Yes. This is a problem. We found the adjustment slider that attenuated the crossing sounds so they are no longer blasting in good ear. But we haven’t figured out how to defeat the purposeful attenuation of the microphone in the good ear itself. So the sound in the bad is amplified as well as the crossing sound but the good ear sounds are attenuated. Since we use an open dome in good ear sounds do bypass the HA so it’s not all bad. Testing Now.
The mic attenuation for the good ear should be under the program configuration, “mic input” under the manual phone program. It usually defaults to -6 dB and you want to set it to 0. Unitrons configuration menus are a bit clunky to naviagte.
Thanks. The Unitron is a possibility with limitations. The cvs fitter is getting Resound in shortly and wants to try those. I also made appt at costco to try Phonak Brio 3. iI’ve installed the Unitron, Resound, and Phonak fitting programs on my pc to see what adjustment flexibility each has.
I’ve noticed that none of the programs match the starting amplification to the audiogram exactly…even with experienced user setting and 100% selected. And none of the fitters adjusted this to start. Why?
I’m trying to figure out how each program can adjust each ear volume and also the crossover volume in the Acoustic Phone program. I’m also trying to see if I can add speech in restaurant noise reduction while in the Acoustic Program.
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What exactly do you mean by this?
I noticed in all the fitting programs that the initial gain settings for the devices does not match the target curves calculated by the program, they all are somewhat lower and uneven…when the 100% experienced user is selected. It is easy to adjust all the frequencies to match the target curve before starting a fitting session…but none of the Fitters I went to did this at the start of our session. They just left the setting the way it was started and began asking me how it sounded, etc. Probably doesn’t make much of a difference if everything is going to be experiential, but why would the programs even do this? Seems like it would be better to start scientifically, and perform real ear measurements to validate that these target settings were indeed being delivered. After a little time, a few minutes even, to get used to the sound before then making fine tuning adjustments. (Unless something was amiss, like extremely loud sounds, etc.)
My experience doesn’t quite line up with yours. Don’t know your background so apologies if assume too much or too little. One step in fitting is to pick a fitting algorithm. Most manufacturers default to their own algorithm, which tends to emphasize comfort and acceptance over speech understanding. The established algorithms are NAL-NL2 and DSL 5. DSL 5 tends to be used in pediatrics and NAL-NL2 tends to be used with adults. These have more of an emphasis on speech understanding thatn manufacturer’s algorithm, but are less easily tolerated initially. The software I’ve used the most (Connexx) matches the algorithm targets on the curves I look at. Of course that doesn’t mean that it “really” matches them. That’s where REM comes in. Hope this helps. If not, can you send an image of what you’re talking about?
Didn’t @Um_bongo explain they don’t use db but a db spl or such? Only recall bits of that conversation so I won’t comment further.
Audiogram would use dB (hl). Any measurement of gain would use dB(spl).
I knew I remembered something. 
So I now have found this:
What is the difference between dB SPL and dB SL?
Difference between dB SPL and dB SL . There are several types of dB… dB SPL are decibels measuring sound pressure levels. There is an accepted reference point of 0 dB SPL which equals 20 micropascals = 2 Ã 10 -5 pascals… dB SL are decibels measuring a signal relative to an individuals auditory threshold. For example, if a person’s minimum threshold is 30 dB HL (yet another type of decibel measuring how much worse a person’s hearing is based on a referential dB level) and a signal is at 40 dB HL, the sensation level of this signal to this individual is 10 db SL (40 dB - 30 dB = 10 dB SL).
A friend of mine just got the Costco KS8 and he can make adjustments with his iPhoneX. We were able to adjust the individual ear volumes and ALSO the Mic volume for the crossing sound when in the XPhone Mode. I nearly blew his head off when I snapped my fingers in the phone ear before he reduced the crossing mic volume from the default. I’m impressed because it worked and because he could adjust it rather than having to go back to the Fitter to do so. I’ll be checking into these at my Costco appointment. Not sure if my Android phone will be able to make the adjustments. I’m not interested in streaming just adjustments.
The Android app adjusts using frequencies above human hearing. Works fine for adjustments.
Oticon is still good for anyone if they’re around like me or Mom too if your reverse slope ends at 95-100 when it fluctuate
I had my fitting appt at Costco today. Interestingly in the last couple of months I’ve tried 3 other top of the line hearing aids from different AUds or Fitters. All four used my Doctors audiogram in setting up the various manufacturers software. And all four including today had me try the hearing aids with the factory settings before attempting to make any “how does this sound” adjustments. In all the demos before today I was unable to figure out speech in my Profound Loss ear. Even with adjustments they didn’t work well. Today the Kirkland KS8 demo was different. As soon as I put them in my ears I could hear the fitters words clearly … Even when I covered my good ear. And the sound seemed very natural except for my own voice which we then adjusted a bit. I was amazed and very impressed, shocked really, as I was expecting more of the same. I ordered them with the newly released t coil version which also uses a 13 battery for longer run time. I would only use the t coil in a theater as I don’t need it for the phone. The only hiccup is the Smart Direct software. As I stated earlier my friend was able to make lots of adjustments with the app on his iPhoneX. We were not able to get the KS8s to pair via the Smart Direct app on my LGv30 phone. I was told they only pair with iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones. I’m eligible to upgrade phones so when I get the HAs I’ll probably change to the Galaxy. I’m not an iPhone person. I thought that the latest round of chips and software was pretty equivalent between brands but that may be an incorrect assumption. The only other thing that I can point to is the power RIC on the KS8 has a 105db max at high frequency and all others said 100db. My loss is around 100db so perhaps we were running into clipping distortion though none of the other Fitters or Software’s indicated this as a problem. Will report again after receiving them.
Your KS8’s use MFi/BLE/iPhone technology (iPhone only).
See Costco Kirkland Signature 8.0 (Product Information) for more info.
Android phones cannot stream directly to KS8’s.
They can still at least pair and let at least some Android phones serve as remote controls.
Not interested in streaming but want full control over features with Android, including Left and Right separate volume and Crossover Mic attenuation in Xphone mode.
I picked up my KS8T’s from Costco today. This model has the T-Coil and uses #13 batteries. The fitting went smoothly. The REM matched well except for a little low in the high frequencies in my Profound Loss ear. The fitter suggested we not make any changes from the Audiogram based fitting for this as it would likely become too tinny…and I’m guessing output too much power. He went methodically through all of the setting screens from the Rexton fitting program as I can attest having examined them on my home PC from the downloaded program obtained thru this forum. We added some manual programs…noise, music, t-coil, etc. to the Automatic one and we’ll see if they make any difference as time goes on. I was particularly interested in the XPhone program as most of you know since I have been trying to accommodate my Profound Loss Ear with sound being delivered to both my ears. An Amp-CROS instead of a Bi-CROS. This model does that…though it expects a telephone and adjusts (reduces) the frequency response accordingly. BUT, after my prior conversations with several Support Technicians at Rexton, they insisted that this model hearing aid was designed to accommodate this need in the Automatic Program. It uses an extremely fast ic that has the ability and does transfer speech between the L and R hearing aids on a routine basis based on the environment and sound location and applies the appropriate audiogram to each.
Well, this KS8T does exactly that. Again, from the moment he actually put them on me I could hear from both sides when turning my head toward the sound source. It’s pretty amazing. We did up the volume a db or two in the Profound Ear in order to balance the loudness in both ears,and then we reduced the base a db or two in the Profound Ear to increase the treble…so the REM was probably correct…and we ended up adjusting for it indirectly! I haven’t tried any of the other programs yet and possibly will never need to…except t-coil in a theater. Interestingly, my right ear is the Profound Loss Ear. I drove home with the radio on and the drivers window on the left wide open. Lots of wind and traffic noise and I could still hear the words of the radio playing at the same reasonable level as when the window was closed…amazing!
I was prepared, resigned, to try every hearing aid on the market and had made my way through 4 of them. No need to continue, this one is superb. I heartily recommend you try them for your hearing loss and see if they perform as well for you.
Then, as if by magic the un-think-able happened. At the fitting just like at the original demo, we were not able to pair these aids with the Connexx Smart Direct App on my LGv30 Android phone. My phone would install and run the app but would not pair the hearing aids to the app. So, I went into T-Mobile to investigate changing to a Samsung brand having been told that these would like work. At the store we could not get the Samsung S8 or S9 to even install the app for some reason. But we did try to pair the hearing aids with the app on my LG phone again…and they paired…and have been working correctly since then today. Amazing.
I’ll continue to report my progress as everything settles down.
Great! Also testimony that you can find a good aid and fitter on first try.
Good to hear your success story! I’m having very good results also with the KS8.
I have a Galaxy S6 and the Smart Mic Bluetooth device and if Bluetooth is not on, the phone app communicates with the hearing aids using acoustic signals for remote functions. However, not all functions are active in acoustic mode. For example you can select the programs but there are also listening environments for program 1 like Cafe and Group Conversation, and those are grayed out in acoustic mode.
But, the Smart Mic is almost always on and that results in all the app options working.
Thank you so much for your input. I think I will be getting the KS8 soon also but I think I will opt for the telecoil due to the extended battery life and will hopefully just shut off the telecoil, if that is possible?
Please continue updates.