by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady asked,
What is your opinion on the NeutronicEar? It costs $500 and is advertised as ‘reading glasses for your ears’ in a magazine.
The NeutronicEar is just another name for the older Crystal Ear hearing device that has been around for few years now. The two devices look identical. In fact, two of the pictures they use on the NeutronicEar website are identical to the pictures used on the old Crystal Ear website.
The NeutronicEar website is definitely short on contact information—no name, no address, no contact person—so they’re hiding all that information—and people with nothing to hide put that information on their websites. That is a red flag right there.
This is really a hearing aid that is not being marketed as a hearing aid, but as an assistive listening device (ALD) so they can circumvent the need for FDA approval. Notice that the NeutronicEar home page keeps repeating the mantra that this is “not a hearing aid”. Normally you tell your prospective customers what your product is and its benefits, not what your product is not. Another red flag.
It is a one size fits all device—another red flag. Everyone’s hearing is different so obviously we need different settings to best help our hearing. The NeutronicEar is likely set for the “average” or “typical” high-frequency hearing loss. If that is exactly where your hearing is at, this device may work reasonably well in certain situations.
There are no adjustments on the NeutronicEar apart from a volume control. Their website doesn’t say whether it has any compression built in so it amplifies softer sounds while at the same time limiting louder sounds. Thus, we can assume it doesn’t have any (or they would have been sure to mention that feature). Nor is there any mention of a t-coil to pick up signals from other devices. Furthermore, there is no tone control which even cheap ALDs typically have.
All in all, this is a high-priced assistive device (if you give them the benefit of the doubt and consider it “not a hearing aid”. It’s main feature is that it is nearly invisible. In my opinion, it’s main feature should be that it helps people hear better!
As I see it, this is just a smaller version of well-respected assistive devices such as the PockeTalker, but without the functionality of a PockeTalker, and at a 350% inflated price.
If you want a low-cost hearing aid, you can go to Lloyd’s Hearing Aids and purchase a real behind-the-ear hearing aid for less than that too. (Lloyds is a very ethical outfit—I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about them in all the years they have been in business!)
So just from what the NeutronicEar website says and doesn’t say, I urge caution. Very likely you will get much better use of your money by purchasing real hearing aids or assistive listening devices from reputable dealers that are not afraid to let you know exactly who you are dealing with and who accurately advertize their products without trying to circumvent FDA regulations.
The MDHearingAid is a good OTC hearing aid too. Less than $200 and tons of good reviews.
My major complaint, which has not been anwered, is poor fit of the ear tips. The largest tip sold in the package is too small, resulting for me the loss of the entire unit when it fell out without my notice. The wrong size tip causes feedback. which canonly be stopped by reducing the volume with the pinhead-size volume contol, not an easy task behind the ear with eyeglass earpiece interfering. Behind the ear unit would not lodge firmly, so a loose tip could drag everything with it. Battery life is about two days. With constant fiddling and constant vigilance the device can be coaxed to acceptable performance. I attempted two units to accomodate both ears and perhaps get a binaural effect. The experiment failed (they make no claims for binaural sound). I wasted a thousand bucks to avoid spending 5k or 6k to replace real hearing aids. It was a bad bet on what appears to be a ghost company using First Street as another identity.
I seen this ad in the September 2011 AARP Bulletin. It is sad that many seniors will buy this product because they assume that AARP is endorsing it. Dr. Bauman is correct when he writes that there is no name, no address, no contact person. I would NOT buy this. I’m glad I had some computer literacy and researched this item. THANK YOU DR. BAUMAN.
It’s no secret either that Neutronic Ear is the new business name of the old Crystal Ear, or that they’re involved in a long-running feud with the FDA (http://hearinghealthmatters.org/waynesworld/2013/ha-distribution-vii-psap-ald-or-hearing-aid/). What’s not so clear is exactly what it means. Maybe it means the lack of FDA certification (and the lack of any contact names for legal reasons) indicates the devices themselves are of highly questionable quality. But maybe it indicates that Neutronic Ear is the unfortunate poster child of a feud beween “reasonable” hearing assistance devices and the FDA’s prominent role in a collusion to maintain a de-facto monopoly. My takeaway is that unfortunately buyers should be on notice that they will have some trouble getting support for a Neutronic Ear device because of what appears to be shady business practices occasioned by the feud with the FDA, something that’s definitely not for everybody. However I’m interested in reviews not of Neutronic Ear’s business strategy but rather of the actual devices.
Try neutronicear.com and will find out that the website is not even working. I have tried that address at least ten times today and keep getting that the “website address is not responding”,
Hi B.G.:
Apparently NeutronicEar has closed due to the death of its sole owner. I think that is why you get no response to the website. I don’t get any response either.
Cordially,
Neil
i bought one thae appears to be unused in the box from a thrift store for 3 dollars thinking i got a valuable item for cheap to resell on ebay,,,,dont know what to do with it now.