Best RIC Hearing Aids for over-the-ear headphone wearers?

Hearing Aids
1

Years ago, I got my first pair of HAs: Starkey Xino i110. They were a RIC model. One great thing, which I didn’t realize at the time, was Starkey’s ability to reduce/eliminate feedback when something got too close to them. For example, if I cupped my ear with my hands, i wouldn’t get any feedback/ringing noise. This also applied to me wearing over-the-ear headphones like my then Bose Q25 headphones.

Fast forward, I’ve switched to the Oticon OPN 3 with custom molded inserts (I don’t know the technical term for them, sorry) and generally love the HAs.

The bluetooth connectivity and MFi (made for iPhone) integration is great. However, a huge pain is the feedback control isn’t like the Starkey. If i cup my ear with my hand, or lie on a pillow, i’ll get ringing. Not too bad for those things, since I can remove them before I lie down, or just avoid cupping my ear with my hand :slight_smile:

However, I wear over-the-ear headphones a lot while I"m at work and commuting. I prefer to keep my HAs in since the music just sounds better. Even more so, if i’m on the train/subway/bus, I can take my headphones off and hear the announcements clearly since I still have my HAs in. With the Opticon OPNs, i get a huge amount of feedback ringing noise while I have my HAs in, so I can’t wear them.

This got me thinking about whether there are any good HAs that have great feedback control that both have bluetooth connectivity and RIC.

I still want amazing HAs for general use, and don’t want to pick subpar HAs just because they work with headphones. However if I can find amazing HAs that also work with headphones, then I’m sold.

2

So I have yet to try this out but I’ve read here on the forum that the Phonak Marvels do work with over the ear headphones like the Bose QC35. I have those headphones but I haven’t yet tried them because the Marvels work great in streaming from my iPhone. I will try them when I get home next Wednesday and let you know how they perform.

3

Another option to try would be to play the music through your iPhone.

4

I guess this thread is really asking the reverse question, “If I like to use over-the-ear headphones, what HA’s should I get that would work well with them?” But a recent thread started by Mark Chambers has some great info on user experiences and preferences for various types of headphones with HA’s. Given the relative expense and relative effort involved, it might be easier and cheaper to find the HA’s that work best overall for you and then get the headphones that work best for those HA’s. My own limited experience is that my ReSound Quattro’s work great with my noise-cancelling Microsoft Surface Headphones - hardly ever any feedback with or without the headphones for my Quattro’s but if I have the HA volume cranked up too much, particularly if I’ve adjusted my settings to greatly increase the treble, it is possible to get a small amount of annoying feedback, particularly if I brush the earcups against something, especially in a dry, “staticky” situation in the winter when wearing a wool scarf, etc. So maybe the difference the OP found with feedback with different HA’s is more the way the wearer or the audi had adjusted some settings? Did the same audi fit both the Starkey’s and the Oticon’s?

5

@bobbydigital16 what type dome are you using? I’ve found the Widex Evoke 440s to be terrific for music however you want it presented but they are really excellent with circumaural headphones. HOWEVER domes are very important. I use a closed dome on the left side which has a tendency to loosen up and vent. There is a sweet spot with them where they are closed but they won’t stay there and I have molds coming in a couple of weeks. Anyway if I wear the headphones and the left dome is venting I get some very irritating feedback. When the domes are positioned correctly and provide the seal they are meant to provide the headphones are awesome.

Said that to say that the problem may not be the hearing aid but the amount of sound your domes allow to escape. Under normal usage there may be no problem but placing the headphone ear cup close to the aid with an open fitting can be a real problem for feedback

1 Like
6

I’m using custom molds I think they are called? They took an impression.

See this photo:

image
18A66BBC-46B5-4C50-B939-78603FFE8622.jpeg3024×3024 1.64 MB

7

I can’t tell if that’s vented or closed. I do know venting can be a problem with headphones and based on your audiogram it appears you might be fitted with more open couplers. Perhaps someone wearing OPNs can comment. @Volusiano would be one who is pretty sharp on them.

8

I’m picky with my headphones since I adore noise cancellation. I used to use Bose QC35II and just got the new Sony WH-1000XM3. I also tried the surface headphones but these sony’s Are better in almost every way that matters to me (comfort, sound quality, noise cancellation).

Good to know about the Resound as they are my top choice. I like the fact that Resound is known to have a great companion app to tune settings and was one of the first to have MFi HAs, so it’s had time to mature.

My Oticon OPNs app is basically neutered with few feature (basically switching programs) and buggy. First few firmware updates had bugs with clicking sounds with streaming and finally got fixed for me after 8 months of ownership.

The other HAs I’m looking at are the Phonak Marvel due to the feature list but being so new I want to see reviews pan out.

In terms of fitment, they were different audiologists. Truth be told I don’t love my
Existing Audi but went to them because they are at a big hospital in seattle (Virginia mason) as my previous audi (small private practice) basically changed ownership due to my Audi retiring. I realized the bad thing with small practices is you can easily lose support from personnel changes unlike a hospital which will never go out of business.

I was about to post a new thread asking for audi recommendations in seattle to find an Audi that is great with newer tech in HAs. I’ve found many audis are so lost when I talk about streaming and pairing HAs to my phone.

9

You might look at the Evoke 440. Terrific with music. Fabulous app which has been flawless for me and, unique to the Evoke, allows you to tune the sound to your personal preferences and save the program.

I don’t usually make recommendations but when someone expresses the importance of music I’ll suggest that the Widex Evoke is worth a try.

1 Like
10

How do these stack up in the lineup against the Widex Beyond 440? I trialed the beyond 440 when I was trialing the Oticon opns and preceded the sound of the Oticon for general everyday wearing but admittedly did not place enough importance at the time of: music, headphone wearing and customizing sound profiles myself through the companion app.

11

I haven’t worn the Beyond so I can’t comment. The Evoke is their latest technology with added features (SoundSense Learn for one) but I don’t know if the sound has been modified. Widex is known for the performance with music and are very popular with musicians.

I wore the Oticon Alta2 Pros for the last three years and the Evoke are superior to them in every respect but they really stand out with music. the Alta2 was thin, lacked fullness and warmth and was very weak on the bottom end. There is world of difference with the Evoke. Link to my write up below.

https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/the-evoke-440s-are-here

1 Like
12

Thanks! Also appreciate the link to your review. I read through the entire thread.

When you get your custom molds, I’d be interested to hear whether you get feedback noise when wearing over the ear headphones.

13

There won’t be any. As I said if I take care to make sure the domes are seated in the right spot there is no feedback. The problem is they won’t stay put.

15

What HAs did you have immediately before the Evoke?

16

As stated in the post with the link I’ve worn Oticon’s then top of the line Alta2 Pro for the past three years.

17

I have to agree from all the headphone reviews that in the noise-cancelling headphone department, the Sony 1000mx3’s seem to run away with the top honors for now. Since I mostly listen to “talk show” podcasts, not streamed music much at all, I opted for the Surface Headphones because of the dial-controls and the option to use either Cortana (or another assistant) directly through my smartphone-I’m a big Cortana user on all my Windows PC’s and tablets for reminders, timers, and calendar events. The other thing that the Sony got relatively low marks on was connectivity to multiple devices (perhaps they’re the Marvels of noise-cancelling headphones? - I can easily pair my Surface Headphones with 5 or 6 devices, turn on or off which devices are allowed to connect, etc., and unlike using the ReSound Phone Clip+ for streaming directly to my HA’s, Surface Headphones play nicely with having a simultaneous connection of my Galaxy Note 8 phone to my Galaxy Gear S3 Frontier smartwatch whereas the ReSound PC+ and the watch require more carefully tuning in my phone Bluetooth settings as to what device is used for what audio format (phone, media, etc.). So I guess that’s something to look out for with your Sony headphones is how well they play with your other phone Bluetooth slave devices and with MFI. But since you seem to be an iPhone user, maybe that’s a whole different story and much better worked out than for Android?

Don’t know where Sony’s stand on the possibility of firmware upgrades but the Surface Headphones look for a potential upgrade every time the PC or phone app is launched so the optimists believe that Microsoft has the potential to improve both noise-cancellation and battery life by making changes in the firmware as time goes by as the device seems to have been announced (and issued?) when not quite fully ready for prime time. The battery life could be a lot better if the headphones were not always listening for “Hey, Cortana” when in Bluetooth mode - but since I never use them for more than 1 to 2 hours a day, the 15-hour battery life is not a problem for me and I get 2 hours of use out of a 10 minute charge.

18

Can’t comment on “best” but my Resounds work fine with my Aviation headsets. When I was using the open domes I had a bit of a feedback issue (I just turned off the aids and turned up the volume on the headsets) but that went away when I switched to closed domes.

2 Likes
19

I only use headphones for music in (mostly) or on the porch of our rural home so I don’t need or want ANC. The Beyerdynamic Amiron are incredible.

20

I had a Starkey Destiny CIC in 2009 and it also had great feedback control. I could not make it feedback.

My Phonaks have great feedback control. I can’t make them feedback. The Phonak Marvels connect but connect to only one device at a time. If you are fine with that then they might be an option. I use the Phonak B90 RIC hearing aids from Costco with the Phonak Compilot 2 device for connectivity, because i want to connect to multiple devices at a time. Connectivity is fabulous but you do have to wear it around your neck. I wear mine under my shirt and use an external Mic clipped to my collar, so I never have to pull out the Compilot 2. I connect to cell phone, office phone, and laptop or tablet at one time so I can stream music from the tablet and answer whichever phone rings. Also have a tv transmitter and a generic Bluetooth transmitter.

The Resounds I had were pretty good on feedback. The Signia/Rexton I trialed were much better than in the past, but still just barely a little ringing if I swiped my ear.