Talking Ears

Teleaudiology Panel Discussion - NHCA 2025

We assembled the largest gathering of Teleaudiology experts on the planet (world record eligible?) as part of the NHCA 2025 conference "Updates in Music Audiology" workshop. This episode is that panel discussion, lightly edited for the audio-only format.
Of course, Teleaudiology is not a new topic for Talking Ears listeners, as we have had all the panelists as guests in the past, and discussed Tuned and MusiCares in various episodes including a panel video. This episode serves as an update to the rapidly changing landscape of the field of virtual care for musicians, as well as a deep dive into the online hearing screener development and accessibility benefits of the delivery model.
The panelists were Heather Malyuk (Tuned, Soundcheck Audiology), Laura Sinnott (Sound Culture), Sharron Switzer (Sensaphonics), and Juan Vasquez (Talking Ears, Earmark). Frank Wartinger moderated the panel discussion.
Note: these conference lecture recordings are not eligible for CEUs. If you want the full educational experience, we invite you to seek out the National Hearing Conservation Association and our annual conferences.

Sound Discussion - Hearing Health for Musicians with Dr. Frank Wartinger and Dr. Juan Vasquez

This is a feed-drop episode where we get to share an episode of the Sound Discussion podcast. Juan Vasquez and Frank Wartinger had a great time as guests on their show, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the banter and conversation. If you like what you're hearing, make sure you subscribe to their show for more in-depth and light-hearted discussions of audio and recording topics. Here is the (overly flattering) episode description from the team at Sound Discussion:
This month on Sound Discussion, we’re diving deep into the essential topic of hearing health with two incredible experts in the field, Dr. Frank Wartinger and Dr. Juan Vasquez.
Dr. Wartinger, the founder of Earmark Hearing Conservation in Philadelphia, and Dr. Vasquez, a passionate audiologist based in Chicago, join us to share their wealth of knowledge on how to protect your hearing in the music industry.
As musicians, engineers, and music lovers, we often take our hearing for granted. In this episode, we explore the importance of hearing conservation and discuss practical strategies to maintain hearing health while performing or attending live events. From the dangers of high decibel levels to the types of hearing protection available, Frank and Juan break down what you need to know to keep your ears safe.
We also touch on common misconceptions about hearing loss, the significance of using in-ear monitors correctly, and the impact of modern technology on our auditory health. With insights from their podcast, Talking Ears, our guests provide valuable tips for musicians at every stage of their careers.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in music, whether you're on stage, behind the mixing board, or enjoying a concert from the crowd. Join us for an engaging and enlightening conversation that could change the way you think about sound and hearing!

Juan Vasquez and Heather Malyuk - NHCA 2025 Workshop

The 5th installment of the NHCA Updates in Music Audiology Workshop recap is actually a double feature! Here we have friend of the show Heather Malyuk speaking about diplacusis and co-host Juan Vasquez speaking about clinical management of musician patients. Both lectures are informative, concise, and expertly delivered, so this is a real treat for those who want to learn some practical knowledge on the clinical applications of music audiology.
Note: the content has been edited slightly for the audio-only format. These lecture recordings are not eligible for CEUs. If you want the full educational experience, we invite you to seek out the National Hearing Conservation Association and our annual conferences.
Juan Vasquez is an audiologist based in Chicago, Illinois. Before pursuing a career in audiology he taught, recorded, and performed music with various ensembles and as a solo artist. In 2019, he earned a Doctor of Audiology degree from Pacific University and has had various experiences in ENT, Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, private practice, research, and hospital settings. Currently, his clinical focus is centered around hearing loss prevention, particularly for musicians. Utilizing the telehealth services, Juan provides virtual consultations for hearing wellness, co-teach CAOHC courses, and co-produces the show Talking Ears, a podcast that focuses on music creators and their experiences with what is perhaps their most important instrument - their sense of hearing.
Heather Malyuk, owner of Soundcheck Audiology, is a musician and audiologist who hails from Northeast Ohio, but is known internationally as a clinician and public speaker in the field of music audiology. She received an undergraduate degree in Music History and Literature from the University of Akron and continued on to earn her Doctor of Audiology (AuD) degree from Kent State University. In 2020, she co-authored the clinical consensus document for Audiological Services for Music Industry Personnel through the American Academy of Audiology, she is a former Executive Council and Leadership Advisory Team member for the National Hearing Conservation Association, as well as a former co-chair of the College Music Society’s Committee on Musicians’ Health. She is passionate about new delivery models for audiologic care and is the Head of Audiology for Tuned, a groundbreaking virtual audiology clinic. In addition to her clinical and educational work, Heather developed and manages the first-ever hearing wellness video curriculum for the music industry, is a sought-after consultant and author, and is a research team member with various groups around the United States.

Brian Fligor - Tinnitus evaluation and management

In the fourth installment of the NHCA Updates in Music Audiology Workshop recap, we have music audiology expert and dear friend Dr. Brian Fligor. In this episode we'll listen in to his lecture on Tinnitus Evaluation and Management. The content has been edited slightly for the audio-only format. Note that these lecture recordings are not eligible for CEUs. If you want the full educational experience, we invite you to seek out the National Hearing Conservation Association and our annual conferences.
Brian Fligor is a board-certified pediatric audiologist and owner and staff audiologist at Tobias & Battite Hearing Wellness, a large private audiology practice in downtown Boston. His specific clinical and research interest is in evaluation and management of chronic bothersome tinnitus, hyperacusis and other auditory injuries due to high sound exposures. Dr. Fligor is adjunct faculty at Mass General Hospital Institute for Health Professions and at Drexel University GSO College of Audiology. Dr. Fligor's publications on hearing loss risk from music received considerable popular media attention, including being spoofed on the David Letterman Show in 2005. His publications on ototoxicity were incorporated into the JCIH Position Statement (2007) and helped shape a consensus international chemotherapy ototoxicity grading scale. He holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and doctorate in Audiology from Boston University, and post-doctoral research fellowship from Harvard Medical School.

A Field Guide To Musicians' Tinnitus

In this episode, we flip the table and Juan interviews Frank about an article he co-authored for Seminars in Hearing Volume 45, Number 3 (2025). First, a thank you to guest series editor Marc Fagelson, PhD, for the invitation to write this article for Seminars in Hearing. Marc, Frank, and Juan have been collaborating for the last year on an exciting Music Audiology project with the American Tinnitus Association (ATA) and Texas Roadhouse to bring hearing and tinnitus awareness and care to musicians and crew music festivals. This work has been described in detail in the ATA’s Tinnitus Today Winter 2024 publication and we discussed it in detail on a panel episode of Talking Ears.
Second, this article would not have happened without the contributions and insights from these amazing collaborators:
Nancy Gould, M.Ed - Nancy is the Tinnitus Specialist with Tuned Care, and practices on telehealth and in North Carolina. She specializes in mindfulness stress reduction as well as tinnitus retraining. We first connected when she made dramatic differences in the care of many of my patients seen on the Tuned platform through the MusiCares program, so I knew she would have great insights into this article.
Melissa Rogel, LMFT - Melissa is a licensed individual and relationship therapist, runs the practice Cooperative Path in the Philadelphia area, and is the drummer of Philly-based indie rock band The Diaphone. She clearly understands the musicians’ perspective and brought to light the psychological concepts. Full disclosure: Frank has been playing keyboards and bass with The Diaphone since 2022, so we’re bandmates.
Thus the article: A Field Guide to Musicians’ Tinnitus outlines the differences in psychological presentation and care approaches when working with musicians who have significant tinnitus reactions, then follows a case that Nancy and Frank shared via teleaudiology. 
Music heard in this episode was written and recorded by Juan Vasquez and produced by Frank Wartinger. To hear the full tracks, visit the new Original Music Of Talking Ears album. If you like the show (or the music) and want to support us, you may choose to donate through bandcamp. It would go towards funding some coffee so we can keep awake so we can make more of this show (or music) you like so much!

Michael Santucci and Shannon Switzer - Safe Use of In Ear Monitors

Welcome to the third installment of the Updates in Music Audiology workshop recap from the NHCA 2025 conference. This week we will help Sensaphonics celebrate their 40 year anniversary by featuring the voices of founder Michael Santucci and hearing clinic director Shannon Switzer. Together, they shared a brief history of in ear monitors, common fit and use issues, and recommendations for their safe and effective use. Their presentations have been edited slightly for the audio-only format. 
Michael Santucci is a Doctor of Audiology and president of Sensaphonics, Inc., Chicago, IL. In 1985 he founded Sensaphonics which designs, develops and manufactures custom in‐ear products for the music industry as well as a variety of other hearing conservation applications. For over 40 years he has provided Audiological consultation and customized hearing protection strategies to both Chicago area musicians and many of today’s most prolific music performers from all genres of music. Today, Dr. Santucci continues his hearing conservation efforts, spearheading the development of innovative new products and technologies that have 3 patents for the 3DME IEM system and the dB Check Pro sound level analyzer. Both products are NAMM tech award finalists. Dr. Santucci is the Chair of the Music Induced Hearing Loss Task Force for the National Hearing Conservation Association. Dr. Santucci is also a member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), where he is Chair of the Technical Committee on Hearing and Hearing Loss Prevention. In 2015 through this year, Dr. Santucci was invited by the World Health Organization to participate as an expert consultant as part of the WHO’s Listen Safe Initiative in Geneva SZ and is a core member and coordinator for MLS. Sensaphonics is the first winner of the Safe in Sound award presented by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the NHCA for achievements in technology, was the first winner of the prestigious Larry Mauldin award for pioneering new ideas for hearing loss prevention and was twice presented the Governor’s Award and once presented a Fellowship Award from the Audio Engineering Association and has been awarded Honors of the Academy with the 2023 Samuel Lybarger award from the American Academy of Audiology.
Shannon Switzer, Au.D. is the Director of the Sensaphonics Musicians’ Hearing Clinic in Chicago and is a featured audiologist in the MusiCares x Tuned teleaudiology partnership. As a lifelong clarinetist herself, she became fascinated with hearing conservation for musicians while earning her Doctorate of Audiology at Northwestern University. She primarily provides direct patient care to over 1000 music industry professionals annually through a variety of channels; the Sensaphonics clinic, mobile visits at music venues in Chicago, onsite clinical residencies with orchestras around the country, and teleaudiology visits with musicians around the world. Dr. Switzer is passionate about promoting hearing health through public education. She lectures at conferences, gives interviews to various music media, and trains audiologists in music audiology best practices. She has recently joined the WHO’s Make Listening Safe committee for safe listening in music venues and organizes high-profile musicians to promote World Hearing Day on their social media. She is an avid concert-goer and can’t help but chat about hearing protection in the crowd, even when she’s “off the clock”.

Colleen Le Prell - Factors Influencing Perceived Sound Quality During Hearing Protection Device Use

In this, the second installment of the series recapping the NHCA 2025 Conference, we have an incredible presentation from Colleen Le Prell, PHD. This is an edit version of her contribution to the Updates in Music Audiology workshop. The NHCA audience knows her as a recent past present of the organization, and a frequent presenter at the conferences. We know her as a dear friend who continually inspires us to a reach the highest possible academic rigor in our work.
Dr. Le Prell is the Emilie and Phil Schepps Professor of Hearing Science, Head of the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, and Co-Director for the Clinical and Translational Research Center at UT Dallas. She has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DoD), philanthropic foundations, and industry, for research on prevention of noise-induced hearing loss. She is the academic leader for the DoD Hearing Center of Excellence Pharmaceutical Interventions for Hearing Loss work group and an invited member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Meaningful Outcome Measures in Adult Hearing Health Care.  She is the Chair of the NIH Center for Scientific Review Auditory System Study Section, and serves on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Occupational Research Agenda Hearing Loss Prevention Cross Sector Council and the World Health Organization Make Listening Safe working group.
Brief music clips heard in this episode are from a live performance of Osler Circle, a Beatles cover band based in Philadelphia. This is used for educational purposes and while the recording is ours to use, we do not own the rights to the original song, "Day Tripper", and that all rights belong to the respective copyright holders.

Laura Sinnott - Global Initiatives for Hearing Loss Prevention

This is the first of a series of shorter episodes featuring presentations and interviews held at the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) annual conference in Charleston, SC in February, 2025. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes featuring Brian Fligor, Michael Santucci, Colleen Le Prell, Benj Kanters, Heather Malyuk, Juan Vasquez, Shannon Switzer, as well as two student award recipients, Hannah Miller and Blake Voss. Wow, what a line up!
But first, we have undeniable audio genius and friend-of-the-show, Laura Sinnot. Laura is a long time audio engineer for film whose career expanded into hearing health as an audiologist after over-exposing her ears to her work and the bustling metropolis of NYC. She ran the Sensaphonics Musician's Hearing Clinic, a Chicago-based institution for three years. Now based in Central New York, Laura provides traveling and concierge audiology services for musicians, media professionals, and music lovers, as well as teleaudiology consultations through Tuned. In addition to her doctorate degree from the City University of New York, she has a Music Technology master's and bachelor's degree from New York University and the University of Colorado at Denver, respectively.
Please note that this is an edited version of the presentation and is not eligible for CEUs. If you want the full experience (and the continuing education credits) you need to plan to come to NHCA webinars and conferences in the future. They are the best.