It isn’t that simple. The HAs need to have recalculated feedback thresholds with the open dome to prevent feedback. From a practical standpoint, if someone changes that to, e.g., a power dome, it isn’t possible to recalculate again in daily life.
Maybe that isn’t a huge problem; it’s just worth mentioning.
It’s really his choice. He does have a pretty steep loss in the high frequencies. Regardless of whether he has an open dome or a closed dome or mold with a vent, it’s basically the vent that’s going to prevent the noise reduction functionality to become effective. For sure the very wide open vent would be worse than something else with a smaller vent in a very noisy place, but it depends on how the Costco HIS decided to fit him, and if it was with an open dome, then it needs to be closed up for noise reduction to be most effective in a very noisy place. If he actually already has a closed dome with a vent, then obviously it’s still not effective enough for him to want to keep the 9050, so it still needs to be closed up just the same, at least temporarily.
But I think you raised a good point here that if he’d try a closed dome or mold with a vent first and is OK with the added occlusion, but is happy enough with a very noisy place, then perhaps that can be a permanent solution instead of switching to a closed dome temporarily in noisy places each time. Then as a permanent solution, the software needs to be updated to reflect the correct fitting type in order to prescribe the correct prescription for that fitting type.
No, I agree that it’s not that simple. And yes, that’s why you specify the kind of fitting so that the software can prescribe the correct gain in the first place.
So that’s why I’m just suggesting that the closed dome workaround be a temporary solution and not just a permanent solution, and only for the rare occasion of being in a very, very noisy place. I’m not suggesting it as a permanent solution. If it were, then you definitely want to change the setting in the software to ensure that you get an appropriate gain prescription for it.
And as a temporary fix, a prescription for an open dome would probably be strong enough to account for the vent leakage, that if you temporarily switch to a close dome with an open dome prescription, that’s just going to give you more gain then needed, which is at least going in the right direction in terms of not having a decreased gain when the temporary closed domes are put on.
Very good point, best practices would likely indicate updating the selection, and doing REM each time.
That would be pretty wild, going to Costco every day for an adjustment. 
Definitely a reason for DIY.
Does Oticon Genie2 enable e.g. 1. program for open dome fitting and 2. recalculated program for earmold with small vent?
In Phonak Target it is impossible.
Yes it’s all you need to do is recalculate the feedback thresholds, you can do this as often as you like, all the manufacturers offer this in their respective software.
I just realized the audiogram in my profile was 5 years old. Sorry about that. I just uploaded my newest one from October 2024. It appears my hearing has gotten a bit worse.
It occurs to me that since I’ve retired I am rarely in noisy places anymore, maybe I should really be concerned about my hearing in only normal environments where I spend most of my time - like just hearing my wife around the house.
BTW, the domes I have are the soft plastic ones with only two tiny holes in them (about the size of the thickest part of a round toothpick). The document I was given by COSTCO calls them “Bass dome, double”. Sorry, I would have looked this up sooner had I realized the significance.
Thanks all for your thoughtful comments.
@Jack_F I have a very similar hearing loss and the same HAs. My Costco also supplied miniFit 8mm Bass Domes with Double Vent. Like you, I am retired so I don’t need a heavy duty noise filter anymore. I am quite liking my 9050s. I just use a general all-purpose program and a self-programmed music program (not for BT). One of my domes doesn’t like staying in my ear so I am going to pick up some 6mm domes to try and solve it but so far – after 3 weeks or so – I am very satisfied.
To_be_determined,
Gald to hear the 9050s are working out for you. Wouldn’t going from 8mm to 6mm domes make them MORE likely to come out?
Those aren’t the open bass domes that Volusiano thought you might have been using.
Philips and Oticon use what they call an open bass dome which is shaped and closed off a bit different then the typical open dome, but are way more open then what you are describing.
I suppose there might be some very, tiny chance your current domes aren’t sealing and letting sounds bypass them, creating an open dome situation, but it’s not likely unless you are constantly pushing them into your ears.
So you might want to return the Philips hearing aids and try out the Rexton or Jabra bands, or just get your money back.
One won’t stay in my ear canal unless I ram it in and then I am occluded in one ear, so I want to try a smaller one to see if it stays in without.
user990,
Thanks for the info on my domes.
I’ve been thinking of trying the Jabras. But first, does anyone think that using a different fitting algorithm on my 9050s would be worth a try? After an initial test period, my old 9010s were reprogrammed using the Philips proprietary “Fit4Speech” protocol, whereas my current 9050s are using the standard NAL-NL2. The 9010s actually seemed to have a “crisper” sound.
Jack.
These hearing aids have over 20 frequency bands, at three loudness inputs that can be adjusted. So there a lot of adjustments that can be done to make them sound better.
The issues are how much time is the Costco HCP or any audiologist going to spend on adjusting your hearing aids, your ability to describe the issue, and the HCP’s ability to understand and make the proper adjustments.
It would probably help if you can bring a set of voices that you can listen to while your Costco HCP is adjusting your hearing aids.
I would not be surprised if most folks are wearing hearing aids that are not dialed in.
Remember, you do have some frequency adjustment in the Hearlink app.
Thanks, this is also a potentially great tool for CI rehabilitation!
Yes different fitting formulas will sound very different.
I tried NAL 2 with both Phonak and Oticon and couldn’t hear as well compared to DSL fitting formula for my Oticon Xceed and I gave up on Phonak as I’m now an Oticon fan.
It’s well known in the industry, simply not enough time can possibly be spent with every single client unfortunately.
I believe that Oticon Genie 2 re-prescribe the gains after you change the fittings to ALL programs together. It’s not like you can say I want to prescribe the open domes for program 1, then closed domes for program 2, custom molds for program 3, etc. You only get to choose 1 fitting option, and when you say yes to let it re-prescribe your gains to the new fitting, it does it to all 4 programs based on that new fitting only.
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That’s the correct answer as Genie2 only allows a single fitting in the Selection Screen Under Acoustics:
That setting cannot be changed in the Program Manager.
@Bimodal_user it’s a cool concept, though!
