike kits they normally come with an in the ear plug or Velcro into the helmet flat speakers my rider to pillion ran on 12v DC , but there are loads on eBay with batteries . Bluetooth is also popular nowadays The bike to bike are essentially transmitter receivers . There is a very small issue with the talk to activate mikes in that sometimes you lose the first letter of the word if you get what I mean , which doesn’t happen with push to talk .

Chugga’s post seems to be the ideal solution 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

Just a thought Ian. Could you use a clip on microphone plugged into the auxiliary input of the radio? Then set the balance to full left and your wife can adjust speaker volume as needed?

Thanks to you all.
I will work through the various suggestions, most likely starting with an experiment with car Bluetooth system. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

As along time hearing aid user and now a cochlear and hearing aid user, I'd definitely explore the blue tooth option. Hearing ads with blue tooth can be expensive, (certainly here in Aus anyway) but I've had some good results using them. Good luck with your searching, I know what a frustration not being able to hear can be.