Best Hearing Aid Manufacturer?

Hearing Aids
#111

if you are considering pairing those up with the SurfLink and remote be sure you try before you buy. the very annoying deal with the remote is it has to be centered at arms lenght and maybe it will change both ears. if not and you try again one ear will be a step ahead of the other. then you need to switch the remote to do just one or hit the home key several times. your best best is to just get in the habit of doing one then the other. there will be a delay before the ears sync with the surflink and unless you are looking directly at it it won’t sync with both and then around the block you go again.

good luck

what was your final recap of the Phonak Nadia S CRT’s that you were trying?

#112

I don’t have a Surflink or any remote to try with the Wi 110’s.

My initial comparison is that the Wi 100’s compare equivalently to the Naida CRTs, but I cut the initial fitting short as it was approaching 2 hours and I sensed I was messing up their appointment schedule for the rest of the day (we had to address some issues with the Phonaks first which took some time). They are certainly better than the Oticon Agil Pros.

So I think the volume was set to loud on the Wi 110’s (even though they were set to target level 1).

Also the domes don’t have any holes in them and my ears feel occluded, but I did not want to just change them to ones with holes as we briefly tried those and there was feedback and it would have meant hooking them back up and running the feedback manager again and I did not want to take the time.

I still have the CRTs and will be doing some more trialing now that some issues have been further addressed. And I will be doing some A - B comparisons.

So far I have only used the Wi 110’s in my car and my office which are very quiet. My external hard drive fan is much louder with the Wi 110’s but sound more like my brain thinks it should - more of a whoosh than a sssssssh.

My voice sounds like I am shouting but others say I am talking in a normal level so I think this is a volume control or dome without holes issue.

I will be going out to dinner with my wife probably this weekend to try a restaurant setting and will try out the TV and some music tonight.

A decision between the Naidas and the Agil Pros was a no brainer. I think picking between the Naidas and the Wi 110’s will be more difficult and will require more extensive comparisons in noisier environments. I am glad i followed ZCT’s advice and am trying the Wi 110’s.

#113

I have to say, with those audiogram readings you MUST have an open fit bud on these aids or they will not perform correctly.

Switching buds from closed to open, actually requires some electronic adjustments so the hearing aids know what’s going on, and you want to run the feedback manager again, but all that should be done in but a few minutes.

As for fan and other noises, you can always bump the environmental noise control up some, and with the right dome on, you’ll do better anyway.

I can’t imagine why they opted for a closed fitting with only a 10dB loss in the lows. That’s what is messing your voice up, and some other sounds too.

#114

I’m also happy when people send me Omega watches, just FYI :rolleyes:

#115

I agree that your buds being switched should eliminate the issue of your voice.

As far as the extrernal hard drive fan noise, I’ll get on my soapbox for a brief moment. Unless it is so loud to you that it interferes with understanding speech or other noises, you probably don’t need it adjusted for. The fact that it sounds more natural to you is a good indicator, obviously. My point here is that, I hear the fans of some of my electronics and other surrounding noises. I don’t think we need to eliminate these environmental noises unless they are interfering with speech understanding, are annoying to the patient, or sound unnatural. If our goal is to get you hearing as normal as possible given your loss, then hearing some environmental noises is natural. Obviously if it is troublesome, then your audi can adjust for it at your next appt.

Good luck!

dr.amy

#116

I am not sure if by buds you mean the little black (silicone, I think) domes that fit on the receiver, or something else.

I do have a pair of them that have holes in them and may try them but when I briefly tried them in the audis offcie and put my hands on my ears I got feedback. (I have found that part of the problem with feeling like my ears are blocked is that I think I am putting the dome/receiver too far in my canal which makes an iar tight seal.)

I just didn’t have time to have the the HAs hooked back up and to have the feedback manager run again and any changes made at this visit. In the interests of time, we just put the domes without holes back in. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

As for the fan noise, as expressed elsewhere my preference is not to chang the HAs, but rather to change my environment to reposition (or otherwise quiet down) things that make noise that may become annoying. I was merely commenting on the difference between the Phonaks and the Starkeys. I also want to give my brain some time to adjust to hearing a lot fo new noises.

BTW: I swung by Walmart and they don’t carry Omegas. Will a Timex do?

#117

Yes, that’s what I mean by buds. You should not just change between the ones with holes and the ones without holes by yourself. The software needs to be told which you have on, and then aids then calibrated to that correctly along with proper feedback cancellation initialization. Again, this is minutes not hours, so it’s no biggie. And with your loss, you shouldn’t really have to change for years once it is set right.

Dr. Amy is right on the environmental noises. You are supposed to hear them, and when you first start wearing aids it is totally okay to hear them. Right now I hear the A/C in my hotel suite, my fridge, and the fan on my laptop, and some other really faint noise. All these sounds would be vastly quieter for someone with your hearing condition, and putting hearing aids in would make them all a lot more pronounced. But just like I am doing, I wasn’t really much aware of any of these sounds until I stopped and thought about what was going on in the room I am in. The brain automatically filters extraneous noise all the time, but when you first put in hearing aids it makes the sounds ‘abnormal’ to you, and the brain kind of has to relearn what stuff sounds like again so it can learn how to ignore it.

As for the Timex, I’ll pass. Thanks though :wink:

#118

I was more explaining this for the readers of the post, to affirm why your strategy is helpful. :smiley:

dr.amy

#119

Undocumented immigrants (or visitors), even. :slight_smile:

Canada, so close and yet … so far! The new HAs I want would cost me a 1/3 of my net income. So much for Obamacare.

#120

When I got digital HAs, I was freaked out for about a week. The sound of water dripping from the faucet, the warning beep of a bus on the street, when the window was open. ZOMGWHAT?WHAT? WHATDAT?

I don’t know how you hearing people can stand it! Well, other than a lifetime of tuning out that nonsense with your brain.

#121

For me, it was getting in my car and driving: the key fob banging and clanging against the steering column, bumps, thumps and bangs, etc. I’m pretty sure it’s not that loud in real life, LOL! After a month of that, I went back to my audiologist, who did a bit of tweaking to diminish the impact sounds. Much nicer now!

#122

Just a few questions. I am totally new to this. I have a a light to moderate hearing problem on both ears. I am 68 and this is a typical case of an early stage presbycusis.

I am especially considering buying 2 Widex Clear 330 (FUSION) RIC.

First my most important question. I made searches on this forum but I don’t find so much information on this model and globally on Widex. Any professional or user can specifically comment on Widex?

Widex is a little more expensive than Oticon, Starkey etc… by let’s say 150-200 CDN$. Is this justified or simply related to the pricing policy of the company? That is not critical in my decision making.

Are there notable “sound” differences between companies? My hearing care specialist says that some brands have a more “metallic” sound, some softer sound like for neon tube that can be cool or warm white. Widex would be on the soft sound side… which I would prefer…

Thanks for your advices.

#123

I never trialed the Widex… but, the ‘sound’ differences between a Nadia, Wi and Pure are totally different. Nadia just seemed ‘boring’, the Wi sound ‘sterile’ and the Pure sound ‘smooth’ much more like I would tune a nice radio. AS ALWAYS EVERYONE’S OPINION WILL VARY

#124

I found Phonak to be more mechanical sounding and Oticon to be very natural as if you weren’t wearing HA’s. Just my two cents. A friend of mine had Widex for years and loved them, now he has Starkey and is sorry he didn’t stick with Widex.

#125

Try the hearing aids recommended by the professional you trust and who is an expert in adjusting them. With your loss, any of the major brands would probably work (subject to a trial period).

You will be offered a trial period and you can sometimes negotiate for a longer trial (ask for 90 instead of 30, settle on 60 or 75 days). Remember, it is not just about buying a product and going on your way. There could be several adjustment sessions needed to get everything dialed in just right. If the adjustments are not progressing toward getting everything right and you are not getting more and more confidence that everything can be handled by adjustments, you can return those at the end of the trial and try another brand.

When I first got my Resounds I thought they sounded a little tinny and artificial compared to the Rexton (Siemens) aids I tried. But after a couple of weeks I could not really identify that tinniness, and after a couple of months they could not have sounded any more natural.

In other words, your brain makes some major adjustments over the first few months.

Here is an article about getting used to new hearing aids. The only thing I disagree with, in the article, is that hearing aids do let me hear much better in noise than before, and a telecoil is not absolutely required. Most new, small, RIC style hearing aids do not have a telecoil.
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/hearingaidfriends.htm

#126

Thanks a lot, Don. That is a VERY interesting Web site for a beginner like me.

#127

I totally agree on the option of trialling them with at least 2 visits back to your audiologist included in the price. It is in his/her vested interest to ensure they adjust the HAs, before the trial runs out, until you are satisfied.

Good luck

Kevin

#128

Just a moment to thank all the Audi’s, especially ZCT, for the helpful and well thought-out replies we receive on this forum. And the Admins as well!

Back to manufacturers… as per my sig, some years ago I was underwhelmed by Unitron and I wonder if they have upped their game at all. And also if their sonic quality has improved? The algorithms were flawed and annoying (disappearing dial tone!).

I have Sonic’s and the audio quality is good, but I need new aids. It appears to me that Sonic has been in a dry spell for some years, at least up to maybe 2010, have they also caught up?

My new aids will need to be more powerful so I will probably move from ITE to RIC. Are the streaming features available today considered ready for prime time?

#129

Did you buy it?
I am picking mine up next week, and reading everything on this forum.

#130

Just so you know, ZCT left us some months back due to harassment from some people on this form.

I agree that he was one of the most helpful people here. When I first asked for help here last year, he was the only one to take an active interest in helping me.

BTW, dr.amy, another helpful professional appears to have left too. It is difficult to tell whether she will be back. In one of her later posts, she mentioned she had just started her own business. Perhaps her time is occupied with that.