Costco Kirkland Signature 5.0

hmmm, I just question. If you’re programming your own hearing instruments? Your HIS should know those things.

Good question…! Who knows , The info might come in handy at my next appointment. or else I will be waiting for another appointment to get it fixed. and I am sure a lot of new fitters will be learning from these posts …!

Well, If you’re getting info for your next visit KUDO’s to you! My concern(why should I be concerned about you?LOL) is that your getting a decent fit with your HI’s. I mean on your upcoming visit I hope you don’t have to give your fitter the answers. LOL Who’s the fitter and who’s the customer? hahahahaha

Thankyou for your concern. I agree with you that ideally Fitter should be upto speed with the product. KS5 being new product I have accepted that not all settings may be known to fitter. My initial fit has been good.

It’s just these changes like volume I want it fixed so that I can focus on the performance of the product. I don’t want to loose too much time in getting these adjustments done. Hence I want to go to my appointment with as much information.

so , that’s my explanation. I think this probably is a training issue, as there are many in the forum asking similar questions about settings on KS5 and it is expected when the product is new.

I went back to Costco for another fitting this morning. My Phonak Audeo Q90’s are significantly “hotter” (sizzly treble significant sensitivity to quiet sounds) than my KS5’s and I wanted my KS5’s to be more like the Phonak’s. As it turns out, my KS5’s were still set to “new wearer” so after a brief discussion with my HIS about what I want, he ramped me up to full “experienced user” strength.

My KS5’s are definitely louder and brighter sounding now, which is good because as I have acclimated to my Phonak’s my KS5’s started sounding duller and more muffled. I would say they fell in the middle between my Phonak’s and my unaided hearing. Now they are much closer to the Phonak’s although still not quite as “sizzly” sounding.

I like both of these HA’s quite a lot and really cannot pick a favorite. The KS5’s have the edge with the remote with display screen and small Bluetooth clip, while the Phonak’s are significantly smaller and sound a little more natural with music. The Phonak’s also have a tinnitus program which I use sometimes and find helpful. Both have very good automatic noise/microphone functions and the preset programs seem to be about equally effective. I was relieved to find out the Phonak’s also use 312 type batteries so I won’t have to worry about buying them :slight_smile:

Im still on my initial fitting with my Phonak’s so I have not gotten to fine tune any of the settings yet - something I need to do as there are a few nits to pick with them. Im confident they will be worked out when I return for my follow-up fitting.

So I guess all of the above is to say that the KS5 is easily a performance and quality match to the Phonak Audeo Q90 - at about 1/4th the price. I wouldnt hesitate to recommend them and Costco to anyone.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with the KS5? Occasionally I notice that when I make volume or program adjustments directly from one aid, those changes are not consistently made to the other aid. Sometimes the changes are simply slow to be registered on the other aid, and in other cases they are not registered at all! I have tried going with fresh batteries, and that does not seem to make a difference. I never encounter this concern when using the remote, only when changing directly from the aids,

Yes, it happens regularly. I just use the control on the other aid and change it too when it happens. I so rarely change programs that it’s not a big issue for me, but it does happen.

Is that a glitch in the software? It always happens to me When I try to connect to TV streamer directly from my hearing aids. It only connects to one HA. I have to repeat the process for the other aid. I am not sure why the devices doesn’t talk to each other in this case.

It has to be turned on in the software for the volume to communicate with each aid. The program change on mine switches in both aids when I push the button on one aid.

I had them disable the volume so I could independently control each aid from the remote.

Also if you put the aid in “Airplane Mode” (see the manual), it will turn off the RF communications.

Guess your supposed to do this on an airplane.

I believe the instruction manual indicates that connecting to the streamer directly from the aids requires you to long press each aid - without regard to whether the aids are synched for volume / program changes.

The issue I mention in my initial post on this topic is not expected / intended behaviour, as my aids ARE synched for volume / program changes - and manual adjustment of one aid is USUALLY received by the other aid, but this fails to work often enough that I decided to make the original post (to see if my experience in unique).

I have also just noted that the longer my aids have been on, the more likely the manual volume / program change is likely to work properly.

Volume, Program change works fine. changing it on one aid changes on the other as well. its just the issue with the TV streamer.

I have seen this happen to me at times. I am not sure if it has anything to do with the HA’s working on the same frequency as the wireless router, microwave etc.

I have experienced this on a few occasions. It happens very rarely so I haven’t given it much thought. The few times it has, I simply pressed the button on the other aid until it’s “caught up.”

They do communicate with each other via 2.4 GHz, so I suppose it is possible for some interference to disrupt the signal, like trvaya mentioned above.

The volume sync issue tends to happen in open spaces because there are no surfaces for the signal to reflect off of, so it can’t reach the other hearing aid. The other possibility is a low battery.

Unlike volume and program changes, instruction manual says you have to set each aid to streaming separately. Not true- of course - if you set to streaming from the remote.

That’s right. It’s interesting how they have designed that.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see low battery icon flashing on my remote2 when my right hearing aid was running out of battery. Didn’t know we have that option . Wish the app could do that too…

Rasmus, not sure you got my PM, I have my appointment tomorrow for tuning, can you please indicate how to do this.

Edit:
I think I found the link. is this right?

http://www.gnresound.com.au/professionals/ecademy/aventa-training/aventa-tutorials#!prettyPhoto/9/

Yes, I got them a few weeks ago - have been wearing aids since 1998 and have always worn Resound. I am able to use the BTH type, which have cost me upwards of 2200$ per aid until now. My dispenser called directly to Resound when I asked your comparison question and they say these are made “especially for Kirkland” and can’t be compared. However, I compared the specs and they seem identical, at a price of $1900 for TWO aids!. My guess is that their other dispensers would be furious if they said they were the same. My audiologist’s evaluation agreed perfectly with the free Costco hearing test, which was very complete and professional. A remote control (but I use the buttons on the aid), batteries, case, and cleaning supplies are included. The dispensers do NOT get commission, so they don’t make more salary because of more expensive brands. I will purchase a clip-on microphone from Costco next week - it is Resound brand and a fair price. I am very happy with these aids and the service I received at Costco. The 310 batteries are amazingly priced- 40 for $8.99. I was warmly welcomed when I asked for an additional program and a minor adjustment and was told to bring them in frequently for free cleaning. I am finding much better clarity than with my old BTE from Resound, although they were top of the line 5 years ago. Also, since I have short hair, the fitter suggested using a hair-colored aid rather than skin-color which makes them disappear better.Of course, as with any hearing aid, your degree of loss must determine the type of aid you can use. All I can say is I am very pleased. Have sent them four customers!

Curious if anybody had the Quintra’s and returned them and got the Kirkland Sig 5’s? (Resound) …THe reason I ask is I am about 7 weeks into my fitting with the Quintra’s and I am struggling. Single beep tones from things like Microwave ovens or beeps in my car are now polyphonic and while the Quintra’s are louder than my former Rexton Revo’s, I am not really hearing any better or distinguishing speech better, even after a couple adjustment / fitting sessions.