Deborah Dempsey is Doctor of Audiology with All Ears Hearing Center in Massachusetts in the U.S. She has been an audiologist for 27 years and has had a hearing loss for about 15 years.

Since hearing is her business she has experienced many different types of hearing solutions over those 15 years, always trading up as new technologies were introduced.

Nothing prepared me for the Dual Connect devices
"I was usually among the first to try advances and as part of my work, I would train other hearing care professionals on customizing the newest breakthroughs to suit their patients' needs and preferences. But nothing prepared me for the experience I had with the new Dual Connect hearing devices that I was asked to help introduce at a major convention of hearing care professionals. As usual, I had the new devices programmed to address my particular hearing loss and wore them throughout the convention."

I was experiencing spatial sound
"My job was to explain the technology to other audiologists and teach them how to fit the new hearing devices. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I wasn't having the trouble doing my job that I usually had. I could hear clearly even in the cavernous convention hall with conversations going on all around me. Even better, I was experiencing 'spatial sound' - the ability to hear where sounds were coming from. If someone approached me from behind or called to me from across the exhibit area, I could quickly identify where the sound was coming from, something I hadn't been able to do since I began experiencing hearing loss. The change was amazing! This time, I wore my hearing instruments the way I advised my patients. They were on my ears constantly and were so comfortable, I forgot I had them on."

It's like having my hearing back to normal
"It's been several months since I had my Dual Connects. I am now a full-time hearing instrument wearer, wearing my devices 16 hours a day. I am still stunned by how much clearer and crisper sounds are - even in very noisy situations like restaurants and social gatherings. It just seems that I am picking up sounds much more normally. It's like having my hearing back to normal."

With the Streamer, sounds come directly from my phones
"I also use the Streamer optional accessory all the time, especially when talking on the cell phone in my car. I've also paired the Streamer to my landline phone. With the Streamer, sounds come directly from my phones or other Bluetooth-enabled devices like my iPod directly into my ears through my Dual Connect hearing devices. Everything is just crisper, cleaner and more natural."

I can easily locate where sounds are coming from
"The spatial sound quality is like hearing in 3D instead of 2D. My brain used to work so hard to try to separate the speech from the noise. Now spatial sound does a lot of the work for me and I can easily locate where sounds are coming from. In a restaurant I can hear conversation going on at another table but the sound is over where it belongs and I can pay attention to the people at my table."

I'm learning to be my old self again
"My patients are also surprised that I am suddenly more open and chatty. They tell me that they thought I was just quiet and shy. I don't think my personality has actually changed but I am much more relaxed and able to communicate more easily. Before I would be quiet so I could hear what people were saying. I'd be straining to understand what was going on. If I talked too much, my voice would override the voices around me. I learned to be quiet. Now I'm learning to be my old self again. I can now have free flowing conversation with people without losing what they are saying. It's wonderful."

The best possible hearing devices
"I am happy to recommend Dual Connect to my patients. I tell them getting the best possible hearing devices is a no-brainer. Sometimes I divide up the cost of the day-to-day benefits of being an active, "hearing" person and compare it to the cost of a daily Starbucks. When you bring it to that basic level it just makes sense."

I'm one of them
"Why put up with the frustration of not hearing your grandchildren or struggle in a noisy office or social situation? So many people with hearing loss are very active, very busy - volunteering, living in active communities, dining in large dining rooms. The demands on hearing are tremendous. It is the rare person who cannot benefit from the many advanced technology hearing solutions available today. I know. I'm one of them."