Hearing Aids - Hearing "cracks"

Roasting on the Bullet R1
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I reviewed the several topics posted here regarding the best way to hear the two ‘cracks’ events while roasting. I am 67, and recently broke down and worked with a local audiologist and am now sporting some stylish and flatteringly mostly invisible hearing aids. I used to be able to ignore my wife due to hearing loss, but no more. :slightly_smiling_face:

When I begin using the aids, and when roasting I noticed that I could no longer hear crack events. My hearing loss is related to nerve damage, and so to correct this, certain frequencies are left alone and others are augmented with the goal of recovering a mostly ‘normal’ hearing experience.

I had to proceed through the 1st roast using the aids, by color. Not that critical a change, but not ideal.

So I did a little research, with the help of ChatGPT I confirmed an assumption that It might be possible to program the aids to favor certain frequencies:

The first crack of coffee typically occurs at a frequency range of about 1,000 to 1,500 Hz, while the second crack is generally around 2,000 to 2,500 Hz. These sounds are often described as popping or cracking noises, similar to popcorn popping.

If you’re looking to enhance your ability to hear these events with your hearing aids, it might be useful to ensure that your audiologist focuses on these frequency ranges during adjustments.

I discussed this with my audiologist this week and she set me up with a program for the aids, that favored these frequency ranges. Bottom line is that they worked amazingly. I do hear all of the other tones in those ranges but I also distinctly hear the crack event (at least the first crack as my roasts this weekend ended below 2nd crack).

Also, to my surprise, I was able to easily call out the end of 1st crack which is something I was never before able to do.

I thought I’d pass this along in case there are others that have programmable hearing aids and might like to check this out and possibly confirm the results.

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Let me just add to this wonderful account, for those who cannot reprogram their hearing aids or for other reasons don’t hear the crack, that immediately before the onset of first crack, there is a distinct change in smell.
You probably need to train your nose to detect it, but once you do, it is a fairly accurate marker.

I have heard many different comparisons attached to this smell, from cellulose to freshly cut grass. I am fairly certain that all these notes come down to personal association, though, so my suggestion is simply to use the trier very often [I sniff every 5 seconds] when getting close to where 1st crack should begin. Whichever association you get, the point is to simply keep a nose out for the difference.

This, by the way, is how you detect 1st crack on large drum roasters where machine noise drowns the popping sound, and/or have sealed heat boxes. Not to mention beans that are just quiet.

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Brian, I have hearing aids too, and have no trouble hearing 1C, while 2C has always been elusive. However, they only support one profile, so boosting 2000-2500Hz would need to be “on” all the time. What impact does boosting those ranges have on normal hearing situations? Thanks for the tips on crack freq - I didn’t know about the two distinct ranges.

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Interesting. When I switch to this custom mode, everything is very ‘tinny’, contrast increases and frankly it not a very enjoyable experience. But do like that it restores the ability to hear the event.

One other item is something you may also recognize being an aid wearer. That is the sensation of hearing your voice that I would describe as, “positioned back at you, floating in the air about 6 inches from your nose”, is pronounced even further and perhaps louder as well.

Thanks for the feedback.

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