Clicking sound in new aids

Hearing Aids
#1

I have been wearing hearing aids since I was 6 years old and now I’m 59.

All that time I wore analog aids and now have digital aids for about two weeks - Starkey Destiny mini 800 BTE’s. (behind-the-ear)

The problem I’m having is when riding in a car or bus I will get an occasional quick clicks in either ear. For example they will click about 20-30 times total in a 40 minute drive. They continue to work the same before/after the clicks.

I told the HA provider and she did an adjustment on the background program, but it is still doing it.

Has anybody run into this problem and what was done to fix it?

#2

I note this clicking only occurs when riding in a moving vehicle. If so, it could be the jarring motion of the vehicle is setting off something loose in the aid. Usually this is a loose battery connection. Ed

#3

I had two different models of siemens instruments that did this on one of the programs, it was either clipping or one of the algorithms for noise reduction or speech enhancement (i.e. I do not think this is a defective instrument).

#4

Take them back. They’re hearing aids, and they shouldn’t be making strange noises.

#5

Clicks with Phonak & Unitron aids can occur when the LOUD gain is very close to the MPO curve.

Putting some ‘fresh air’ between the two curves prevents the hard MPO limiter firing too soon and thus reduces/prevents ‘clicks’.

Perhaps the Starkey is the same?

#6

The HA provider contacted Starkey and they requested that we send them back - will let you know what happens.

#7

Got the aids back and no difference, not even sure they did anything. Starkey sent me brand new aids with a new warranty. These are actually worse - they will click while in a movie theatre, too.

I’m giving up on Starkey, they had their chance and will see my audi tomorrow to pick out another brand. Three months into this and I’m back to square one - I have been wearing hearing aids almost my whole life and I thought with the advent of digital aids that my hearing experience would improve, but I don’t think so - I just get to spend more money for new aids now.

Enough griping. Now that I’m through with Starkey, I’m at a loss as to what brand to go to next - I’m sure the audi will have her favorite brands, but what I really need is a Consumer Report that will point me to the Honda or Toyota of hearing aids. - reliable, good value for money and long lasting. I have spent about 3 hours scouring the Web and don’t see anything like this. Is there a Consumer Report for hearing aids or have the manufacturers successfully suppressed this?

#8

Someone on this forum has mentioned a Consumer Report article regarding HAs. I don’t know the link, so you’ll have to do a search for the posts.

#9

Forgive my further writing here, since a day or two ago! (Nov 2020). I noticed the reference to clicking.
Moving from Phonak Naida S to much newer Signia Motion 13, two things are now apparent: the Signia sound generally clearer, less mush. But on speech (particularly via loudspeakers) they click, quite painfully, on quick strong sounds. I tested in my audio studio and found that the compression takes about 4 millisec to operate. So there is a huge overshoot during that interval…
In a similar test, the Naidas don’t overshoot at all. On music, live and recorded, the Signias are disappointing because although generally cleaner, they add a tremelo! Apparently this is a well-known phenomenon with various makes.
My excellent NHS audiologist is on the case, and I have queried Signia support - with a screenshotted recording of the spikes at hand!