Beltone Hearing Aids

Beltone has been in operation since 1940, making it the dean of hearing aid manufacturers. In 1945, Beltone introduced the first one-piece hearing aid, using vacuum tube technology. It was also among a group of companies that introduced the behind the ear hearing aid in 1952.

In 2000,  Beltone was acquired by GN Store Nord which added it to the GN ReSound group.Today, maintains its position as one of the largest of the hearing instrument companies, with more than 2,000 independent dealers in North America.

Among Beltone's current product lines are the Beltone Edge, the Beltone Corus Digital, the Beltone Mira, and the Beltone Oria.

Beltone Edge

The Beltone Edge is designed to aid people with high frequency hearing loss -- the most common kind. It's open" hearing instrument design amplifies high-pitched sounds while allowing other sounds to enter your ear undisturbed. The open design also serves to reduce occlusion. Beltone says that the instrument features its "Rapid Compression System™ for clean and clear sound quality; Active Feedback Cancellation™ to give you more power, while minimizing whistling; Speech Pattern Detection™ to reduce amplification for non-speech like sounds; Silencer System™ to minimize distortion and enhance sound quality; and its Delayed Start-Up™ so you can put your hearing aid in without experiencing whistling or feedback."

As an aside, I can tell you that my main complaint with older hearing aids, is that they are practically useless in a crowd. They not only amplify the person you want to hear talking; they also amplify the crowd, so you are right back to where you started -- being unable to understand what's being said. The new digital models really work to eliminate this problem.

Beltone Mira Circuit

The Beltone Mira Circuit is available in several Beltone models, including the Invisa, Petite Plus, Opera Plus and Optima. The digital processor comes with push buttons that allow your hearing practitioner to set the aid to two different settings for different hearing environments. The circuit also features Beltone's Silener technology, which "recognizes and reduces low level noises like refrigerators, fans or computers."

If you have had a hearing loss for a while, and have not worn a hearing aid, you have probably forgotten just how loud refrigerator fans, computers -- and even flourescent lights can sound.

Beltone Oria Circuit

The Beltone Oria Circuit is available in the Invisa, Petite Plus, Opera Plus and Optima models. It features a 12 channel digital signal processor that allows you to hear soft sounds, while keeping the louder ones from becoming uncomfortable. Beltone's Speech Pattern Detection™ analyzes the signal and adjusts to maximize your ability to hear people talking. And Beltone's Satisfy™
helps you adapt to amplification with gradual programming changes.
Beltone Corus Digital

The Beltone Corus Digital offers users the power and precision of digital processing. With digital processing the aid can adapt to a wide variety of situations, from crowded rooms to music halls. With Adaptive Directionality™ checks for background noises hundreds of times per second and adjusts accordingly. Belton's advanced Rapid Wide Dynamic Range Compression™ system, which ensures that all sounds are kept at a comfortable and natural level. And, with the Speech Pattern Detection™ system, the hearing aid lets you have one-on-one conversations, while background noises are kept in the background.

Finally, Beltone says that its Corus system allows you to enjoy music as never before. The Rapid Compression™ system, integrated Beltone Sound and Digital Signal Processor work to reproduce music as clearly and accurately as possible.

Listening to music with a hearing aid has a while new set of problems from listening to conversations. It looks like Beltone has a solution.