How headphones and earphones can help deaf people

Improving the quality of sound with headphones

Using headphones does very significantly improve the quality of electronically generated sound, and it is true for music systems, radio, television and computers. If your hearing loss is only moderate, it is certainly worth trying them.

When I say improve the quality of the sound, I really do mean 'quality' not loudness. With headphones the sound is significantly clearer, and it is loss of clarity that most deaf people complain about, not lack of loudness.

Relatively cheap headphones are better than no headphones, but the more expensive ones with separate inputs for each ear, external noise reduction and sound level controls are naturally better, and are what I use. Although my hearing problems make hearing aids unsuitable for me, I can manage headphones quite well for short periods for television, radio and computer work. So headphones are likely to be very useful indeed for anyone with a hearing loss.

Headphones for personal use with a computer

All modern laptops have a socket to take headphones. This is particularly useful as sound from computer speakers seems tinny to me and too quiet even when turned up to maximum volume.

Headphones when listening with others

Headphones are likely to be worthwhile for personal use in any situation, but they can really come into their own when listening with others.

Watching television and listening to sound systems can be social events in which deaf people like to participate. However their hearing needs are different form those of normal hearers.

Problems arise when plugging headphones into the headphone socket of the system as this can mute the speakers. It means that although the person wearing the headphones can hear well, no-one else can. This is something to look out for when buying a television, or other sound generating system. Fortunately, help is at hand - see the sidebar - and I am grateful to Geoff Clack for pointing it out to me.

Noise cancelling headphones

Noise cancelling headphones are considered on the review of ear protection page.

Ear defenders

Ear defenders are considered on the review of ear protection page.