On Sat, 18 Feb 2006 17:20:56 GMT, "Casey Wilson" N2310D @ gmail.com
wrote:

Anybody here use them? Care to share a PIREP?

I only fly right seat with a couple of friends. I wear BTE. They are
useless with the headset; the headset blocks the microphones
("transducers" in the hearing aid terminology). I use a Lightspeed
Twenty 3G. With my loss and the level control on them, I do very well
with my aids in my pocket.

Age and ignorance has caught up with me. I'm due for my next medical in
April and I'm trying to decide between the BTE or ITE model.

With ANR headsets, I suspect, but don't know, that ITE will work.
Remember that the ANR function uses time for sound to travel to cancel
with phase shift (I think) and the eardrum is the sense point.

Both models have a switch position that allows electromagnetic pickup
from the headsets to prevent feedback. In either case, they effectively
block out more sound in that mode -- like the stall warning indicator.
That's no big deal, I haven't been able to hear that for the last couple
years anyway with the headset on.

I've found the EM pickup mode useless. YMMV.

The BTE, like I said, gets snagged now and then but they aren't affected
as much by wind noise when walking in the open. They are only a little more
comfortable, but slightly harder to maintain.

I liked the BTE for my needs because they are available with 3
transducers and better noise cancellation; I do much work in
industrial plants and use them in lieu of hearing protection; they
work, but are not OSHA legal. FWIV, the batteries (cells) are larger
and last longer. I decided that the visibility of them did not bother
me.

I was talking to a hearing aid fitter who tole me about a new product
you might like; it is far more open (minimal "occlusion" if I remember
correctly is the term he used). It has 2 disadvantages; for MY wants,
thereis no outside blocking, and it cannot handle as much gain as a
traditional earmold BTE.

Another BTE plus is that if your hearing gets worse, they can be set
to higher gain than ITE, ITC, or CIC aids.