With age, our ears lose sensitivity. This can make it difficult to hear dialogues in movies and TV shows and reduce the range of sound that we can hear while listening to music. I am 51 and can testify to both fools. Lately my wife and I have turned to each other while watching certain shows: "Can you understand what they are saying?" (Yes, we have become these people.)
That's one reason why I'm a big fan AccuVoice sound bars from Zvoxwho do a great job and strengthen the voices. But what about private listening? Surely there have to be headphones that can help compensate for hearing loss?
Yes: for a limited time The automatically optimized Avantree Aria Me over-the-ear headphones with ANC drop to $ 135 with promo code CNETAUDIO. I know it's not a big discount, but it's the only discount to date and an exclusive cheapskate. Read on to find out why you should consider this.
The Aria Me is ANC (Active Noise Canceling) headphones with a special trick up their sleeves: it uses an app that tests your hearing and then transfers a custom profile to the headphones. This profile promises to optimize your overall listening experience, from music and movies to phone calls.
It works? I did an informal before and after test and didn't expect much. The app is pretty simple (and interesting): you turn a screen wheel until you can barely hear the sound being played, and then repeat it for more sounds. They do this for both ears.
I listened to a Fleetwood Mac song before the test. it sounded good. But after that? I could clearly hear "more" of the song as if someone had adjusted an equalizer to increase certain levels. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I was surprised and impressed. Remarkable: The Aria Me supports both aptX-HD for "high-definition" audio and aptX-LL to practically eliminate latency in TV and films.
In the meantime, the headphones are charged by hanging on an included stand, a feature that I absolutely love. There's also a plug-in boom microphone for phone calls, though it's optional; The headphones also have a built-in microphone. Speaking of plugs: if you want, you can use them as wired headphones, although you will lose the custom audio function and button controls.
By the way, if it's just TV audio that you need help with, that's it Zvox AV50 is a good choiceand brings the same AccuVoice soundbar technology into noise-canceling headphones. It is currently on sale for $ 70 (originally $ 150).
Her thoughts?
Continue reading: The best headphones of 2020

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