What do I hear?

This is the toughest question to answer when people see that I'm still dependent on reading lips.  Truth to be told, is that I'm not on any auditory training except to listen to audio recordings that I can read along with.  I'm still hoping to get some software that will help me with training this brain to recognize phrases quicker.  Training to hear with a CI is like learning to type.  Some people learn to type without prolonged typing drills, others take far longer.  I'm like someone who is learning by hunting and pecking the keys.  Other than listening to audiotapes, I keep looking at people for the visual and hearing cues to communicate.

Yet when listening to the radio in my car, I get some of what they are talking about.  This is above the car noise, so even the background road noise isn't blocking my understanding.  However my comprehension would improve if I worked at it constantly.  I'm just learning the slow route, letting sounds come to me, rather than pursuing them.

After numerous years of lip-reading, this listening style is still predominant.  But with my CI, I hear  the differences between women and men's voices.  I hear all the different frequencies one hears on piano, guitar and so on...if they are played without accompaniment.  With other sounds added in, it becomes multi-layered, making it harder to perceive each note alone.  (probably true for hearing people too, but hey, I would I know?)

When sounds are loud, such a band playing, the CI zeros in on that and makes my voice impossible to hear.  Or if the background music is soft, my voice drowns out the music.  This means I cannot sing along with the current settings.  There's little to use for pitch perception.  However the music, the cymbals, guitars, drums, violins all can be heard, along with vocals.  It is like looking at a blow-up of a low resolution picture.  I can "hear" the music, but it has those "square edges" just like a pixelated picture detracts from the overall look.  Even this description doesn't do music justice though.  My hearing is somewhat fragmented because I'm only hearing with one ear.  Also the threshold of some frequencies is limited on purpose to keep my facial nerve from twitching at loud noises. 

My former hearing aid basically only jacked up the static, made the bass sounds louder.  My CI opens the door to all the frequencies, I hear voices, plastic rustling, fans running, cars zipping down the highway.  There's no comparison, and I'll look into getting a second CI when finances allow.