Helpful terms
As you become accustomed to wearing your Unitron hearing aids and meeting with your hearing healthcare professional on a regular basis, you may hear unfamiliar terminology used to describe the features and functionality of your new hearing instruments. Below are some common terms that you may hear.
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AntiShock™ – reduces sudden, unwanted noises – like cutlery clattering on dishes – without diminishing desirable sounds, such as speech.
Audiogram – graphical representation of hearing sensitivity, resulting from a hearing test.
Automatic Listening Programs – customized at fitting, these programs adjust automatically as listening situations change.
Behind-the-Ear Styles – hearing instruments that sit comfortably behind the ear. Amplified sounds pass through a thin tube to a customized ear mold that sits in the ear.
BiCROS (Bilateral Contralateral Routing Of Signal) – a hearing instrument (HI) system designed for individuals with no useable hearing in one ear and some hearing loss in their better ear. A transmitter HI microphone located on the poor ear picks up sound from that side and sends it to the receiver HI located on the better ear. The receiver HI on the better ear picks up sounds on the better side with its microphone. The sound from both sides of the wearer is then combined and amplified in the receiver HI so it can be heard in the better hearing ear.
Binaural Hearing – use of both ears (right and left).
Comfort-Clarity Balance – a unique Unitron feature that allows you to adjust for more speech clarity or more comfort (reduction of background noise) as the situation demands.
CROS (Contralateral Routing Of Signal) – a hearing instrument (HI) system designed for individuals with no useable hearing in one ear and normal hearing in their other ear. The transmitter HI located on the poor ear picks up sound from that side and sends it to the receiver HI on the better ear. The receiver HI delivers the sound to the normal hearing ear.
Custom Styles – custom-made hearing instruments that fit directly in the ear. These range in size from fitting deeply inside the ear canal to fitting securely in the outer ear and are often referred to as in-the-ear (ITE) products.
Decibel (dB) – a unit of measurement of the loudness or strength of a signal, commonly noted as dB. The lower the dB, the quieter the sound: a whisper is about 20 dB, a normal conversation is about 60 to 70 dB.
Directional Microphone – puts priority on the sounds directly in front of you, while suppressing background noises from other directions.
Adaptive directional microphone – suppresses moving noise sources (e.g. a car driving by)
Fixed directional microphone – suppresses fixed noise sources (e.g. an air conditioner)
DuoLink – wireless-enabled feature that allows a program or volume adjustment on one hearing instrument to be automatically synchronized in both hearing instruments.
Feedback – whistling or tone created by sound escaping the ear canal and then being re-amplified by the hearing instrument.
Hertz (Hz) – a unit of measurement of frequency. Humans with excellent hearing can hear sounds from 20 Hz (very low-pitched sounds) up to 20,000 Hz (very high-pitched sounds). Most speech sounds are between 250 Hz and 10,000 Hz.
LearnNow™ – single-click feature that instantly “teaches” Yuu™ and Passport™ hearing instruments your preferred settings in specific situations. (Available only with Smart Control remote.)
Manual Listening Programs – customized listening programs that you change to manually for specific listening situations.
MyMusic™ – specialized setting to enhance experience of listening to music.
Noise Reduction – maintains focus on wanted sounds, while automatically reducing unwanted noises to maintain listening comfort.
Occlusion – perception of increased loudness of low-pitched sounds when the outer ear is somehow blocked or plugged (for example, by a hearing aid) leading to a "plugged-ear" feeling. Often it is described as a hollow or echoing sound when speaking.
Self Learning – your hearing instrument gradually learns your setting preferences (for example, volume control) in different listening environments and applies these automatically.
Smart Control – convenient and discreet hand-held control with more functionality than a typical remote control.
SmartFocus™ – powerful and unique Unitron feature that lets you either focus on the sounds in front of you, or maintain an awareness of sounds all around you, depending on your listening needs. Adjust smartFocus™ for increased clarity or more listening comfort.
Speech Enhancement – identifies and increases the amplification of speech, improves the clarity and ease of listening and reduces the need to adjust volume.
uDirect™ – neck-worn accessory that delivers audio directly to both wireless hearing instruments, allowing hands-free operation and connection to a variety of Bluetooth® enabled devices, plug-in audio devices and FM transmitted signals.
Unifi™ Wireless System – allows automatic communication between hearing instruments and connection to audio devices and cell phones.
Ultra-Small Behind-the-Ear – one of the most discreet styles of hearing instruments. It is more than a third smaller than traditional behind-the-ear styles.
Wind Noise Manager – automatically senses wind conditions and suppresses noise for comfort.