Patent ID: 6920226

Claim:
A hearing aid comprising: a preamplifier which amplifies an incoming signal, and which supplies an amplified output signal to a signal line; a control device connected to said preamplifier for activating and deactivating said preamplifier; a driver that operates with a lower power consumption than said preamplifier, said driver having a driver output; a switch connected between said signal line and said output of said preamplifier and said driver output for, dependent on a switching state of said switch, connecting one of said driver output and said output of said preamplifier to said signal line; and a monitoring circuit connected to said switch, said control device and to said signal line for monitoring a signal level on said signal line and, dependent on said signal level, for operating said switch to connect said one of said output of said preamplifier and said driver output to said signal line and for operating said control circuit to deactivate said preamplifier when said driver output is connected to said signal line.