Sound Bytes

Browsing over on the AllDeaf users forum, I came across a forum post regarding the sound bytes of what cochlear implants would output.

The following links are the sound byte samplings mentioned in the beforementioned forum post:
UC Irvine: Cochlear Implant Simulation
UC Irvine: Acoustic Simulations
House Ear Institute: Audio Demos for Speech Perception

It's really quite interesting to simulate the sounds as generated by the cochlear implants. When I first heard this through my hearing aids, I heard distortions, and it was quite difficult for me to understand - all but the original recordings. But, the brain is a remarkable adaptable tool that has the capability to be trained to understand sound and make it more natural. I had a similar experience when I transitioned from analog to digital hearing aids. The digital hearing aids sounded way different, but still perceivable and clear enough for me to understand. About 2 weeks later, sounds appeared to sound the same as they did with my analog hearing aids. So, I foresee that a similar case of brain re-training would occur with cochlear implants.

It was especially interesting since the people with cochlear implants say that it's not an accurate sampling. I do wonder what the people say when they transition from hearing aids to cochlear implants. I understand that some people with cochlear implants hear better than hearing aids, but I don't know what it means, especially when comparing 30,000 cochlear hairs to 28 electrodes. Do sounds appear the same? Distorted any? Is the full range of music still appealing or does one get portions here and there?

For example, with hearing aids, I have whatever hair that's living with my hearing loss, but can hear across the spectrum up to the point where I have no living cochlear hairs. Does that continue to hold true with cochlear implants (except up to 8 kHz since it's interfacing with the cochlear nerves)?

So many questions... and plenty of time to learn, study, and understand.