Category: Audio

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Pure Redux: The Evoke Play DAB Radio

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Britain has pioneered many new technologies, created new markets, but—in the last century and this—has typically failed to follow through. The brand name “Pure” tells this whole story in miniature. At the end of the last century a high tech company appropriately called Imagination Technologies emerged from a pioneering UK manufacturer of graphics and audio systems previously known as Videologic. The new name was inspired by its strategic decision to pull out of loss-making physical… Now read on…

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The BeHear Proxy Nearfield Soundscape

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A decent stereo pair of loudspeakers can set you back hundreds of pounds. Or, if you’re a serious hi-fi aficionado, (and rich) tens of thousands of pounds. This is one reason why, back in those old bed-sitter student days of the ’60s, I developed a preference for headphones. You could get decent quality sound from them for an affordable price. These days we have a couple of respectable loudspeaker sound systems here at Tested Technology… Now read on…

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Hear Better with BeHear Access Bluetooth

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We’ve talked here before about the rapidly growing, global problem of hearing loss. So why do fewer than 20% of those who could benefit from hearing aids not use them? The answer to this question embraces a paradox. An irrational sense among the public of shame about the disability is part of the answer. This has steered hearing aid manufacturers toward the creation of ever smaller devices. Most are now hidden behind the ear and… Now read on…

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Tuning in to ReSound’s LiNX Quattro (Part 3)

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Since we published the previous section of this review there have been two very relevant developments. The arrival (at last) of Google’s ASHA (audio streaming for hearing aids) is worth celebrating. But it’s been overshadowed by the announcement of the new official Bluetooth standard called Bluetooth 5.2. Bluetooth 5.2 includes a major revision to the standard that introduces audio streaming over Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio). And that includes hearing aids. In theory, all hearing… Now read on…

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Tuning in to ReSound’s LiNX Quattro (Part 2)

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Part one of this review covered the technology and scope of ReSound’s new LiNX Quattro hearing aids and discussed the vexed question of the “Made for Android” marketing aspect. Our hope in breaking this review up into parts was that by now the issue of Android compatibility would have been resolved. That hasn’t happened. If it had, this section of the review would be telling a very different story. There would be much less need… Now read on…

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Tuning in to ReSound’s LiNX Quattro (Part 1)

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This is the third hearing aid review Tested Technology has undertaken in the past couple of years. Readers may be wondering why we’re paying so much attention to this niche market. Fair enough. Let’s deal with that question. It’s not the niche business you might think. In 2017 the global market for hearing devices was estimated to be worth a little under $6.5 billion and is expected to reach over $9 billion in the next… Now read on…

Evotion and the Oticon Opn™

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I didn’t intend to switch hearing aid brands. It happened like this: My GP initially directed me to the NHS audiological department at North Finchley Memorial Hospital, which, as I subsequently discovered, actually outsources to Specsavers. After a month or so with Specsavers, I asked to be transferred to Guy’s Hospital at London Bridge. The Guy’s Dental Unit has been looking after my teeth for over a decade now, and I’ve been very impressed with… Now read on…

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The iFi nano iDSD Black Label DAC and MQA

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My credentials as a full-on audiophile, such as they might have been, were comprehensively blown at the beginning of this year. My audiologist revealed that my hearing starts to fall off at 1kHz and is technically classed as “severe” above around 8kHz. (The full story is here.) The range of human hearing is generally reckoned to be between 20Hz and 20kHz, spanning some seven octaves. Some audiophiles claim that even sounds above 20 kilohertz need… Now read on…

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BE Free8s: The Darling Buds of Optoma

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On December 13th of 2016 Apple broke new ground in audio with the introduction of its wireless AirPods. A pair of Bluetooth earbuds that, uniquely, were not wired together, communicating wirelessly not only with the music source, but also with each other. A radical new idea? Not quite. It’s something standard NHS hearing aids have been doing for over a decade. And in at least one important respect Apple’s new AirPods were a step back… Now read on…