Air pods pro 2 vs hearing aids

[DaveL]

@troutcm

Your exactly right.
I only tell my stories to help others…but I got kicked out of here for being off topic.
I’ve had 3 sets of Phonaks. Before that i had a single hearing aid; another brand. Widex? in the ear. I bought the cheapest I could because I couldn’t afford a better one.

I finally got smart. I work for second largest school board in Canada. 150,000 kids. almost 300 schools. I hooked up with the woman who worked so hard to help children who were hard of hearing. She referred me to the best audiologist I’ve ever had. Every time I went to her office with a problem she fixed it. My hearing aids worked.

She sold her business. Listen Up Canada.

I wento the same lady. She referred me to another audiologist. I went there with hearing aids that worked. My hearing kept getting worse. After a couple of years the hearing aids didn’t work. Word recognition. They sold me a brand new set of Phonaks. Hindsight–I should have left earlier than I did. Every time I left the office the hearing aids were worse.

The lady had retired; her replacement referred me to the audiologist I have now. My new hearing aids are much better. Lately his suggestions have really helped.

So in my 20 year experience, It’s the audiologist. The setup next.

The book I referred to above is mind blowing.

[ha11]

I’ve been wearing HAs for more than a couple of years already, so I have some experience with them. Last summer I got some AirPod Pro (1st generation) to wear as a more waterproof/disposable HA. I’ve taken up group rowing and single sculling. It’s never out of the question I could end up quite wet, I need to hear people, and I don’t want to destroy my rather expensive and wonderful HAs. The AirPod Pros are OK but a far cry from great hearing aids. HAs do so much more than simple amplification, even if the amplification is tapered to your hearing loss. HAs are doing a whole lot more to enhance voices and customize the soundstage for hearing loss. Different HAs have different approaches to the problem, but basically they are taking apart the sound input to your ears and then putting it back together for you in a way that will help you hear voices and nuances. So the AirPod Pros for me in that context are a bit helpful perhaps. When I’m in a more stable boat and not afraid of ending up in the river, I wear my HAs, and that’s much much better.

I do in fact wear the AirPod Pros with my audiogram dialed into them quite a lot. I listen to podcasts and music with them. Many days they are in my ears more than the HAs because I am listening to this kind of content rather than human company. Thanks to the correction based on my audiogram, music sounds much better than any other headphones I have, though not as good as a good stereo or live music through my hearing aids.

Hearing Aids are much more expensive, less tough and waterproof, but very likely with the help of a good audiologist will be much more helpful for dealing with hearing loss and enjoying life overall.

[troutcm]

ha11

Many thanks for your in depth analysis.

[bob.sevcik]

Like you I was wondering if the newest AirPod Pro 2 would work temporarily while waiting for the new Costco Ks 11 to come out (I returned the Philips they sold me). I did purchase a set of the Pro2s but while they could crank up the volume I really hated the quality of sound. I also hated the way they hung from my ears and wanted to slip out. And yes I tried every size of silicone buds that came with them.

That all said depending where you purchase you can return them I purchased mine from Walmart and returned them with no problem.

[troutcm]

Thanks, Bob. The general consensus seems to be negative as far as using them as HAs.

I see Stables is going to have them on sale for 199. That’s a good price, but suspect the money would best be put towards real HAs.

[whatdidtheysay]

troutcm. If you have the capability, you might consider filling in your audiogram on this forum. Having information on your audiogram and the type of hearing loss you are experiencing would help others make better recommendations for you.

People with mild hearing loss might be able to get away with the Air Pods Pro 2. However, I’d assume that after it’s gone past the 30db mark, hearing loss gets a bit more complex and requires more than just amplifying sounds.

[troutcm]

Thanks, whatdidtheysay.

Did as you suggested. Pretty bad! But keep in mind I’m retired so a lot of situations where most people need HAs don’t apply to me. Most of my friends and family I hear fine. Most of the ladies I know have alto voices. But no doubt about it, if I’m talking to a gal more soprano, especially on the phone, I’m in trouble.

[cleimer101]

Why did you return the Philips? I’m trialing a pair so interested in your experience. Thx

[bob.sevcik]

Costco sent me a letter requesting follow up info on why I returned my Philips HAs. Below is the actual letter I sent to them in response. While there were even more issues then I told them about. I hope you have a better experience then I did. I actually made out a list for myself of what I want in my next HAs. Strangely enough, the KS10s meet most in not all. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance. I also look forward to knowing how things work out for you. Good Luck. Bob

Costco letter

I began my hearing aid adventure by stopping at my local Costco to make my hearing test appointment in person. The individual I spoke with indicated she would be my tester and HA specialist. When arriving for my hearing test I was told I had wax on my ear drum and couldn’t be tested (shouldn’t that have been checked when I made the appointment?).

I received the recommended HAs and complained they were extremely loud and everything including my own voice was very high pitched and tinny sounding. Over the course of a few appointments attempts were made to improve this issue but with limited results. I also commented that the right HA actually needed to restart its self every morning.

During one appointment I indicated I had an experience in a load environment where I couldn’t comprehend the person sitting in front of me. I tried switching to the voice in noisy environments but this made it worse because it just increased the volume but did nothing for clarity. At this point I felt I these hearings aids were just not helping my problem and wanted to return them. My HA specialist thought they could be defective and recommended first replacing them with a new set of the same type which we did.

When the new set arrived I stated the original problems with the continued high pitch and excessive loudness. My HA specialist called the manufacture for advice and tried to tune them for the problem. When I went home (the real world test) I couldn’t watch the news or have normal conversation with my wife or visiting relatives. It was so bad I returned the next day for more adjustments. My HA specialist again called the manufacture for advice. However, the problems were not resolved. At this point I felt these were not the hearing aids for me or my HA specialist didn’t know how to properly adjust them. Therefore, upon my 9th appointment I again requested a refund.

During my appointments various questions and/or comments were made that I found very odd. When I complained that I couldn’t understand the news caster on my TV I was asked what adjustment I performed on the TVs audio to correct this. Why should I have to adjust my TV for this new hearing phenomenon? When I said I had a significant problem understanding my wife and 60 year old niece I was asked how often I would be seeing my niece. That one really baffled me!

Please note this was my first experience with purchasing and wearing hearing aids. Thereby, I did extensive research on each brand Costco offered including their options, capabilities and where possible how well they were rated. I was very excited at the thought of improving most of my hearing problems. Regretfully, this was not the case. In stead of progressively reducing my hearing effort it actually became more difficult. I found myself becoming progressively more frustrated with each of the 9 appointments I had with my HA specialist.

I don’t feel my hearing problem should be that difficult to improve. Regrettably, the recommended hearing aids and my HA specialist just did not work out for me. However, I see a significant value offered by Costco’s hearing aid services. In the future I hope to re-visit Costco (different location and HA specialist) to obtain a quality set of properly programmed hearing aids or perhaps seek out an independent audiologist.

Please feel free to contact me if additional information is required.

[whatdidtheysay]

Thank you for providing the letter you sent to Costco, it is very helpful.

Just so others realize, the Philips 9030 is a fantastic hearing aid. In fact, I have them and the Oticon More 1s right now at the same time for demonstration purposes. The Oticon More 1s are considered the top of the line hearing aids, and the Philips 9030 comes very close to the level of quality of the More 1s.

I have been able to hear the TV and everyone around me quite clearly with the Philips 9030. I have been logging the results of my Philips 9030 contrasted to the More 1s and will post my results to the forum very shortly, maybe even this weekend.

HAs are very person dependent, and as @bob.sevcik has noted, the audiologist is also an extremely part in that experience.

Bob, you mentioned the person helping you at Costco as a ‘HA specialist.’ Do you know if they were a qualified audiologist, or just a specialist?

@bob.sevcik would you be able to program your audiogram into the forum so we can see what type of prescription you have been struggling with?

[flashb1024]

@whatdidtheysay

. I have been logging the results of my Philips 9030 contrasted to the More 1s and will post my results to the forum very shortly, maybe even this weekend.

I’ll be looking forward to your comparison, as I’m a More 1 user, and have heard good things about the Philips.

There are several threads comparing the products, and a lot of inconclusive opinions to sift through, so your opinion will be very valuable.

Oops, this thread was about Airpods, sorry if I’m hijacking, again.

[fbacher1]

I have the last gen and latest Pro 2’s. The newer ones have better battery life, maybe up to 6 hrs and they can and do improve your hearing. But for many ears, they are just too uncomfortable to wear very long, too much occlusal effect and your own voice will be loud and very hollow/loud sounding. They do provide excellent noise reduction and music. I just could never keep mine in place (tried lots of ear buds) and one or the other would be dropping out.

I have the Philips 9030 from Costco and honestly I often forget I’m wearing them. Very comfortable and lots of options for the fitter/audiologist. I don’t think they can shift frequencies down but maybe I don’t understand that option and it’s there somewhere. Sound is OK and like many new HA users I’m struggling to get used to the volume, etc. I did turn my high freq down and transient noise reduction up recently and that helped a bunch (I have the program and Link to do that on my own). But I still struggle to understand my wife and others at times even though I do hear them better. When I take them out at night it’s like a blanket has been put over my ears, lol. And at about 16 hrs of wear there is still about 20+% battery life left.

[troutcm]

Thanks fbacher1:

Again another vote against the AirPods. Unfortunately there is no CostCo near me. I have been looking at the cheaper Jabra Enhanced. I like the idea of DIY since had a bad experience with the audiologist I saw. I use an IPhone and their app is highly rated. Am afraid they too will have the occlusal effect, though.

From what I have read, I’m not sold on frequency compression schemes. If there is a pretty bird singing around 6000 hz and the HAs shift that down to, say, 2000hz, I’m going to hear something but it sure ain’t going to be birdsong. Or perhaps making a flute sound like a tuba?

[bob.sevcik]

My HA specialist was not an audiologist.

[whatdidtheysay]

@bob.sevcik Thank you!

There is a place on this forum that you can add the audiogram to the website/forum instead of uploading a picture. Check this link out: How to add your hearing test / audiogram to Hearing Tracker

[cleimer101]

Thanks for sharing this. When I decided to give Costco a try it was largely because of cost and what I was hearing about the KS 10s but by the time my appointment came around, they’d pulled those aids and no longer sell them. They recommended the Philips–which I understand from others too is supposed to work well with reverse slope hearing loss. They’re made by a company in the same group as Oticon which is the brand I’ve worn for many years–also good for reverse slope and noise reduction. I can’t say I’ve ever been that impressed with how the Oticons worked but I got used to them and didn’t want to spend my life focused on hearing aids. Now that I need to replace them though, I guess that’s what I have to do–at least for some time until we get things straightened out.

All those things that bothered you are common for first time hearing aid wearers. But I’m glad the KS 10s resolved most of the issues for you.

I’ve posted some of the issues I’m having in other threads so won’t recap here–where it’s kind of off track–but I am starting to get frustrated. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to go through finding a new audi/fitter and aids that I sort of forgot how laborious and hit and miss it can be. Kind of surprised that’s no better than it was a decade ago.

[bob.sevcik]

Sorry if you misunderstood but I only had the Philips HAs. While the KS10s were still on the market my HA specialist flat out said she wouldn’t sell the KS10s to me because in her opinion they were not good for my hearing problem.

I 100% agree it seems to take a lot of effort to get HAs properly adjusted for individual hearing problems. That said though, my HAs worked reasonable well with the “out of the box” settings. So we’ll that doing minor tweaks within the phone app they were fine. The problems started when I requested my HA specialist to make the app adjustments permanent so I didn’t have to fiddle every morning. She totally messed them up and every appointment after that it went down hill fast. My mistake is I should have requested a different fitter or gone to a different location for my adjustments. To late now!

[cleimer101]

My mistake. Sorry about that. Still glad they’re working for you.

[bob.sevcik]

Hey not trying to pick but nothing is working for me. I only had the Philips and returned them. That’s it….I have no other HAs at this time. BTW, the Philips were my very first HAs ever. But I do intend to try again in the future.

[cleimer101]

Sheesh!! I’m typically not this dense so I re-read your posts in this thread. Somehow I got hung up on you saying the KS10s meet most of what you want in your ‘next’ hearing aids but missed the key word ‘next.’ Now I get your situation (I hope).