I should preface my remarks by saying that a person who is completely deaf in *both* ears might well benefit from this device. I do not want to discourage such a person from using the Sophono or belittle the blessing a completely deaf person might receive by hearing something (albeit very feably) as an alternative to nothing.
However, as a person with normal hearing in one ear and deafness in the other, I'd like to report that the SOPHONO was a complete waste of time, money and effort for me.
My disappointment can be summed up in two criticisms:
(1) the signal is *****tiny***** even with a powerful magnet and the volume at the highest possible level
(2) the claim that the sophono might restore "directional" hearing proved completely false in my case.
WEAK SIGNAL:
My sophono does generate some sound, but even after extensive adjustments, using cutting-edge signal-processing software, the sound I heard was **miniscule** compared to the normal hearing in my good ear, so low in fact that unless I put a finger in my good ear, it is completely inaudible. I have the volume on high and I burn a *battery* *per* *day*. It does no good at all. My insurance company spent a hefty sum of $$$ on this device, but I no longer bother to wear it. It's not worth the trouble.
NO HELP WITH DIRECTIONALITY:
In hindsight, it seems like common sense that one ought not to expect such a device to supply the directionality (or auditory triangulation) that you enjoy when you have normal hearing in both ears and that my doctors promised. After all, the sophono is sending a signal through the cranium *to* *the* *healthy* *ear*!! How could the brain detect a difference between sound on the left and sound on the right? My doctors have run tests in which they walk around me making noises, apparently with the expectation that I will be able to tell where the noise is coming from with the help of the sophono. Forget it! All the sound comes in the same ear, even when I put a finger in my good ear in order to hear the sophono signal better. The only thing that changes in this experiment is the volume of the sound. The further the doctors are from my good ear, the weaker the sound. Could the brain start to detect some difference after the patience wears the device for 1, 2, 5 years or more? Don't know. I saw no evidence whatsoever that the device is capable of producing this effect.
In short, I wish to use this forum to warn other patients who might be considering a very expensive investment in this new technology that for me it did not work.
If you are reading this and are deaf in just one ear and you have had a better experience with the sophono, please let me know.
John S.
