Ron Laurie

As a professional cello player, Ron Laurie considers hearing one of his most important senses:

“Not being able to hear oneself play is very upsetting, and for a professional musician, not hearing yourself is a menace,” explains Ron.

Ron has unilateral hearing loss: normal hearing in one ear and moderately-to-severe hearing loss in his opposite ear. To add to his frustration, his hearing loss is in the ear that rests closest to his cello.

Ronald Laurie, Professional Musician and WiFi Mic wearer

“WiFi Mic made it possible for me to continue playing,” says Ron. “I was not aware that a device existed that could transfer sound like this.”

WiFi Mic is a new digital system that uses advanced wireless technology to transmit sounds originating on the side of a "bad ear" to the "better ear" on the opposite side. Known as CROS (Contralateral Routing of Signal), the sound is processed, using radio frequency, from a small wireless microphone on the “bad ear” to a digital hearing aid on the hearing ear.

When wearing WiFi Mic, Ron could hear the tones of his cello more clearly. He was more aware of where sounds were coming from, and he could decipher the origin of voices more accurately. Ron also began to enjoy going to the theatre again. On one occasion, he found he could hear the actor’s voices even though he was approximately 50 feet away from the stage.

Ronald Laurie’s audiogram depicting normal hearing in his right ear and moderate to severe conductive hearing loss in his left ear.

Ron feels that WiFi Mic is especially desirable because it is wireless. He does not have to worry about cumbersome cables getting caught when he rests his ear close to his cello.

“A wire [on the device] would not be desirable at all because it could get caught on the peg of my cello and become a real nuisance,” he explains.