I do not have, and do not need, an audiologist-prescribed hearing aid. My right ear is still good, but my left has always had attenuated mid-range (as did my father and grandfather). I use a SONY over-the-counter 'hearing aid' from Best Buy. It has an app for my iPhone and conforms to my needs after running through the hearing test. Then I can control the volume with the app.

I use it only when mixing and transcribing music, but it definitely helps for that. I also used it when called for jury duty, in a huge courtroom with bad acoustics, a judge with a mild voice and a bad house PA, and 150 edgy people.

So the point is, there are surprisingly good solutions reasonably priced compared to $6,000 from an audiologist. Mine was $1,400.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.