There is a diy section on this forum. I’m not experienced enough to help.
The technology may NOT be there in the aids. Live music is regularly cresting at a louder dynamic range than hearing aids can handle on the input side and so gets distorted on the way in. Over bluetooth, music is already compressed and over headphones you have the option of turning the volume down to a point that the hearing aids can handle it and just turning the hearing aid itself up if you want it to be louder.
To address the live music problem you can move to a Widex or Oticon hearing aid and get a little bit more room at the input stage, or you can use the old Marshall Chaisin hack of layering a few pieces of scotch tape over the hearing aid microphones to reduce the input to a degree that the hearing aid can handle and then crank the volume on the hearing aid.
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“And my un-aided (e.g. headset) clarity suggests a complication with the hearing aid electronics/programming rather than neural issues.”
Rings a bell with my past experience as well. I have listened to band speakers that caused a lot of higher frequency distortion, think it was due to the piezo’s they used yet listening with headphones with frequency contouring, the music sounded fine.
As Neville said “the old Marshall Chaisin hack of layering a few pieces of scotch tape over the hearing aid microphones to reduce the input to a degree that the hearing aid can handle and then crank the volume on the hearing aid.” is a good idea to try.
I’ve been known to use dense foam over my ears to stop the high frequency distortion from annoying me at times depending on the source and the level.
I am still surprised at the trouble you have getting your hearing aids adjusted to your liking, which is why I think having an MRI might be an idea if just to rule out another cause. The overload is occurring somewhere in the chain between the source and the way your brain is perceiving what it hears. The distortion can happen in various places in those pathways which does not rule out permanent damage from an ear infection, or hearing aid problems but our perception of the distortion can mask the true point of where the distortion is happening.
Hearing is a complicated beast.
Not sure what HAs you have, but beltone Solus software is available.
This isn’t encouraging:
" About the Hearing Aid Self-Fitting and Adjusting [DIY] category "
Lead line:
** The team at Hearing Tracker recommends that you do not attempt to fit or adjust your own hearing aids.
As the only means of tweaking available to me are ephemeral (the apps for each), they don’t persist, even if I should manage to hit on a solution per frequency range…
I’ll ask my audiologist about the taping hack, but wonder how it’s actually done, as these are pretty small pieces of kit, and the mic openings even smaller…
Well you take that with a pinch of salt sir.
Ha good luck with that, it’s not something…well maybe something like this.
The team don’t recommend you make any modifications to your “own” hearing aids
LOL as an admin or mod on several forums in which I have some experience others might not, I recognize that I am far from that point WRT hearing aids in general and in specific (the Sam’s being the only non-long-term use remaining).
So, I do tend toward individuals’ comments with the recommended grain of salt - but also recognize that I’m entirely at sea here, other than having been exposed to several different sets of gear, all of which behaved about the same, and a couple of sets, which, with (and which I’ve always maintained as being either the issue or the solution) a talented audiologist at the helm of the mousepad, were orders of magnitude more suited to my ears’ realities (while still not meeting my 3 simple metrics). That leads me to pay attention.
So, disregarding the collective wisdom of the leadership of this forum, as my hands don’t usually fit any OTC gloves (read: VERY large), and the typical chunk of any form of tape I separate from a roll being sufficient to entirely envelop my aids, would you suggest (or perhaps illustrate with photos of one successfully being so altered) how I go about masking the mics just before going to the next opportunity for an acoustic piano experience?
TIA - I need, apparently, all the help I can get, MBAs and 5 gear-specific other audiologists so far having failed to remedy my challenges.
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Well said mate, glad you saw through my sarcasm, but in all honesty I have no idea how to do this “masking” it’ll be interesting if the other member could show a picture or two to see.
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I think I saw a reference to an accessory mic in this thread. If your W were willing to wear it, that would probably solve your problem understanding what she says. Where are you on that option?
BTW, I’d buy the ReSound branded mic; Beltone’s list prices are look very high to me. My ReSound branded Multi-mic and TV streamer from Costco were $250 each. Beltone’s list is $400 each. Jabra Enhance’s website says they’re $275 and $299 each.
Yes, it would. But I’ve achieved a stand-alone after an extended period with the external mic, and we’re actually very close on the speech.
So, other than, perhaps, a group setting (where sitting it in the middle of a table can assist in hearing those present more clearly), it’s a royal (not bloody, as that’s not in my cursive vocabulary 
) PITA, when we’re actually pretty close.
I was amused at myself as I got so engrossed in the service this morning that I forgot to swap out the Beltones for the Sam’s (mostly for the music side; they, too, are very close on the speech part). So my piano-discordance won’t have a second go, but the funeral suffices for demonstration to my purpose; I’ll see them for another adjustment in a couple of days. I’m not really hopeful on theirs making the cut.
As to other purchases, I already own the Beltones; like most stand-alones, they front-load the purchase, as you get lifetime service from any office, other than out-of-warranty repair on the instrument. I still have about 20 months on the warranty, and have had occasion, last November, to take advantage of an office within easy reach of where I was in an annual meeting, to get a replacement for the receiver which had died. And, on the previous set, likewise in an office near my son’s home in which I was otherwise occupied …
So, I’m either stuck with or benefitting from - if I can get the music portion settled - the Beltones. Whether I give up and go to added folks in the Vero Beach area, in hopes of getting different results will be dependent upon getting no further with the Beltones.
So, I’m already fully invested in Beltone and needed gear. The Sam’s 3rd set of molds are hard - there’s electronics in them (not a typical receiver as in soft molds), so those are as good as they get. And, feedback is either nearly nil but adjustable to have none, or starts that way (usually, after a tiny bit of twiddling). But the music is horrible and the speech is marginal. If we don’t achieve a sudden improvement on Tuesday’s appointment (proven in the next-Sunday service), they’re history, too…
Sigh…
My hearing aids are Beltone Imagine 17s, bought 11-4-21. I don’t recall seeing what the institutional software is/was-when-I-was-being-adjusted, but I know he and the Phonak guy had a very serious piece of bluetooth (I presume) - Noahlink - which communicated with my aids (Sam’s is still in the direct-connect age), and a fairly complex software.
Given the opening blast, so to speak, in the manual,
(“Introduction:
This fitting software (FSW), Beltone Solus Max, shall be installed and used by hearing care professionals only. It is recommended to always update the fitting software to the latest version available.”) (italics mine),
I’m a bit reticent to explore that avenue; I dunno what the cost would be to acquire the hardware and software, but I suspect it’s not cheap - a quickie look at the Noalink makes it look in the hundred+ range, depending on where it’s bought - and while I’m smarter than I was 3 months ago, I’m a long fetch - on which lumpy seas can develop with any adverse winds so to speak (former sailing cruiser) - from being a hearing care professional…
Sigh…
Yeah so what happens here is when you install you then become a hearing care professional, easy no pressure there.
Well this really isn’t that serious, it’s LE Bluetooth just like your App and your phone.
Actually not, it’s very easy and definitely not in the area “complexity” at all, there’s plenty of windows software that you could call that, but not this software.
Getting a Noahlink wireless for less then $150 and it’ll pay for itself the first time you DIY, cheap really.
Sure I understand DIY is not for everyone, but some of us just like tinker around with stuff 
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Y’know…
My earlier pro had jokingly suggested that I get the SW (I hadn’t considered the open availability of hardware, but presumed he could make the SW happen), as his schedule (one of the reasons for his suggestion) was so jammed that I couldn’t come in on a weekly basis, and he was sort of at the end of his rope.
Earlier, he’d laughingly said that I should come out of retirement and become a Beltone rep (I had an level of understanding of what was happening which wasn’t usual in the typical client, mostly because I’d had to gain that knowledge to be useful in providing direction to resolution of my target/s).
So, perhaps it’s not such an outlandish idea after all. I’ll broach the subject to my current (and I believe highly qualified in areas beyond mere manipulation of the SW) audiologist; next appointment is next Tuesday…
As long as I can revert if I screw it up/get it wrong/go backwards rather than improve, perhaps it would be a next step (in place of going to added experimentation with other gear)…
And…
I do enjoy tinkering. In computer terms, I just really don’t want to brick this bit of kit over my ears 
Hmmmm.
Thanks.
You can revert; just make sure you save your first session before making any changes.
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The next episode has begun. The last week (ending May 14th) of the Sam’s Lucid/Liberty set is under way.
I rather expected to give them up today, but my audiologist had occasion to contact tech support on another matter yesterday, and revisited my case. As I no longer need protection from windy environments, but the Lucid/Liberty aids can only have 4 programs, she took “Windy” and made it “Music 2” - which, she thinks, not being the ‘normal’ music program, aimed at listening to recorded or even live music which might be damagingly loud, and with compression to reduce the sudden high-volume stuff, but, instead, permitting a “linear” tuning profile, should remove my piano notes’ distortion.
We’ll see on Sunday, unless I can find some other venue to listen to an acoustic piano; if it plays true, we’ll have solved that part of my demands. If I can sing along with a congregation around me, and hear my own voice, that will be a second part. And I’m going to find out about my ability to understand speech, and in particular my wife, pretty quickly just by wearing them.
However…
I also had an appointment with the ENT folks, who did a new audiogram. Which was orders of magnitude better than before, AND doesn’t generally (different numbers but similar shape) resemble other previous scans. I can’t imagine I suddenly got a great deal better acuity, particularly since the relatively recent Beltone scan by the more-experienced rep I was sent to in desperation pretty much matched the others in shape (minor differences in numbers, but the pattern looked the same). But, there it is.
And in looking back through the now-10 scans over the last two years, I see some wide variances in general. That disturbs me; I hate irregularity, as it’s suggestive that one or more of the previous scans is wrong, or this one is, or they all are. I have an appointment with the MD on the 23rd. I’ll raise the potential issue of an MRI with him at that time.
So, Sam’s will either be history or a solution by Monday. My next appointment with the Beltone lady, complete with my reportage of the couple-plus weeks of wearing them since the last adjustment’s issues, is in a week. Music is compromised but not terrible, and speech is fair. But both are a long way from issue-free, and we’ve been banging on these since I bought them 11-4-21, and even since my infection was cured by 1/22. I don’t know why these issues remain.
Sigh…
Out of curiosity, how does it compare to the one from ‘Advanced Hearing Aid Centre’?
Good question.
Generally better, and not so matched up. I’m on a bit of a short leash currently, but if I get a chance a in a couple of hours, I’ll post a scan on it. There are very few overlaps of acuity marks, and the AHAC one was nearly identical for both ears, whatever the acuity, whereas the ENT has only a single point of same level of loss.
The curious thing to me is that it’s markedly better acuity in the range in which most speak; my functional illiteracy in things audiology makes me think that should mean that my speech comprehension should be improving - but whatever improvements there have been I think have been a product of chasing the right rainbow of sound settings…
Audiogram to follow once I won’t wake up the rest of the house
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I find the Lucid hearing aids interesting. They don’t use compression the way that other hearing aids do, so I would think that might mean different results for music.
Here’s Beltone, a month ago today:
Vero ENT a couple of days ago, a 05-09-23 reading:
That’s markedly better than the November '22 done by the same folks, and anywhere from markedly to marginally better than the best of them since late '21… (See comments at the top of the page)
Here’s the referenced earlier gram:
With the disparities, plural, among audiologists, I no longer have much faith in audiograms.
To the earlier question, here’s the Advanced 'gram:
This last time (Tuesday) had the “Windy” program (of the 4 they’re capable of) changed to “Music2” and given a completely flat response. This Sunday (3 days) is the sole opportunity I’ll have to test the efficacy of the Sam’s music on that channel. We already know that the regular (with the aids as delivered) Music program doesn’t work (piano and xylophone, both percussion instruments, come across as tonally incorrect, and flat, to whatever degree, in all cases), so it will be a last-gasp chance for the Lucids, the extension technically expiring on Sunday, but having had no hard date (‘a month’) I’ve written assurance from the audiologist that Monday, if I have to surrender them, I’ll get a refund.
With the Beltones at least close, and with both of them (Beltone and Lucid) being quite close in speech, I’ll require perfect tonality on the Lucids or surrender them. Call me shortsighted, but I’m unwilling to risk $5000 on the chance that - if they’re not right this time - they MIGHT be massageable into a functional state. That said, the speech portions of both are very close, something not achieved with other than the Phonak (but only very close; same logic behind my very painful separation from them, as the audiologist and I had been making encouraging strides toward success). But if I can’t solidly solve the music, they’re not worth having, this “Music2” being as flat (and absent any automatic setting introducing compression or whatever is causing the discordance) or linear as it will get.
I’m cautiously optimistic.
But Sunday will be revealing; I’ve had a Sunday with the Beltones, and they were only close; whether I could learn to work around that, should that be the limits of the gear remains to be seen. My next appointment is Tuesday, and we can continue to tweak theirs for the music portion (well, and speech as well, as the restaurant last night was VERY challenging).
Sigh…