Wm

AirPods Pro Hearing Aids by Apple

AirPods Pro Hearing Aids are now official. After updating my iPhone 16 on Friday, October 25 to Apple’s release of iOS 18.1, this ground breaking feature has been enabled. I personally have been eagerly awaiting this upgrade since early this year.

As of today, October 27, Apple still reports the Pioneering Hearing feature – Coming Soon. If you are waiting, as I have been, to find out how your Apple AirPod Pros work as very affordable hearing aids, get ahead of the rush and enable yours today.

Steps to enable the Hearing Aid feature

From a compatible iPhone go to Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 18.1
Find a quiet place and put on your AirPods Pro, Pro 2
Go to Settings > Bluetooth and connect to AirPods
Once connected, the circle i
Click Take a Hearing Test
Once completed click Hearing Assistance (your hearing test results are automatically made available)
Toggle Hearing Aid to on

Adjustments

Tweak your personal preferences for the AirPods Pro Hearing Aids by going to Adjustments.

Toggling ON the Conversation Boost (not shown) helped me hear family more clearly.

All this is obviously new, but testing out various features, experimenting, can be fun and rewarding.

Other OTC Hearing Aids

As an early buyer of the Bose Hearphones, this remarkable technology became my primary hearing device for nearly 7 years. At that time when the Hearphones were not allowed to be called hearing aids, but that’s what they were. They performed better, with far more features. than every OTC hearing aid I have tried prior to the introduction of the AirPods Pro Hearing Aids. Hopefully some features on the discontinued Hearphones will be adapted by Apple in coming releases.

Trying OTC hearing aids over the past 12-18 months have all had flaws compared to the Bose Hearphones. This is a link to a review of the Audien Atom Pro OTC Hearing Aids.

My personal hearing loss is defined as “moderate”. Some frequencies are fairly close to normal, while others are very poor.

I would love to hear from you,
email: Wm@WhereIDwell.net

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Notes and assignment from Class 1
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Trapper John & Mare

Hard to know where to begin when well over a half century of memories come into my head at all manner of places and times. Stories from the early years need to wait, my 3 full days on this Amtrak trip with John and Mary Stec need to be recalled now, while fresh in my mind.

Mary has been affectionately called Mare for as long as I can recall. I wish I had photos from those early years. If you weren’t told, you might have a hard time recognizing John and me in those late ‘60’s photos, but not Mare. She won the Vermont State individual gymnastics championship in high school. She was a very attractive and athletic young woman who has grown into a beautiful woman in every sense of the word.

I wish I could say I helped Mary prepare some of the meals. I tried to offer, but she has that under complete control. Our first night she prepared the best halibut I have ever eaten [no picture], along with a scallop and mushroom soup, fresh asparagus, potatoes and salad. The chicken parmigiana, spaghetti with homemade sauce and salad, pictured, was on my last night. I had that again for lunch before heading into Portland for my train.

Mary became a professional florist working at a top Burlington, Vermont shop. Beautiful flowering plants are all throughout the house year round and outside in season.

I wasn’t able to capture how warm and inviting Mary has made every single room in the house. That even goes for the guest bathroom, with tiny lights that are magical after sunset.

Everyday Mare and I walked around the neighborhood or in a park along the Columbia River. I slowed her down, but every one of the walks was special.

John has always been a great lover of the outdoors. Somehow, I suppose as recognition of his outdoorsmanship, he became Trapper John, although I never recall ever hearing of him setting a trap for any animal — perhaps some mental traps for me. He spent many years off on wilderness trails, on lakes, streams and the ocean. That’s become physically impossible to do in the manner to which he became accustomed.

He replaced the outdoors with his current pursuit, carving. I hope he doesn’t mind, I snuck some photos. He is very skilled, with fine details. I wish I could have captured his carving studio, full of fine tools. John’s become a true craftsman.

In the evenings we found some excellent films to watch. I brought up Martin Scorsese’s ”Killers of the Flower Moon” from my Apple TV+ account. We watched the entire 3h 36m, start to finish, maybe just one quick bathroom break. Mare and John surprised me and brought up “The Holdovers”, staring Paul Giamatti. Mare remembered how much I enjoyed it from a Facebook post.

I’ll try to get some of the early times we spent. There were weekends at Mary’s family camp in Barton, XC skiing, parties, bridge games, a camping trip to The Maritime Provinces… the list is long.

Train Into Seattle

A beautiful early morning ride through the Cascades as I head for a 3 night layover near Seattle. I hope to post a gallery of photos soon. This featured image was snapped somewhere along the Amtrak line shown east of Everett.

I should have included a little more north of map to include Vancouver, Canada. I was chatting yesterday with Eric [on left across table from me]in the observation car. I met Eric the night before at dinner. We got to talking and he may add Vancouver as a stop on his USA Rail Pass. I am considering it.

That’s it for now. Looking forward to the next few days with Jo and Bill.

USA Rail Evening & Morning

The morning routine has evolved. Sleep was far better on this train, the seats are more comfortable, the one next to me empty.

Around 6:00 am, still dark, I headed to the restroom. A washcloth and small towel doesn’t compare to a hot shower, but after I felt a whole lot better being in my own company. Clean underwear, t-shirt and socks, my hair combed, teeth brushed and deodorant applied… a fresh start for the day.

The dining car still wasn’t open, but I just needed a hot coffee. They kindly provided me a complimentary cup. Back at my seat, using just the available light, my the morning breakfast items might be hard to make out. Next to the coffee is an organic carrot juice from Trader Joe’s, it’s good. I really like the Norwegian Crispbread, also from TJ’s. This morning I had Cabot cheddar, but I also like having crunchy NuttZo on it — that’s a healthy snack any time of day. I had another hard steamed egg, one more left for tomorrow.

Last night I decided, for the first time, to try the Amtrak dining car for dinner. They have everyone sign up and you pay ahead, prix fix, $45 for an appetizer, main meal, one alcoholics beer or wine, coffee or soda and a dessert.

They decided the seating and it turned out to be a great group. None of us had met ahead of time. Turns out all these guys have done Amtrak travels in various parts of the country. They had great stories, glad I went. Plus, the food was quite good.

As I am about to post this, about 2:20 pm local time, I am passing through Montana. There are patches of snow and it is obviously well below freezing. I have gone to the observation car, but not a lot to see so far.

First Overnight on Amtrak

When I pushed aside my curtain around 6:00 am, from my first overnight on Amtrak, we were stopped in Toledo, Ohio.

Leaving Penn Station yesterday at 3:40 pm, on time to the minute, the car I was placed in became very nearly full, I was pre-boarded by a Red Cap. A nice guy, probably late 30’s, took the seat next to me, politely first asking if I would mind. Of course I didn’t, turns out he is also going to Chicago.

That was kind of unlucky, for both of us. Most passengers would be getting off before it was time to try and sleep. Unexplainable to me, Amtrak made announcements at each stop that passengers were NOT allowed to change seats.

Middle of the night, after a lot of restlessness for both of us, my guy wisely moved across the aisle. We could both stretch out and, at least got a little better chance of sleep.

Yesterday’s post was USA Rail Pass Breakfast, this morning’s actual breakfast worked a bit differently. I did have a hard steamed egg, as I rummaged through my cooler, plus a handful of walnuts, long before the cafe car opened. Forgot to bring my nice blueberries, hopefully Hilary will use them up. Finally had my coffee, actually fairly decent.

This leg terminates in Chicago, my notes say 11:17 am, I am assuming that is Central Time. About a 3-4 hr layover before heading to Seattle, a 2 night ride.

I’ll be looking at improving my sleeping arrangements.

USA Rail Pass Breakfast

On Monday afternoon, 2/12/2024, I head off on Amtrak, first visit Seattle. I’ll be staying with friends and family near 4 different stops (see Amtrak USA Rail Pass post for itinerary).

I’ve done some planning for this trip, including breakfast. I bought a cooler in which to keep meal, beverage, and snack options, minimizing cafe car purchases.

Just before starting this blog post about the trip, after snapping the featured photo, I went online to do another of my mourning routines: NY Times Daily Sudoku. Surpisingly –although it should not have been – the photo on the left contains an ad that was for none other than this very Amtrak train option on which I am soon to embark.

The photos may be a fairly typical train travel breakfast: hard steamed eggs; carrots; blueberries; walnuts. I taped a map of the Amtrak rail system, along with stops, into a notebook which will become a hand written journal.

Love it or hate it, we all have to admit that targeted ads have each of us pegged pretty well.

More soon from Riding on the Lake Shore Limited, Chicago, Illinois…

Amtrak USA Rail Pass

An Amtrak USA Rail Pass that allows for travel anywhere on Amtrak’s system over a 28 day period that starts on the first day of travel. For current plans as of this post, I will begin, 2/12/2024, and end, 3/3/2024, at NYC Penn station. The map below shows the entire system.

The main highlights of my travel will be stays with friends and family at 4 stops. I plan to post details and photos all along my journey, but here is a summary list about each stopping off point.

Starting in NYC’s Penn Station, I travel to Seattle, with a 5 hr layover and change of trains in Chicago. I’ll be onboard overnight to Chicago, then 2 more nights, arriving February 15, around 11:30 am. After only being able to wash up onboard, I plan to ask my hosts, Jo & Bill Richie, to let me take a good hot shower soon after arriving. We will be celebrating Jo’s birthday on Saturday, 2/17.

A relatively short 4 hr trip on Sunday, 2/18, takes me to Portland. There I will meet up with my long time friends, John & Mary Stec. I was an usher at their wedding, over 50 years ago! This will be my 3rd trip to their lovely home in St Helens, a short drive from Portland.

Another long ride awaits as I travel 2 nights from Portland, 2/22, to Denver, 2/24. I’ll take a bus to Boulder and get picked up by other long time friends, Lee and Lyn Beaupre. It was Lee that introduced me to John & Mary. Soon after, I would marry Nina and inside about a 2 year span we were 3 married couples, each with child. There were more weekends over next decade or so that all 3 families were together than we were apart. Nina and I added a 2nd daughter, Lee & Lyn and John & Mary each added a 2nd son.

Also in Boulder I hope to meet up with Rebecca B. Rebecca was traveling when I stopped about a year and a half ago to have lunch with her twin brother, Dan. I’ll share my story about those two and their mom, Jennifer B.

Leaving Denver on 2/27, I will overnight on Amtrak and arrive in the afternoon on 2/28. There I will spend time with my amazing niece, Sarah Franklin, her terrific husband, Jayson, along with a very large number of wonderful children – names and ages in a forthcoming post.

One more overnight, Chicago to NYC, 3/2-3/3, gets me back to The City!

I’ve thought about adding a trip up and back to Montreal, the train fare would be covered, but I’m guessing that will be enough travel for awhile.

Please tag along on my adventure. I plan to post links on Facebook and perhaps expand to other social media. Comments are always most welcome.

Bose Hearphones

Late in 2016 Bose introduced the Hearphones, an innovated technology that amplified sounds from the real world. Although they were not allowed to call these hearing aids, that’s exactly what they were. Sometime in 2017 they were made available for in store only purchase in a handful of locations nationwide. I made a trip to an outlet near Dallas to purchase my first pair.

These were bluetooth enabled with an app that allowed 2 connections. I could be streaming music and if I received a call the music would be paused while I connected trough my smartphone. The app allowed me to shut out essentially all outside noise, it was fantastic. The app came standard with 4 preset modes that would focus sound. There was group or individual conversation, as well as music and television. You could adjust the level of outside world and save them in the presets or create your own. Raise and lower base and treble.

The only issue I had with mine was the on/off switch, located on the neck bace, tended to malfunction after some time. In every case, right up until they were discontinued, I think early 2021, Bose would replace them with a brand new pair at no cost. The last time I called they apologized and offered a 100% refund. I gladly accepted, but would have much preferred to have a replacement.

Apparently some people, my brother included, found the neck brace uncomfortable. That was never the case for me, I loved it. Also, with my level of hearing, I didn’t need to have them on 100% of the time. I could just take them out of me ears and let the ear buds dangle or tuck them under my shirt.

Those were, as I recall, either $499 or $599. A bargain compared to all other hearing aids at the time. They have replacements, which I have not tried. The original replacements have a very low level bluetooth to preserve battery usage. It only connects to the app. A more recent upgraded version called the Lexie B2 Powered by Bose will stream phone calls, no other audio. They cost $999.

I have ordered the Sony E10 Hearing Aids, $1,300. I’ll do a review soon. These stream all bluetooth audio. I am unsure if multiple devices can be connected. Yet to be determined if anything available now is an improvement to my beloved Hearphones.

Audien Atom Pro OTC Hearing Aids

In late July I ordered a pair of Audi Atom Pro OTC hearing aids, list price as of this writing, $249. I’ll explain why these very affordable hearing aids may be a great option for most users, but less so for some environments.

The Pro model was chosen over the base model Atom for a few reasons. There was a special offer of $149, the PRO comes with a portable charging case, are somewhat smaller in size and have background noise cancellation – more on that later. For only an extra $50 over the base model that was quite a deal.

If you have looked at other reviews you will see that Audien receives high marks on their audio quality. I will say straight away, I fully concur.

Shown in the photo is the charging case and my Atom Pro hearing aids. Not shown is a charging cord, a tool to manually adjust volume level, a cleaning tool and additional size tips – for my ears I found the smallest size best.

My Small Town New Hampshire Experience

When I received my Audien Atom Pro hearing aids I was spending a month near N. Conway, NH. Peaceful morning walks with the dog, time with my daughter and adult grandson, who will be off to college after the summer. Quiet most days, some work on my computer, trips to a local senior center, some movies or TV series in the evenings. I quickly discovered these hearing aids far exceeded my expectations. They were looking like keepers.

Audien recommends going slowly to find the best size tips, volume level, and allow your ears time to adjust. All that is very good advice, but I have had other hearing devices, so I admit to moving a bit more quickly, but systematically. I spent about a week getting familiar with my new hearing aids, finding the settings that worked best for me and allowing my ears to adjust.

After less than 2 weeks I determined the best setting for my surroundings and hearing was about 1/3 total amplification. A small flat head screwdriver is supplied to easily change amplification. Too high and you get feedback and normal conversation feels like people are raising their voices with you. A very good test is to ask a family member with good hearing to set the optimal TV volume. For the first time, since my Bose Hearphones finally gave out, I didn’t require subtitles.

Lunch at the senior center was another good test. I didn’t need to just nod and pretend I heard, I could actually join the conversation. Lunch at a favorite local restaurant was a bit more of a challenge, for the first time I found the restaurant uncomfortably loud.

My only other issue was one I decided I could work around. My daughter has a very nice induction range, in my mind far superior to either electric or gas. On higher settings there was very significant feedback to my hearing aids. I simply took them out for my meal prep when requiring those settings.

A big plus for Audien is that they are genuinely committed to addressing any concerns, they offer great support. I decided to consider purchasing a 2nd set of just the Atom Pro hearing aids to allow me to set those at a lower amplification for some environments – Audien had already made an offer of a 2nd pair at a reasonable price.

However, before making any additional purchases I would need to test my new hearing aids in a very different living environment…

My New York City Experience

More than half my time is spent in New York City. I love the city, at 77 I do a lot of walking every day, take the NYC transit to meet with friends for lunch, theater, walks in the parks, NY Yankees games, along with numerous other cultural events.

My first full day back to the city I had a procedure scheduled for NYU Langone Health. I put in my Atom Pro hearing aids and headed for the subway, being certain to take the charging case, but hoping not to need it.

Subway cars are loud, but I left the hearing aids in until a very loud group of teenagers arrived, I was glad to have the charging case. I got out at Grand Central, reinserted my Atom Pro’s. On 42nd St heading toward Lexington Ave the traffic noise was unbearable. Again, into the charging case.

At NYU Langone I reinserted my hearing aids. At checkin they use a scan of my right hand to bring up my profile and begin the checkin process. That equipment, even more so than the induction range, caused feedback at a very high level. Reinserting the hearing aids after checkin I had no further issues and was happy not having to ask the medical team to repeat things.

My Conclusions

I thought long and hard about what to do during my test period with my very affordable Atom Pro hearing aids. After NH I was ready to commit to them.

Prior to searching for new and affordable OTC hearing aids I owned the Bose Hearphones for going on 5 years, until Bose discontinued those and replaced them with a different model that I find unacceptable – a review of that experience is in the works. The features I was giving up with any affordable in ear hearing aid that I utilized and loved most about the Bose included:

Bluetooth streaming to 2 devices
Blocking of any or all outside noise
Supplied presets for normal conversation, tv, focused and group conversation. All of the presets could set for individual hearing, adjusting for base or treble, higher or lower for left/right ear. Easily switched by app.
Calls, when connected to a phone, could be answered and any other bluetooth connected device was automatically silenced.
Excellent battery life and very high quality Bose audio.

Even without those above Bose Hearphone features I would rate my New Hampshire experience 5 stars with the planned addition of a 2nd pair of Audien Atom Pro heating aids.

After my NY City experience I decided to return the Atom Pros. Audien, of course, hoped I would decide to keep the Pros, but the return process could not have been easier. They even sent me a free shipping label. I received a full refund soon after they received my returned hearing aids.

I hope the above was useful, please feel free to leave comments, I will be more than happy to try to answer any questions. You should feel very confident ordering from this fine company.