I'll preface this post by saying it's a little off the subject of yellow saws and is gonna be pretty long, but does touch on a subject Brian brought up and may be helpful to anyone contemplating a hearing test or is in need of hearing devices but simply can't afford either one, let alone both.
Having an ear for the tuning of a saw is a good thing to have. Unfortunately I am getting deaf as a post. It runs on both sides of my family. I am sure racing for so many years did not help.
Some will tell you they can actually detect 4-stroking more easily with muffs or ear plugs, especially on more modern saws where it isn't quite as obvious as the older saws. One of the few cases where I'd say hearing loss may come in handy. LOL
Anyway, and as someone with fairly severe hearing loss, I will certainly advise using hearing protection under any circumstances where damage can occur. Fortunately, there is much greater awareness these days about the types of conditions that cause permanent hearing loss and more and more folks are paying attention and taking appropriate measures. On the other hand, some still think it won't become a problem
for them. It will. They just won't realize it until further down the road some day and then attribute it to getting older.
In my case, part of my hearing loss is hereditary. Part of it is the side effect of a particular medication I was given for an irregular heartbeat several years ago. But the main contributor was from being in the rock 'n' roll business from the late 60's until the late 80's when
LOUD was simply a way of life. Granted, there are many occupations where loud environments are the norm, but few with the same relentless impact across the entire audio/hearing spectrum as the hard core rock music biz.
So..., I was keenly aware of a certain amount of hearing impairment for many years before finally taking advantage a couple years ago of a free hearing screening at an independent audiologist in the area which also included a free 1 week trial of a pair of modern digital hearing devices. A 'screening' is a basic hearing test like they used to do in the old days before being able to easily program hearing aids to more precisely address very specific deficiencies on what is now referred to as a 'prescription' basis and is quite expensive along with being cost prohibitive for many folks.
Had the screening. Got set up with a roughly programmed pair of state of the art digital hearing instruments and sent on my way to see how I liked em for a week. I liked em a lot.
Well, I knew my ears were bad, but not as bad as they really were. And without getting too technical, my 'type' of hearing loss is actually fairly common among people with mild to moderate hearing loss as generally occurs with age..., just more severe and pretty much gone at the upper frequencies. Nonetheless, these hearing aids were
quite effective at restoring most of my frequency response even with just a 'roughed in' program. And as a former sound engineer, I was pretty impressed with the level of technology incorporated into such a dinky-ass device. Pretty cool.
I go back to the guy for the follow-up and to hand em over. Then my 'hearing assessment' and the sales pitch begins. I knew they weren't gonna be cheap, but $7200.00?
Bottom of the line option without as many bells and whistles was still over $4000.00. Handed em to him and thanked him for the experience and was on my way back to a life of not hearing 50 to 60% of what was going on around me. Got used to it again after awhile, but now knew what I was missing. Still didn't have much choice but to roll with it, or so I thought.
I'd seen ads here and there for different types of cheapie hearing aids and didn't give them much thought since most are junk. Then I happened across an ad in my monthly electric co-op publication that caught my eye. The devices looked very similar to the ones I tried and were the same behind-the-ear / sound tube technology vs. in-the-ear brain plugs and they were only $300.00 a pair. "High Quality Digital Technology at a Fraction of the Cost". Really?
Long story longer, I started researching what is actually a rapidly growing industry of very high quality digital hearing instruments at affordable prices for the common man who doesn't need BlueTooth volume controls or to have the things answer his freekin' phone and drive his car for him. They've only recently been emerging on a wide scale due to relaxed FDA guidelines which have essentially supported a monopoly of the industry by only a handful of manufacturers and their networks of audiologists over the years...,
and required a freekin prescription. With the advent of digital hearing technology getting better and better and more widely available, the heat was on the big companies and networks which had otherwise controlled the industry. Up until this August these newer devices weren't even allowed to be called hearings aids, but rather
personal sound amplification devices even though their technology far surpasses what was being used in 'hearing aids' as recently as 10 years ago. And no prescription required. Go figure.
Bottom line? This past July (two years later) and after tons of research I settled on a highly rated online company I was comfortable with and ordered a pair of their devices for a 45 day trial period. No questions asked return policy if they didn't suit my particular needs. They even enclose a pre-paid return shipping label instead of arguing with you about it like some other companies are said to do if you're not satisfied. Absolutely outstanding customer service. Super fast shipping. Five star reviews across the board. Why not?
Quite skeptically I pulled the trigger on a pair of their main sellers at a little over 500 bux and haven't looked back since. Just wish I would have done it sooner. Killer devices. Work very, very well and serve what I would say are about 90% of my needs with the other 10% being more of a luxury than a necessity anyway. Very high quality digital technology. Clear, natural sound quality. Small. Rugged. 6 day battery life. Easy cleaning. Multiple accessories for fitment and comfort. 4 selectable programs for different individual needs or environments with 10 volume levels for each program and I actually
prefer these over the schmega-expensive ones I originally tried. All for a couple hundred bux vs. seven grand.
We typically lose our hearing gradually and don't even realize it until it's pretty severe. We also become more and more detached from our surroundings as hearing loss progresses due to simply not being stimulated by the sounds around us. Getting reconnected by hearing correction is like a whole new world again, believe me.
I guess what I'm getting at is..., if you have hearing issues, (or maybe just think you do), there are some very high quality hearing aid options out there at affordable prices these days. Many audiologists and chains like Miracle-Ear offer free screenings just to get you in the door. Take advantage of one to see how bad off you really are (or aren't) and go from there. You don't need to buy their products. Do some research to find a reputable online source with a reasonable trial offer and just go for it.
Then get out and enjoy what all those Macs ya been collectin'
really sound like!
/end of testimonial, fellas. (I warned ya.)
how do you guys like the bow bar? Never ever seen 1 down here
