Hello, I’m new to this world. I lost my hearing in the right ear and a little bit in my left ear. Reasons unknown. Long story short I need hearing aids. Now, keep in mind I’m from East Europe. My monthly salary is around 500 USD. I’m very depressed since I’ve seen hearing aids costs like thousands. I don’t know how I will reach for that amount of money to fix at least my right ear. However, my problems is what should I buy? As I said the money are a problem and I want a device I can control myself at professional level. I downloaded Phonak Target software. They say is not free, however I play with it just moments ago. I don’t know if is trial or cannot be used (like writing settings on hearing aids). So what I want is a device that I can control myself flowlessly. I know I will need to buy more things like cables or whatever they need to get connected to computer software. I have a background in audio engineering so all those things I see in that software are not totally new things for me. I read also a lot and I’m improving. So long story short is. What hearing aids and what tools offer me this total freedom? Keep in mind those hearing aids are costing like 1/5 value of what I own maybe in this life and I don’t want to fail. Also please keep in mind I’m from Europe, not USA. We don’t have those Costco or Philips or whatever OTC’s I’ve read about in this forum. Also I don’t want OTC. I want a professional grade thing that can be tweaked at home. Why? Well because my hearing loss is fluctuating and the visits to the audiologists are not cheap. I’m already in big debts with all MRI scans and things I did and tried for nothing. Just to be informed I need to sale a kidney to hear again. I’m also close to lose my job and as you may imagine I’m very scared and depressed. I retired myself socially and I avoid people. Is so hard. Thank you.
Do you use eBay? Can you?
Buying used hearing aids and the equipment to program them can be relatively easy on eBay.
We have a DIY section here in this forum that has people who can help you getting started. Phonak was my choice for doing this many years ago.
Try to learn exactly what you need for your hearing loss before buying anything. That way you are not wasting money.
Good luck
Yes as @Raudrive says, eBay and hardware (go Noahlink wireless programming device as it’s the industry standard) your target software in not a trial as none of the manufacturers software is trial, fully functional, post your audogram and that will help everyone offer advice.
sure I can use ebay. if I’m not buying from USA I have no taxes. I already looked for some second hand options. However the one I can afford are old. Like from 2013 or something. So you say Phonak is the way to go? I was also thinking at Sigina but I can’t find their sofware. My plan now is to get the best second hand or refurbished hearing aid I can afford for the very bad ear and the interface to program it.
Slow down, don’t make buying mistakes.
As mentioned post your audiogram so we can help you help yourself.
Be patient for good deals and get to know the seller before paying.
Understand what you need before buying. @tenkan is a great help.
You are going to need a Noahlink Wireless device for the programming (~$130).
I’ve seen Phonak Paradise can be found @eBay for around $375
If you are going with Signia (the SW is available), you may find a better deal in eBay if you search for the Rexton Bi-Core, which is a rebadged Signia (I’ve seen them for about $270).
I’m not recommending these devices (as @tenkan said, please post your audiogram). This is to give you an idea of the $$$ involved. Shipping, taxes, etc can add to the bill.
If you are looking at devices that are old (non-bluetooth), you will need other programming device/cables - I don’t recommend this option.
Yes agree with @Raudrive again on this, I wouldn’t go for anything quite that old, Phonak are as good as any others, @OcramSagev has offered pretty good advice as well, so yeah just take a little time to sort through what’s available depending on your hearing loss etc, plenty of us here to help you along, no rush ; )
Thank you everybody. I will upload my audiogram. I think is around this area of hearing loss. Is quite old. I had a period when it went better and the results were fluctuating. I will make another one. That’s why I want full control, because this losses are changing from time to time. However a most likely scenario is the audiogram below. What kind of hearing aids should I get? Thanks.
Hello, is that really Rexton same as Sigina? Well that’s cool because they are cheaper. Can I tweak them at home with Noahlink Wireless? They use the same software as Phonak? Or I need to get the Sigina one? Or a specific Rexton one? See? That’s really confusing for me right now. I’m totally new in this world and the learning curve is steep. Where I can download the software for Rexton? As I said I’m inclined to any good reliable hearing aid that is enough for my hearing loss right now but I want tweaking. I will attach my audiogram again in here. However since then I do think is much worse now. I’m hearing less. Thanks.
Yes Rexton are exactly the same as the Signia models, and yes much cheaper from Costco, no you can not use Phonak target software, that’s for Phonak models, so you’ll need the Rexton flavoured Connexx software and yes the Noahlink wireless programming device works in them.
Yeah you got a reverse slope loss, mostly on the left ear, yeah I’d think it wouldn’t be hard to get this sorted, just remember to read the user guides and you can set up demo simulation mode in the software to see how things work, it’s all easy enough.
If you have time and willing to spend some on this, go for DIY, it is not sorcery. Investing in a Noah wireless is a good idea. Target self-updates, so any version is good.
New HAs in Europe are cheapest in France, or you can mail-order from places like The Netherlands, but both options will set you back some 3000 Euro/pair. eBay is a good alternative.
You upload your audiogram, the software does some tests and automatically comes up with an initial configuration. I then tweaked those curves “by hand” evaluating the result listening to a talk radio station over my PC speakers, optimizing speech understanding. The end result was quite a bit different from what the software (and an audiologist) would come up with.
Hello again. I found a Noahlink Wireless 2 on alli express. I suppose is a Chinese clone? Or is the right thing to buy? The drivers are compatible? Any experience with this product? From all the studies I made I decided to stick with Rexton BiCore R312 (yeah with batteries). Now let’s see which one because they come in different flavors depending on your hearing loss. In two days I have again appointment at autiogram. I’m very scared since testing myself at home with Mimi in just few days I went from 85% hearing to 53% hearing. Is getting worse and worse. 
I know what you people would say: is an emergeny you should go and get treatment from ENT doctor. Believe me is not possible. I went through this since March. I lost my right ear, the audiogram you see is from then. After some steroids I managed to recover some, then lost again some, in the last two weeks started to hear tinitus in my right ear, and went worse and worse and today I see is terrible. So any opinion on the Rexton Bi Core R312 40? 40 has some thing I may need after 30 like more channels.
Yeah sure the Noahlink wireless from AliExpress is fine lots of positive users from there, the disposal battery is a good choice I prefer them over the rechargeable, the Rexton 40 is 24 channels, there’s 5 models in the range from 20 up to 80, so the model number has nothing to do with how many channels but what level of features, the 40 is a good choice, premium model 80 is the only one Costco sells, so all comes down to price for you.
Before buying anything I would encourage you to explore the DIY section of the forum and obtain the software. That won’t cost you anything. Then, once you have a better idea of what would be involved consider buying hearing aids and a NoahLink Wireless.
I bought my Noahlink from Ali Express , no issues.
If you are going for an older model of the Rexton at eBay , buy the higher technology model . I’ve found that the price difference between the lower and the higher technology models in eBay is usually small.
I agree with @tenkan : if you can , go for the non-rechargeable battery model. That way you will have peace of mind that you won’t have battery problems with the used device.
Here is an example of a bi-core premium @eBay for $300. eBay offers a 1yr warranty for $35
I got the software for both Rexton and Phonak HA’s. My background is sound engineering. Before hearing problem I worked in musical production so it didn’t looked very weird too me. Sure there are new things I need to understand, I’m not an audiologist, but I do understand advanced notions of sound physics. My only problem now are the financials and the fact that my hearing loss is not stable. I lost like 12 dB in few days. Since I first posted in here (like 2 days ago I think) is worse! And the tinnitus is killing me.
There’s a seller on ebay right now with a bunch of used airlink 2’s for $45, which function as noahlinks with firmware update. Looks like an e-recycle outfit and says they’re untested, but the one I just recieved seems to work fine and was already on latest firmware.
Good find, it’s what I’ve used for a long time now as well.
I bought from there, no issues:
Just ordered one. Good call, thanks!
WH