A WORD TO THE WISE! WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW In order to support the values expressed in our company mission statement we offer only the very finest hearing aids at the best prices. There are many companies currently producing hearing aids for the public. Many of these companies have fine products and solid reputations. Unfortunately, some do not. We could, if we desired, carry virtually any line of hearing aids currently available, including those commonly offered by our extended trading area competition, as well as those with much greater profit margins than the hearing aids we offer. Indeed, a week rarely passes when we are not contacted by some of the various other hearing aid companies who are anxious for us to carry their product line. We have carefully evaluated the many different hearing aids on the market and offer only those which we feel provide the very best value, reliability, and factory support for their cost. The companies we deal with are industry leaders in technological advances and product service. They are highly respected companies who have an established track record of reliable products and committed service. We make a continuous, concerted effort to ensure out patients receive the advantages of the most current hearing aid technolgy the world has to offer. The companies whose products we dispense have advanced research facilities and programs to ensure their products remain on the leading edge of the most recent technology. We have great confidence that the products we dispence are superior in every way. WE STAND BEHIND OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, AND SO DO THE COMPANIES WITH WHOM WE DEAL! MAKING AN INFORMED DECISION ANALOG circuits versus DIGITAL Sound Processing Each and every hearing aid we dispense is a top quality instrument within it's class. TIER 1 and TIER 2 hearing aids are what is termed ANALOG instuments. This means that they use conventional sound signal processing technology to electronically shape the sound signal to the specific shape and degree needed for a patient's particular hearing loss. This ANALOG technolgy has been highly refined, and the best analog circuits of today are much better than those of only 10 years ago. But analog circuits have basic inherent limitations that reduce their ability to process sounds as accurately and efficiently as the more sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) technologies. TIER 1 and TIER 2 hearing instuments offer excellent features and value for those who desire an analog instrument. Indeed, the power and versatility of today's best conventional and programmable analog hearing aids would amaze hearing aid users of the 1980's! Nevertheless, analog instruments, while excellent in their own sphere, pale in comparison to the sound quality and sophistication of the signal processing power of the true 100% digital hearing aids that are currently available. BUYER BEWARE! Do not be misled by some unscrupulous advertising you may see. Hearing aids that are advertised as "DIGITALLY" PROGRAMMABLE are still ANALOG instruments and are NOT capable of 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Some ads are very cleverly written to make it sound like the hearing aid offered has 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP) when in fact, the hearing aid is actually only Digitally Programmable. "Digitally Programable" simply means that the hearing aid can be connected to a computer to be adjusted, NOT that the hearing aid in question is digital. One cleverly misleading ad we recently saw declared in bold type that the hearing aid offered was "100% Digitally Programmable". The idea of course, was to make it sound like it was a true 100% Digital Hearing aid, which it obviously was not. Such advertising is silly at best and patently dishonest at worst! The fact is that EVERY "Digitally Programmable" hearing aid, is by it's very nature, "100% Digitally Programmable". Don't be misled by such shady advertising efforts. True 100% Digital hearing aids are generally more expensive than Digitally Programmable hearing aids, so if you see a "Digital" hearing aid advertised at a remarkably low price, read the ad carefully to see what is really being offered! The sad fact is that many unwary patients thought they were getting the benefit of 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP), and even paid a higher price for it, when in fact, the hearing aids actually contained analog circuits. THE 100% DIGITAL (DSP) ADVANTAGE Our Tier 3 hearing instruments have true 100% Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and are able to process incoming sounds "digitally" rather than "conventionally" like analog instruments. Here's how it works. DSP instruments convert incoming sounds into a string of number codes. In other words, the microcomputer in the hearing aid assigns a different number (that is, a "digit") to each part of the incoming sound signal. This assignment of digits can occur at a rate of up to 150 million times a second! The computer in the hearing aid then manages these digits - changing some, rearranging others - into a new code especially designed to match a patient's specific type and degree of hearing loss. Adjustments can be made MUCH more rapidly and precisely than in an anolog circuit without losing or degrading important parts of the sound signal. After the digital hearing aid does it's processing, the specially shaped signal is converted back into a new set of sound signals specifically shaped for the listeners special hearing needs. The markedly superior processing power of Quality 100% Digital hearing aids offers tremendous advantages. Not only can the necessary shaping of the sound signal be completed more rapidly, and accurately, but the sound produced is much cleaner, sharper, and clearer than even the very best analog circuits can produce. In addition, much more complicated and exacting sound processing algorithms (computer programs) can be applied to the sound signal during processing. Result... the clearest, sharpest, best sounding signal reproduction in the industry as well as the quietest hearing aids available when no sound is coming in to be processed! WHY YOU MAY WANT OR NEED THE CAPABILITIES OF 100% DIGITAL What sounds do you really want to hear? For most people it's the sound of the human voice - which just happens to be one of the most complex sounds in the world. It's a constantly changing tapestry of tone, timber, and wide-ranging volumes. Because digital signal processing can custom shape and adjust so many different sound signals so rapidly, it offers a distinct advantage over analog circuits in better experiencing the human voice. NOT ALL DIGITAL HEARING AIDS ARE CREATED EQUAL! Beware! Like everything else, there are digital hearing aids and then there are digital hearing aids... The fact that a hearing aid uses digital signal processing, does not by itself guarantee that it is either high quality, or equal in every respect to every other digital hearing aid! We have carefully evaluated the digital hearing aids we offer and have determined there are no better hearing aids in the world at any price. We stand behind every hearing aid we dispense and so do the companies that produce them!