Crisp Sound 4+

I’m HOH and trying iPhone amplify apps to help hear TV or small group chats without much distortion, noise or lag. Basically to sub for $$$$ hearing aids while I save up. I’m using wired earbuds since wireless (Bluetooth) has too much lag, making conversations impossible.

This Crisp Sound app has pros & cons.

Pros - compared to others, it’s small, simple, & “free” (no subscription.) There are ads but not too intrusive.

It does what it says: makes sounds crisper, which helps make voices clearer without much lag.

Cons - it’s crackly, and occasionally loud sounds punch through harshly. Fiddling with settings in different noise environments helps some.

Using the ‘denoise’ filter muffles everything, so that doesn’t fix the loud sounds.

Using for TV, Background music & some voices seem distorted.

It crashes out randomly.

It eats battery life.

It occasionally trips on the ‘Voice Control’ function (Siri predecessor) even though that is OFF in Settings. Startling when it happens!

All that said, I’ll keep this on my phone as a back-up hearing tool.

In my attempt to find the best hearing app, I’ve come to download nearly 3 sometimes more hearing apps a week. Most have subscriptions and want too much for a flimsy setting to amplify a sound. This app really does work. And I keep coming back to it as my preferred one because it allows me save my settings once I take the included hearing test and gives you the option to adjust them based on how you are able to hear your environment. There is a “denoise” function that helps you zone in on whatever sound you prefer more clearly. Additionally, the app will detect human voices and mark them as SPEECH. So that you know right off the bat of what you are listening to is a human voice. There are many sounds that could possibly sound like speech, like animal screeches or washing machines humming. This app targets it and starts its off for you. Excellent app. Far superior than most of the paid services on here. I have two in your canal hearing aids and prefer this app sometimes bc it never lets me down.

It’s simple and free. No subscription to make basic functions work. Works in background. There is a lag but I don’t care I can now hear.