Examiner.com | Tech Gear | Review
September 3, 2015 6:16 AM MST

Hear Better with MDHearingAid FIT In-Ear Hearing Aid

There was a time back in the 1970’s when parents told their kids that playing loud music or going to concerts was going to ruin their hearing. Be that true or not, the sad fact is that one’s hearing suffers as one ages — but not everyone needs, or wants, to be told by a doctor that they need a hearing aid. But if there was such a device (electronic of course for today’s digitalsociety) that could improve upon one’s hearing without having to be told to get one by a dreaded white coated professional, well that would be a different story. And it would make sense that such a hearing aid device would go farther along the route of comfort and quality than those being offered on the market. Hence we have MDHearingAid’s FIT.

Improve your hearing with the FIT In-Ear Hearing Aid

To start, it’s tiny and flesh colored to be unobtrusive when worn. Taking it out from the “ear” it resides in within its box, it looks like a quarter coin would cover it with ease. Part of the lack of bulk comes from the design — made to fit inside the ear without blocking the movement of air that naturally flows in and around those fleshy Dumbos of ours. This is aided through the design’s lack of sticking something behind your ear in order to hold it in place or pushing up against the ear canal. It’s kind of like a custom fit without the custom $$ attached: the point being that it’s comfortable to wear for hours without it forcing its notice on you like a sharp poke from a stick.

So okay that handles the physical part of what’s there (FYI – it runs on those tiny button batteries and the company includes a score of them as a freebie which is good, since no power, no hearing amplification). There’s a series of controls and obviously they’re very small and tightly packed together since the overall package is that way. These provide power activation, volume control and the ability to switch between 4 programs, each designed for a specific type of environment so as to “cut” through the chatter and let you hear what is being said. As an aid to that is where the digital technologies kick in: besides the obvious amplification of sounds (audio processed on the fly), there’s noise reduction for removing the extraneous cluttering up the airwaves. Plus a dynamic compression technique that functions similar to the tech that keeps commercials from blaring out loudly some 3X that of the TV show just being watched. But in this case it’s to level up the volume of “soft” sounds without suddenly blasting them in your ear.

To try out the FIT, putting it on and powering it up was the first step — and as promised the FIT “fit” easily and cleanly into the right ear. Then it was just a matter of wearing through the day, listening as normal but discovering that those speaking were now more clearly heard, and with much less effort spent on understanding what they were saying. The 4 programs — varying the response of the device to the environment (i.e., response to the different frequencies inherent in voices and surroundings) –provided the opportunity to try out listening in different environments and overall each functioned as it was supposed to (i.e., allowing one to hear what was being said without having to strain oneself).

Besides the batteries, the FIT also comes with a carrying case — it fits the device whether you’ve ordered a left or right ear. The FIT is not a substitute for visiting a doctor and having a hearing loss properly diagnosed. But for an over the counter “fix” where it’s just a matter of one’s hearing having suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous age, the $549.99 for one ear, or $999.99 for two (a left and right) is more than a justifiable expense. After all, hearing is believing.

Marshal Rosenthal LA Home Technology Examiner