Too funny Doc!
Seriously though,..
I've been spending a little time looking into hearing aids and hearing loss. My elderly Dad, who I live with, has pretty significant hearing loss and I've spoken to friends who also have parents in the same situation. I was looking into getting him a good hearing aid (for my own sanity I must admit) and asked around to find out what was real world good.
Almost to a person, they told me that they'd bought them hearing aid devices but that the impaired person refused to wear it/them. The biggest complaint was that the sound was so garbled that it was easier to just have the person shout or turn up the TV ( I lived in an apartment above one of these folks and used to be able to feel the dialog from "Days of Our Lives" in my feet!). The makers of these devices claim that you must wear them all the time so your brain will adjust to the sound. The real world problem is that these rather tight fitting devises become uncomfortable after a few hours for many folks and they take them out unless they know they'll need them.
So, the Oravox looks pretty funky but if it works like it should, who cares! I'm sure that for more money a tiny omni mic like a DPA 4060 or a Sankin COS-11 (both of which sound fantastic) could be fitted into a smaller receiver. The point is, the longer our lifespans become, the larger the percentage of the population that'll need these devices will become. I'm so glad to see that someone who knows about good audio has chosen to fill this void. I'd hate to give up this hobby just when I have more time to devote to it.
Thanks for sharing Thomas.
And for that wise guy Dan Schmalle. How do you think the guy manages to color his hair right to the exact point where his sideburns end? Does he mask it off with tape or just put something like Vaseline on his beard?