Dipping my toe into the world of private hearing aids (mine have all been via the UK’s NHS) and the compelling KS 10.0 fits the price/feature ratio. I’m invested already in Phonak Roger equipment - always recognising the KS 10’s are Sonora-made (not specifically Phonaks), is there scope to use Roger with the KS10?
Also, is there support for a tinnitus programme?
Yes, the KS10 has telecoil, so if you have existing Roger devices and connect via the MyLink or newer universal neckloop, then it should work for you.
Alternatively you can buy any of the new Roger On devices and achieve direct connectivity.
I don’t know anything about Tinnitus support, sorry.
Just to add some clarification to this. Agree that KS10 can work with Roger devices. Roger MyLink is one approach. The other is to add receiver “licenses” to the hearing aids. These come with Roger iN devices or can be transferred from certain Roger X receivers.
Technically the KS10s do have a tinnitus programme BUT Costco generally do not support tinnitus therapy so you would need a private Audi willing to take that aspect on.
Tinnitus masking does work in the KS10s, but all posts here indicate Costco will not enable it. I suspect the issue may be varying state Scope of Practice issues and their mix of employees with AuD and more restricted fitter/ dispenser / HA specialist licenses.Since they offer members service in their stores in any state, that’s how they deal with the conflicts.
IF you can self-program, the tinnitus masking in Target works on mine. There is a DIY area here for such discussion.
Fred F
Thanks for their tips. Would self programming affect the warranty? I’m thinking along the lines of rooting/jailbreaking a smartphone I guess…
No personal opinion on the warranty thing, general consensus here seems to be no.
Fred F
Besides the warranty, if you have a particular fitter that you like to see at Costco, you might want to float a trial balloon and see what that person’s attitude might be. From various reports on the forum for different HA’s over the years, it seems that acceptance amongst HCPs varies quite a bit (they’ll be able to tell from changes in your settings, etc.). I think if you’ve done your homework and know thoroughly what you’re doing and talking about your needs with your fitter, that will help a lot in gaining acceptance and maybe help avoid any potential bad feelings. I’ve only worked with ReSound HA’s but the fitting software has a “simulate” mode in which you can simulate various fitting changes to your user profile without actually changing anything in the HA’s. I don’t know about the KS10’d but besides any user guide to Phonak fitting software, you might find courses on Audiology Online that you can audit for free (you don’t have to be a registered provider to have an account and take courses, only to earn CEU’s and pay for the professional credit). There is lots of advice from helpful people available in the DIY area of the forum. Just remember to save your official Costco-provided settings as a backup! It’s a fair amount of effort to thoroughly understand what’s going on with DIY so it’s certainly something for only dedicated folks who have special needs compared to the excellent service that Costco generally provides. But if OTC HA’s ever make it here in our lifetimes in significant numbers, it’s something a lot more folks will be doing with various degrees of sophistication.
Hi all,
I have been following the posts about KS10 since the product launch and was quite excited to upgrade my current Phonak Brio 2s to KS10. Received the KS10 about four weeks ago but the results have left me mostly unsatisfied. Here are the issues,
My loss is cookie bite shape. I’ll try to upload a picture of my audiogram later.
My current aids are Phonak Brio2 with open domes which I have been using them for the last 4-5 years. It was a bit of challenge to set them up initially but they have been serving me reasonably well once we eventually got them adjusted properly.
I was quite excited when saw the announcement about KS10 as I have been waiting for a product that is worth upgrading in the last couple of years.
The domes coming with KS10 are different with the ones on Brio2. The closed dome are quite close. My audiologist got me setup initially with those ones but could not bear them as I was feeling totally blocked and hearing my own voice was terrible. The open domes were also not good as the audiologist suggested they are leaking a lot so I finally decided to go down the path and order earmoulds. Waited another two weeks for them and the audiologist did another REM to adjust them but the results are still not good. Here are the issues,
I’ll be grateful if someone can give me a feedback as I have a follow up appointment in about a week. To me KS10 should be able to give me a better result compared to Brio 2 as they are both Phonak products an one is 5 years newer with much more processing power. The Audiologist has suggested before that maybe I should return them and keep using the Brio 2s if I am happier wit them but I don’t want to do that. I think the KS10 should definitely be able to improve my hearing as compared to Brio 2 if they are setup properly.
Sorry for the long post.
I don’t have the KS-10, but in general there is an adjustment period with both closed domes and with molds.
You refer to your “audiologist”. Is that what you’re seeing at Costco? Or is s/he a Hearing Instrument Specialist? In either case, you can always ask for a second opinion either from staff at that Costco or a different one.
You’re likely to get more useful feedback if you enter your audiogram (Top of page: Forum/ My Hearing Tests. ) Most of your concerns sound like common new user issues of getting used to the hearing aids. I realize that you’re not a new user, but if your old aids aren’t serving you well, don’t expect the new ones to sound the same, but provide better hearing. I’d encourage you to give it sometime and if you’re still not satisfied, @billgem is correct that you can always request a second opinion.
The Phillips Hearlink 9030 aids at Costco have been reported to do well with cookie bite hearing losses.
Might be worth reading about here in the forum.
The hands free phone calls with the KS10’s is nice, love that feature.
Most churches have Looped systems and it is great to clearly hear “The Word” …
She is an audiologist. She’s got Master of Audiology.
Is Costco banned from selling hearing aids online?
It is not close to me, I would buy it online from them because they offer a very low price and I would make the adjustment in my country.
The nearest costco is 1500 kilometers to me.
They do not sell hearing aids online (at least in US)
I am sitting at my computer desk this morning listening to my computer “breathe”. My new KS 10s do something with fan noises. When I come back to the computer after breakfast the breathing has stopped and all is quiet for the rest of the day. This big Dell Workstation sits about 8 inches from my keyboard.
I wouldn’t trade these hearing aids for any thing else…period. They are great hearing aids for me and the automatic mode can do anything it wants to. They have greatly improved my understanding speech.
Maybe you should take the fitter’s advice and return them.
You can’t make the adjustments yourself. With the possible exception of Philips, they’re locked. To make adjustments, you need their proprietary software which isn’t available to anyone except Costco employees.
The following companies sell hearing aids on line which you can adjust at home and with telephone consultations available:
They require that you take a hearing test in person before purchasing. Thus no online sales.
To add to the others comments about this, fitting aids is much more complex when done correctly.
This includes a proper hearing test and evaluation, then the correct hearing aids are selected for this particular hearing loss. Decisions need to then be made about acoustics, size and type of domes is critical for proper hearing aid performance. Custom earmolds might also be needed, it all depends on the hearing loss.
The next hands on visit is all about programming the aids properly to the client. This is critical as we all know.
Once all these things are done it is possible for remote programming.
Pending on a persons hearing loss all these steps can be more or less critical. We are all different. This is also why there are so many different opinions on this forum. And I haven’t even mentioned Bluetooth and connectivity issues yet.
Good luck getting your aids.