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Hearing loop recommendations please

6 replies

Happyears · 16/03/2025 13:47

Could anyone recommend an inexpensive hearing loop system for a small hall with high ceilings, a carpet and wood panelling? To help a group of up to 25 hearing aid users who sit in a circle and currently can't hear each other at all well. Thanks for any suggestions.

OP posts:
SpanThatWorld · 16/03/2025 13:49

Try Connevans www.connevans.co.uk They're a family-owned firm who deal with loads of hearing-related technology and are really friendly if you call them.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 16/03/2025 13:59

Have you asked the people concerned what the actual problems are?

25 people in a circle sounds like hell for my HA - it would pick up the people alongside me moving, talking, breathing, occasionally somebody two seats along if the people either side were still like statues, the random across the circle bellowing to hear themselves over the people on the left talking, the noise of the HA itself, the aircon, somebody walking across the room, chairs creaking, feet shuffling... it's just not a suitable setup for a lot of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing participants.

Just adding an additional source of noise on top of that could cost lots but not actually solve the issues. And plenty of HAs don't have a loop setting.

Happyears · 16/03/2025 14:07

NeverDropYourMooncup · 16/03/2025 13:59

Have you asked the people concerned what the actual problems are?

25 people in a circle sounds like hell for my HA - it would pick up the people alongside me moving, talking, breathing, occasionally somebody two seats along if the people either side were still like statues, the random across the circle bellowing to hear themselves over the people on the left talking, the noise of the HA itself, the aircon, somebody walking across the room, chairs creaking, feet shuffling... it's just not a suitable setup for a lot of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing participants.

Just adding an additional source of noise on top of that could cost lots but not actually solve the issues. And plenty of HAs don't have a loop setting.

Thanks for responding. The hearing aid users who are having a problem say that the sound is 'muffled'. They can hear if everyone speaks really loudly but that isn't a great solution.
The hall in question used to have a hearing aid loop years ago and these people say that it helped. It was a Shure Dynamic 517S. In fact it is still there, but I can't get it to do anything or find a manual, so it must be quite old.
I should have said that this is a group of max 25 people, often more like 10 total of whom 6 are using hearing aids.
Does this make sense to you? Thanks again.

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NeverDropYourMooncup · 16/03/2025 14:44

That's the microphone, rather than the rest of the system. They just plug into a mixing desk or an amp either by XLR - XLR or XLR - 6.2mm Jack, usually. The chances are that somebody's made their way off with the amp or the cabling's shot after the 40-odd years since the mics were on sale.

Happyears · 16/03/2025 14:48

NeverDropYourMooncup · 16/03/2025 14:44

That's the microphone, rather than the rest of the system. They just plug into a mixing desk or an amp either by XLR - XLR or XLR - 6.2mm Jack, usually. The chances are that somebody's made their way off with the amp or the cabling's shot after the 40-odd years since the mics were on sale.

Thanks, that is really helpful. 40 odd years ?!? I thought it was getting on a bit. Time for a new one. Is there anything you could recommend for this kind of situation, or should I try to get something that could be returned if it doesn't help?

OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 16/03/2025 19:33

Happyears · 16/03/2025 14:48

Thanks, that is really helpful. 40 odd years ?!? I thought it was getting on a bit. Time for a new one. Is there anything you could recommend for this kind of situation, or should I try to get something that could be returned if it doesn't help?

Not a specific item, but think about the actual use - to hear a single speaker 'on stage' as it were, to hear 2-3, that kind of thing.

What they had years ago was for a single person speaking to be amplified - they may have forgotten exactly what it was good for. Where they're in a group of people all talking at once, they might not benefit from an overhead with a wide pickup spread (but an overhead would be better than a lower level one - unless you're at a table, all they do is pick up feet and bags shuffling, although a table mic then leads to thoughts of murder where table and pencil tappers are concerned).

If you visualise the mic pick up pattern as a torch, what you had pointed out in a ^ shape towards the speaker, whereas a table mic is more like an upturned bowl light and an overhead is more like a lampshade.

Whilst it might sound tempting, don't bother with radio mics, as they usually get nicked, the transmitters get nicked or lost and often you get a low quality mic set that require batteries or chargers (both of which get nicked).

It's worth checking if they all have HAs with T settings - no point spending on a loop if they haven't got them, you'd be better off with a microphone, lead and a small guitar amplifier.

In fact, for five people needing a bit of amplification for a person speaking, I'd be inclined to say that's all you need - which would be a guitar practice amp, an XLR - Jack lead, a Shure SM58 and a microphone stand. Then you just plug in, turn the volume down, then switch on making sure the microphone isn't pointing towards the amplifier as you turn it up. Hundred quid (ish) for the 58, sixty ish for the amp, under fifty for stand and lead. And you can pack it all up in five minutes to take it home/lock it away from everybody else using the facility, so you don't end up with it being nicked or buggered up by idiots who fancy themselves as rappers.

Source - I might be enjoying the wonderful effects of a family genetic predisposition to deafness, but I used to be a sound engineer.

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