Are Hearing Aids a Commodity?

Hearing Aids
#15

I will! I will! I go in on Tues for hearing test and was told that the Oticon Intent trial pair will be configured that day, so I’d walk out with them. Granted, this will be a new paradigm for my hearing, so I hope I have patience and at least have a couple follow-ups to get them to sound optimal.

But I’m like INSTANT with my hearing. Usually within a couple min, it’s thumbs-UP or thumbs-DOWN. I can even tell when the shape of a rubber dome has been changed on my aids with eyes closed. It’s nuanced, but I’ll notice it.

Will post my trial in an Oticon user thread or start a new one. It could be a slam-dunk … or it could be GARBAGE! A lot depends on the person fitting these. Plus I have a large investment in Phonak mics and the redundant pairs of Lumity Life aids.

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#16

From my experience you are going to more than likely notice a huge difference in sound. How that effects you i can’t say. For me coming from Oticon when I tried the Phonak aids I thought they were very harsh sounding, and also I felt like i had ear blinders as I could only hear in front of me. I love my surround sound.

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#17

If you decide to keep them, look for a Phonak neck loop. Because the Oticons will still have telecoil you will still be able to use your Roger devices! I have seen some pretty reasonable on Ebay recently.

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#18

Thanks for your insights and advice, Gents!

cvkemp: I’m guessing that I’ll initially HATE the sound - just as I always have with every brand of aid ever since I’ve bought them. It’s only with the patience of the audi that I get the sound quality and programs set up to be near perfect. Will this new audi have that? I’m the ultimate test: determined, SUPER experienced, articulate and push back if I don’t like something.

raylock1: I also read (was it you who posted?) that the Phonak Roger mics work with Oticon EduMic. I just need someone to walk me through the yada yada.

#19

Perhaps they are a commodity. Maybe there isn’t enough competition to see real improvement

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#20

I disagree I have seen lots of improvements over my life time. My uncle woreva body hearing aid in the 1960s, and i have seen lots of improvements just in the last 20 years. But hearing aids can never replace the hearing we have lost. But maybe the medical community will find a way to regenerate the ear itself.

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#21

Back. My issue has been setup. That’s not the manufacture‘s fault. It was my fault that I stayed with an incompetent care provider. I should have changed much sooner

Perhaps I treated my hearing aids as commodities.

#22

I believe that will work, but you will need to get a Roger X to plug into the EduMic. That may be the more expensive way.

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#23

Hearing aids don’t really fit the definition of a “commodity” IMHO, but regardless, as a wearer for 22+ years, I would not recommend interchanging 2 different brands, for reasons that others have already mentioned. But if you want to try it, go for it! I do think, especially with rechargeables,it’s a good idea to have a backup pair if it fits in your budget. I personally wear Phonak L-90s and have their P-90s as backups.

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#24

I keep coming back.

I think the hearing aid manufacturers’ customer is the care provider.

As a user I don’t have a clue what to buy.

In effect it’s like multi level marketing. Inform the supplier. Influence them. Sell more product

Then the magic happens.

It’s the capable suppliers who change hearing aids by setting them up with skill.

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#25

To me hearing aids is a have to have just like glasses and any prescription drugs.

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#26

Totally agree with you on the redundant rechargeable backups! I need TWO pairs in service if I have to hear at all more than 17 hrs a day. And that does happen from time to time…

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#27

The definition of a commodity in the present context:

  1. A product or service that is indistinguishable from ones manufactured or provided by competing companies and that therefore sells primarily on the basis of price rather than quality or style.

The answer to your question is… no. Not even close.

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#28

@Torbill Not what I meant by commodity, but I meant a product that is widely available but at varying degrees of performance from manufacturer to manufacturer, and isn’t a luxury product.

In a nutshell, a product that is accessible to most, but with varying performances, if that makes sense.

Not a commodity in sense of trading …

#29

I see. For my part, when I saw the title it took my thoughts to things like soybean futures and Medigap plans, things that are essentially the same in function, features, quality, availability etc and are only distinguished by price. HA have become a market of rapidly evolving, high tech products that want to distinguish themselves by value-add to the customer.

This topic has made me think about the evolution of technology in this marketplace. As I think back to when I first started w/HAs, a decade+ ago, it seems as though they were much more like commodities back then than they are today. In other words the explosion of technology has provided lots of new ways that a participant in this market can distinguish themself from other products. Back then as I recall, advanced connectivity and things like streaming were just getting going and most users on the forum didn’t understand and didn’t want to deal with the newness of it all because they had yet to see the value and mostly wanted better speech in noise or whatever. Now there is this richness of function and choice, and discussion on the forum goes every which way, users being light-years more interested in the various distinguishing features. This is where I was coming from.

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#30

@Torbill

I think I would have had more success if the dispensing audi had shared information with me.
Target has two reports. The hearing specialist I see provides:

  • Target User Report
  • Target Pro Report

It tells me the features that are activated. It tells me the settings.

The first time he set my hearing aids up he said that the dispensing audi had made two mistakes.

  • Wrong domes specified (type and size)
  • Right hearing aid could not communicate with the left hearing aid. (Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R’s) This was a critical flaw.
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#31

Read a book where the author said that it cost $100 to make our hearing aids. Forget the title/author’s name.

Trouble is HA’s are sold like a $100 commodity.
They should be sold like a capable medical device that restores an essential sense we all need.

I would volunteer to be part of a focus group. I’d love to help audiologists and hearing aid manufacturers. @Phonak and @Michael_Phonak I’d love to help.

#32

Hello @DaveL not sure what you reference to when saying “sold like a 100$ commodity”.

In another threat I declared that I will not comment on this kind of topic, but hey, I make an exception and I drop my two cents :slight_smile:

It is a difficult field I must admit from enduser perspective. If you find yourself in a situation where the sales process looks like commodity: change the point of sales :thinking:

A serious hearing care specialist would never ever sell a real hearing aid like a commodity. They will take care about you as a person and about your needs for better hearing. They will spend a lot of time with you to select and adjust the devices to the max so you can profit the most. On device side ridiculous amount of money is invested when developing real hearing aids, beside production cost, cost for service & repair, etc., so you may ignore these opinions of “100$”, it completely forgets the medical environment we operate in.

Real hearing care should not be confused with devices that claim to be a hearing aid and you can buy them anywhere online for low bugdget.

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Oticon Intent 1 Short 2-week Trial
#33

Thank you for your response.

My dispensing audiologist helped when we shook hands and parted.

Six months later my hearing aids have been set up by someone else. It’s been two years of terrible stress. I’m part way there.

This forum is a magical place. There are people with wonderful experience who have contributed a lot.

I have had 3 pair of Phonak RIC hearing aids.

My Paradise P90R were not set up properly. There were several reasons.

Thanks for responding. I appreciate it.
David

#34

Back to the original spirit of the question- if I understood it right.

When I was using them, I often felt that if the Apple Airpod Pro 2 were beefed up in the hearing assistance department they would have made a great adjunct to my hearing aids.

Hearing buds for when you’re spending more time streaming than interacting with people, at the beach, in situations where you’re more likely to lose them, and in environments where good noise cancellation is what you want. Also for when you just want a change for a while. Hearing aids for the rest of the time.

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