CIs and Music

[mijo]

Hi. My name is Mike. I am in my early 50s. I have cochlear otosclerosis that has worsened to the point of being a candidate for a cochlear implant in one ear.
I have been researching brands, and am most interested in the differences in technology as it relates to music.
It is my impression that, for the most part, the differences in current technology will be less stark to perhaps non-existent for speech scenarios. However, much of the technological differences, in theory, could have significant impacts on the perception of music. I am hoping to retain some semblance of a musical experience as music is very important to me (both as a listener and player). I am curious to understand what people's experiences have been with music.

So I guess the first question is simply what kind of musical experience you have had with your implant. I understand not everyone is focused on music and that a direct comparison is never possible. But I am still interested in experiences, good or bad.

I might followup with some more discussion of the technology differences, as the descriptions rarely seem to be accurate or complete. But this is enough for now..

Thank you!

 

[soutthpaw]

Personal experience is that music with my Cochlear brand CI sucks. Would be even worse for an audiofile or musician. But YMMV. For every comment like mine you will find someone that says the complete opposite about the same brand and model.

 

[caz]

Red robin on forum got CI she enjoys music maybe she come say something.I know of musician who mainly percussionists who good if google it find them.One woman who name eludes me at the moment She English and A Dame(British honour)she got award for her music she written a few things about her CI and music.I try remember her name post it later.She explains how she do it.

 

[Annie09Z]

Her name is Evelyn Glennie.

 

[djchur]

Hi, UK member here. Evelyn Glennie doesn't have a cochlear implant. She is a percussionist who plays barefoot and relies on the vibrations she feels through her feet and other parts of her body.

Evelyn has written an essay about her hearing loss and music career. Here is a link to it:

https://www.evelyn.co.uk/hearing-essay/

Oh, and she's not from England either, she's actually Scottish.

 

[HOH-ME]

Music is great with my Advanced Bionics!! I have one wonky electrode that we are working on that give the high C notes an odd quality but outside of that, everything sounds like it did when I had my normal hearing. I can distinguish the various instruments, hear the harmonics, the rich tones of music. Vocals are completely normal, outside of the high C. Its taken some time to get to this point but even from my first rehab time, I was able to tell what songs were playing when they started, etc. AB really is the only brand that has the technology to allow you to hear music as it should be and it is what lead me to choose AB over Cochlear/Med-El.

I describe the 3 brands like this:

Cochlear is the "Ford" of CI's, it still gets you from here to there and they have a lot of bells and whistles to make them look good (the remotes and such) but when it comes down to it, the part that counts, the engine (the implant) just isn't that great,

Med-El is like a Toyota--reliable, not flashy, gets you from here to there, but still just doesn't have everything it takes to be #1.

AB is like the BMW/Mercedes--it has the potential to give you everything you need, runs like a charm, has a lot of accessories and program features to give you the top notch hearing experience.

 

[BleedingPurist]

Music was the main reason I went with AB and I have been stoked ever since with the results. I was quite fearful that I would never hear music again, but it's been the opposite with no limits imposed and an appetite for pretty much anything. They were the only manufacturer at the time that took music seriously by developing strategies to capture it (and continue to do so) versus just a roll of the dice and maybe you'll get some enjoyment on some level, but hey how about that speech discrimination?? It was about a month before music started to sound good and I knew that I was going to have it back.

I do play guitar and I'm able to tune it by ear. It really is just amazing what AB was able to do for me.

 

[ecp]

I have an advanced bionics brand cochlear implant and after almost 2 years with it, I'm enjoying music more and more.
I definitely focused on understanding speech for the first year and a half and it took time for the music I had grown used to as a profoundly deaf person with hearing aids sounds very different as a person who can hear with a cochlear implant.
My favorite songs had been bass heavy and I never knew about the higher notes of the songs. My family used to laugh at me when I drove around town because I would turn the stereo all the way up, put my hand on the speaker and "listen" to the music.

That wasn't actually hearing. That was using vibrotactile sensations to substitute for hearing.

Now with a cochlear implant I'm getting better and better at appreciating and enjoying music. At first a church service with a choir and organ was too noisy (with hearing aids it was just one noise) but now I can differentiate the organ and. The bass, tenor, baritone, alto and soprano singers.
I appreciate more than just the bass line of songs.

Just today I put in my Elvis Christmas CD while running errands and sang along with the songs. As in, I could hear the words and not just the drums.

I used to play flute (before and during the. Time when my hearing started fading and played guitar from age 11 to 17). The most fun I've ever had was just playing with my dad's guitar (he is a musician) after getting my CI. I used a slide and percussed the strings to make chords and spent hours just messing with sounds.

 

[everlastingstorm]

I love music with my AB cochlear implants. Growing up, my dad played drums. I played trumpet with severe to profound hearing loss and I had a love for music. I didn't hear well enough to get all the fine detail of everything, but I did hear adequately enough to play in school bands and the like.

I didn't think I would ever hear music as appreciably with cochlear implants.

With AB implants, I was proved wrong very quickly! It was about a month before I got everything where it needed to be for music to be optimal on my first implant. Then 3 months later, I needed more volume for it but still- I could understand lyrics more, I heard a lot more, and I could discriminate subtle and quiet sounds much better.

I implanted my other ear, which hadn't heard for several decades. In fact it had never heard since I was about 2, because I had no residual hearing in it that could be amplified. I was blown away as well. That ear does not discriminate as much as my dominant ear, but it does make sense of music well enough to appreciate it and I get better low frequency auditory information in that ear, so that ear gives the music its fullness. So if music can be understood to some extent and appreciable in an ear that has literally never heard, that's speaking volumes for what these implants can do. It did take longer for my second ear with music, at 3 months post-activation that was when a lot more sounds and pitches started coming through for that ear.

Now I love listening to music in stereo, and there's no way I would be able to enjoy live music with only one CI. When I had experienced a sudden hearing loss years after my original hearing loss, I had a complete loss of music perception. Thanks to AB, the music is back in full force and more than I ever dreamed of.

 

[HOH-ME]

Personal experience is that music with my Cochlear brand CI sucks. Would be even worse for an audiofile or musician. But YMMV. For every comment like mine you will find someone that says the complete opposite about the same brand and model.

Interesting given you don't think there is any technology differences between the brands

 

[mijo]

Interesting given you don't think there is any technology differences between the brands

it seems what they were saying is that experience will differ even within the same brand/model.

anyway, I appreciate all the responses here. I have a more specific question:
does anyone know why AB chose only 16 electcrodes? It doesnt seem to be a question of spacing since that is very close to being the same (the array length is shorter).

 

[BleedingPurist]

it seems what they were saying is that experience will differ even within the same brand/model.

anyway, I appreciate all the responses here. I have a more specific question:
does anyone know why AB chose only 16 electcrodes? It doesnt seem to be a question of spacing since that is very close to being the same (the array length is shorter).

I believe it probably has to do with every electrode having it's own power source. It takes more wiring. They knew that they would be taking those 16 electrodes and turning them into many more channels, even at the time of engineering it.

The array is shorter now than it used to be. Anyone with the Mid Scala is EAS (Electro Acoustic Stimulation) ready with the Q90. Rather than specifically choosing a hybrid or standard, you simply choose whether or not to use the acoustic ear hook on the Q90.

Also keep in mind that the current steering capabilities allow for them to create "phantom" electrodes that go deeper into the cochlear for low frequency hearing beyond the end of the array, so it is not limited to the length of the array or the current frequency range.

 

[rockman0]

Man, these comments are making me wish I had gone with AB. I have the Cochlear Nucleus 6 (the newest one), and I noticed that music isn't as good as I'd like it to be. Sometimes, things tend to sound "drowned out." If it's just, like, one or two instruments, then it sounds okay. If there's a lot going on, though, it just sounds like a mess.

 

[soutthpaw]

Man, these comments are making me wish I had gone with AB. I have the Cochlear Nucleus 6 (the newest one), and I noticed that music isn't as good as I'd like it to be. Sometimes, things tend to sound "drowned out." If it's just, like, one or two instruments, then it sounds okay. If there's a lot going on, though, it just sounds like a mess.

X2 on the sound. It seems to distort speech when music is added. I will as ask about why Cochlear has not designed a Music strategy. Which it seems that is what AB has done.

 

[HOH-ME]

X2 on the sound. It seems to distort speech when music is added. I will as ask about why Cochlear has not designed a Music strategy. Which it seems that is what AB has done.

There is no special programming for music with AB, it's just the technology that allows for better music appreciation. Hearing history matters some as well, but mostly it's the technology that allows the finer sounds to come through giving a good, solid, rich music experience.

 

[akoutsourais]

I was activated in June on my left and just activated today on my right. I am told my progress has been much faster than others, so please keep that in mind.

I have a Naida by Advanced Bionics. MUSIC OMG! Well right now I can only really enjoy music I had listened to before I went deaf. But I'm only 5 months out. I am actually hearing every beat, not having my brain fill in the missing pieces. However at one point Jim Morrison's voice seemed a little flat, was told that was a usual complaint and audiologist just played with the programming and balanced me out and Jim's voice was golden as usual.

Next goal for me to is listen to some new stuff. Just have patience.

 

[HOH-ME]

I was activated in June on my left and just activated today on my right. I am told my progress has been much faster than others, so please keep that in mind.

I have a Naida by Advanced Bionics. MUSIC OMG! Well right now I can only really enjoy music I had listened to before I went deaf. But I'm only 5 months out. I am actually hearing every beat, not having my brain fill in the missing pieces. However at one point Jim Morrison's voice seemed a little flat, was told that was a usual complaint and audiologist just played with the programming and balanced me out and Jim's voice was golden as usual.

Next goal for me to is listen to some new stuff. Just have patience.

I think that the mid-scala and Naida has caught many audi's by surprise. I hear this a lot from people that their audis say they are progressing faster than normal. The advanced technology with the electrode and processor has just been amazing. Unfortunately there are some audiologists out there that are too conservative and that hinders some progress for people, but once they get with the game they take off flying! I'm seeing most people with 90%+ speech scores in the AZ Bio tests, 85%+ in noise, fantastic experiences with music, etc. We are very lucky to have this available to us!

 

[Paullys50]

I am with Southpaw, music as I once knew it is gone and it sucks.

For reference, I had PERFECT hearing prior to it suddenly crapping out. In college my roommate was in a band, I helped him with his sound mix for their CD. Hearing 'high-fidelity' through professional studio monitor speakers is an absolute dream. I could pick out every note, instrument, pitch, tone you name it. I could say "the bass is a bit high, you should lower it." Or "bring up Jake's vocals to compliment Amanda." And I could tell exactly how much it changed on the next mix.

Now with my single CI, in comparison the music I can hear does suck. I went from professional studio quality music to slightly-out-of-tune AM radio music (best I can relate it to my hearing friends). I can appreciate what I hear, and I can turn on the Rocky 4 sound track and get my self pumped. I am sure if I was bilateral and I could have 'stereo' music it would add another level of quality to what I know.

For my situation is sucks (along with losing my hearing in general, it's made life hell). But if I am to be grateful, I am grateful that music is better than I thought it would but still sucks in comparison to what I knew was 'normal'.

 

[xdanbx]

Music with my Cochlear brand CI's are friggin amazing. I use to have normal hearing and comparably the music with the ear piece attachment is better than what i heard with normal hearing.

 

[soutthpaw]

Music with my Cochlear brand CI's are friggin amazing. I use to have normal hearing and comparably the music with the ear piece attachment is better than what i heard with normal hearing.

thanks for proving my point. For each brand, you will have people on total opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to music perception. XDANBX is my polar opposite. [emoji106] [emoji197]