Please have a look at my audiogram. I’m currently using phonak P90 paradise UP. I’ve given up with sound recover as there’s no longer anywhere to recover it as I have no measurable frequencies except at the lowest end. Nevertheless the paradise are good. I function well , have no occlusion with my open moulds and use Roger products for TV and streaming.
I’m now trialling the Phonak Spheres. I’ve paid for moulds for the trial versions as I was so hopeful I would end up buying these aids.
Two days in and whilst there is some noticeable improvement in speech clarity, it’s offset by the other ‘noise’ of incidental sounds that I don’t need amplifying. Examples are husband loading the dishwasher in the next room, clock ticking literally sounded like spoons being bashed together repeatedly in my ears.
This trade off currently doesn’t feel worth it. It’s quite uncomfortable.
Also the Bluetooth streaming is nowhere near as good as my paradise aids. Just thin and tinny. I was going to use them for work on Teams yesterday using Bluetooth but I just couldn’t hear well enough.
Anyone with a similar audiogram out there having success with these ???
I have booked in with my audio next week for any tweaks !
Thanks
It sounds to me like some serious adjustments by the audiologist are in order. I don’t have anywhere near your severity of hearing loss, nor am I wearing Spheres, but I have been reading a lot about the Spheres on this forum. Pending your appointment, have you tried using the myPhonak app to tinker with the Spheres yourself? You should be able to even “set as new” and assign a name for what adjustments you’ve made. You can most likely make the distraction of background noises less noticeable, among other things, and might be able to reduce the “tinny” aspect of what you do want to hear. How long have you been trying them out? @SandraN : Edit - Never mind my closing question, I absolutely failed at reading comprehension the day I made that comment, since “two days in” is literally the beginning of your 3rd paragraph.
Agree that if the Spheres are adjusted properly they should be able to equal or better the P90. With that audiogram I’m amazed you can hear much of anything.
It’s going to be tuff finding anyone with your audiogram that has much if any speech recognition. Have you considered CI?
When my upper frequencies went away I found sound recover to be a huge help. I also stopped wearing UP or SP aids because I didn’t need to amplify those dead zones. Are your upper frequencies no response?
Those Spheres will not do the best they can do without molds with your hearing loss IMO. Can you lengthen your trial period so you can test out molds?
She said in the beginning of this post that she has already paid for molds, as she started out feeling sure she would buy the Spheres at the end of the trial period. She is dissatisfied with their current tinny sound quality and prominent background sounds in the house, and has further adjustments already scheduled. She has said in another post that she is definitely not interested in a CI. I suspect the Spheres are not optimally set up.
Yes that’s right re moulds and CI. I’m only on day 3 now and have had a play with the settings with some success. Have also got the streaming working and discovered they already have Roger connectivity so I can use my Roger kit for TV and work next week. The fact that the streaming wasn’t properly set up and I had to get my IT pro husband to do it for me suggests the audiologist isn’t particularly switched on! I’m persevering and feeling a bit more positive that I should be able to tweak and get used to them.
Out for a walk today and could hear my husband much better when he was in front of me or walking alongside.
Wind noise doesn’t seem as loud.
In cafe for lunch and my own chewing sounded too loud though ! I’ve got them for 6 weeks so it’s very early days.
Oh, 3 days into a 6 week trial period gives you a nice amount of time to do some tweaks to your settings. Perhaps your audiologist was having a bad day and will turn out to be more “switched on” than you thought!
Ok just to respond to people who can’t believe I can hear anything. I’ve had diagnosed hearing loss for over 25 years and although it’s worsened somewhat it was severe to profound from the start. The slope just used to be a bit shallower.
I’ve used hearing aids all that time from my late 30s to now I’m 64. I also use lip reading Roger kit, captions and have a very helpful and understanding family and friends. In addition, I believe my brain has adapted over these years to help fill in the ever larger gaps.
Without my aids I can still hear a lot of stuff. You’d be surprised how much of life is at those lower frequencies. I can even have a conversation with my husband now without them. When we met I couldn’t hear his voice even with my aids. Maybe he’s increased the volume a bit over the last 20 years but also I’ve got used to the way he speaks.
I still work self employed and part time now working remotely and using Microsoft Teams and captions.
I also participate in amateur dramatics and while this is challenging hearing from the wings I have support from friends to ensure I don’t miss a cue. I also enjoy music through Bluetooth and the music setting when listening with others.
With my aids I can hear everyone including my 4 grandchildren who have grown up knowing they need to speak clearly and repeat as needed.
I love going to the theatre to see a captioned show and films too. My biggest hearing challenge is when all the family are here all talking and often music playing. Hence why I’m trying the spheres.
I was offered a CI on the NHS about 10 years ago - but the lengthy timescale , lack of any guarantee of success and my busy life at the time led me to decline.
I see no reason to have one now. I’ve adapted to my loss and have a full and rich life.
If I want to hear something I can find a way and I accept there are some sounds I’ll never hear again.
So the idea that aids can’t possibly help me is totally wrong - I put them in when I wake up and they don’t come out till I go to sleep. If they didn’t help I would probably have gone with the CI !
Sorry if I touched nerve. I absolutely believe that you are able to do all that and in your ability to compensate. But you asked if you were expecting to much. With your hearing loss I would expect the sphere to be equal to but perhaps not much better than your paradise hearing aids. I wouldn’t rely much on the experiences of others to hype the device up given the huge difference in accessible audibility–if you’re not noticing much difference trust your gut.
Modification of expansion feature, but I think better is:
Trial to getting used to a bit more to normal hearing, this requires time, maybe weeks, maybe months. The feeling of “tinny” sounds could be a symptom which speaks for make an effort to getting used to it.
There are many users here who, after REM-based fitting, had a “tinny sound” feeling in the first weeks-months, but they finally accustomed to it with a prize like better speech understanding.
Yes I’ve told my audiologist that it would need to be a significant difference for me to buy them. We will see. You didn’t touch a nerve. I just thought I should clarify for you and others that I do actually get some benefit from my hearing aids !
I asked, because perceiving “tinny sound” means (maybe I am wrong) that you can hear some of the (probably) mids. So I wonder if you have a recent audiogram and whether you have bone conduction thresholds.
Probably you have dead regions over 1 kHz, but it is always recommended to make sure, especially if you manage your hearing loss.
That’s my most recent one done late 2024. I don’t have any hearing in the mid range but o see what you mean. Maybe tinny is the wrong word to use. It was just really thin I suppose! If that’s a better one. I’m used to rich and full sound.
I was 67 when I had my SSHL, 69 when I had the CI surgery that was 6 years ago now. I know of 1 recipient who was 89 when she had her CI. Honestly age isn’t really a barrier, if the person is neurologically sound, doesn’t have any major health issues and can technically manage a smart phone. Also have a person who’s available to help with rehab. Rehab is the hard part, committing to doing daily rehab for 12 months.
I had retired and did rehab for 2 hours every day throughout the day on streaming books to my CI. For the rest of the day I had music playing from Spotify in the background. All recipients know music appreciation after a CI is a very hard gig. Some recipients can once again appreciate music, others never get that appreciation back.
IMO my CI is the best decision I ever made. It’s given me back my life so I can enjoy what time i have left.
