Review on Small-Sized Rechargeable Digital Hearing Aids With Noise Cancelling - Banglijian Ziv-201A (Pair) by John Hashman

I can't praise these units and the company's customer support high enough. About two months ago, I finally went to a hearing specialist to get my hearing loss tested, and to learn of the cost and viability of hearing aids. My hearing loss has been gradually getting worse over the past few years and gotten to the point where I was frustrated trying to hear conversations in public settings and even at home with my very patient wife. I am a very active 72 and spent nearly all of my adult life in and around airplanes and nearby loud rocket engines. The hearing specialist, did a comprehensive exam and hearing test and said I had moderate to severe hearing loss especially in the higher frequencies, mostly over the audio spectrum of the human voice and higher. Since I was hearing only the lows, almost all the speech I heard was a muffled, garbled mess and I was missing over half the conversation nearly regardless of who was talking. I say "nearly" because those who pronounced the consonants, and had better diction, were more understandable than others and oddly enough, folks speaking louder didn't help. The hearing specialist let me try out a couple of different types of hearing aids, supposedly tailored to mitigate my loss over the higher frequency spectrum. The estimated cost to purchase $4,000 to 6,000 for a pair. That was a bit much, especially on a fixed income and no help from medicare and a little from my supplemental health insurance. So I went without.at least until a few weeks ago. I found Banglijian on-line at ebay and read their specs very closely. Did I mention I am a retired engineer, pilot and rocket surgeon ? No? Well I am/was and we typically analyze everything to the nth degree. At first I ordered one of their model BLJ-109 which offered gain (or amplification) 70-110 dB for moderate to severe hearing loss. I was really excited when it arrived. The quality looked to be outstanding, the modes of operation were just what I wanted and it covered the audio spectrum improvement in the higher frequencies where I was lacking, it was noise cancelling and was re-chargeable. Wow! After trying it on, I heard sounds I have long forgotten. The refrigerator running, birds singing, the washing machine and dryer thumping, etc. Then came the shock sounds of a cabinet door closing a little too hard, the air compressor kicking in, loud motorcycles zooming by.etc., etc. I knew very shortly, this were far too loud for me, even on the lowest volume setting. Perhaps I was mistaken in what I ordered or the hearing aid specialist over-stated my hearing loss. In any event, I ordered the model Ziv-201A (subject of this review) to try. I had similar features as the 109 but a better, lower gain for me. I figured I needed 2 hearing aids anyway as I had bilateral hearing loss. My amazement in the trying the new model was similar to the first except I could hear just fine on the lowest volume setting of the 201A. If I needed a little more volume, I could just turn it up and still had plenty of gain left as my hearing will no doubt continue to decline. I should also mention the 201A has a much smaller diameter ear tube, it fits me better, is more comfortable and much less noticeable from the side or front view. Not that I'm so vain, but I know folks who are, and would never wear one in public. I sent a note to Banglijian, via ebay, of my discovery and to my amazement they offered to take the 109 hearing aid back and send me another Ziv-201A to replace it, so now I'd have two of the same types. I agreed to pay the return shipping and the difference in price, but that was really insignificant. I now have two matched and perfectly functioning aids (amplifiers if you wish) that for now completely solves my hearing problem in the frequency range of interest. Now to see how they hold up, but I don't think that will be much of an issue as they come with a 3 year warranty and their customer support seems to be outstanding in every way. The cost is especially rewarding.A couple of hundred dollars plus change versus $4-6K. No, they don't have all the bells and whistles like blue tooth connectivity, program selection via a cell phone, cell phone answering and conversation from 25 feet away, but I think I can live with that. In the meantime, thank you Banglijian, and to folks who might be hesitant, give them a try. Based on my experience, I honestly don't see how one can go wrong. Read the specifications carefully and hopefully you can find one that works for you at an amazingly affordable price.