I have a pair of Legend 17’s. They are 7 years old and I’ve always had a problem with the left one. It acts like the microphones on the left one does not pick up ambient sound. However, If I touch the case of the aid while wearing it, I hear that scratching noise loud and clear. Streaming works fine but it’s not picking up ambient sounds, hence, no amplifying going on. I hear the keyboard sounds fine as I’m typing this. The right one works fine. The Beltone dealer in my city retired and there is no other so I sent the aids to beltone in Chicago for repair and I still have the issue. I’m about to the point of throwing these things out the window and going to Costco. Anyone have any idea why my left unit would do this? I’ve cleaned them, replaced the wax filter and all normal maintenance. Very frustrating. They cost me $6K seven years ago. Any help much appreciated.
This is most likely the microphone, or at least the mic filter (inside the housing) but you say you had them looked at by Beltone, so strange they didn’t pick anything up, did they state that they are working as they should, or did they repair anything?
Go do it, you won’t regret it, Jabra would be the one to go for because your already used to the ReSound/ Beltone way, those 7 year old models are at the end it seems, plus you’ve had your money’s worth over that time, now at Costco you only pay less then a 1/3rd of the original cost.
As far as old time trouble shooting, if the aid sound dull or weak but if you rub the case it is loud, it is a microphone problem. There use to be (not sure with current product) a wire mesh screen over the mic. If you take a really sharp needle and put a small hole in the screen, things will start sounding much better. If it does not help and you send it in for repair, the chances are about 90 % in your favor the hearing aid office will not notice the small hole in the mic screen. Basically you have nothing to lose by trying it. But skin oil on the mic screen has always been a problem.