the suggestion quoting the similarity between the two sorts of the device reflecting a better clue towards which one to be chosen as per the need and productivity
I and my Mother had similar expensive and poor repeat fitting experiences as other users above at two different audiologists. Two different Costcos fit us perfectly on the first visit, mine for $1800 and six months later, my mother got the same devices for $1299. This was my second pair, first at Costco, and I would never go elsewhere. In fact, I have a fitting for a pair of KS 5.0 I purchased today on Friday. Canāt wait for Bluetooth!
I loved your comment about the chicken! You can also lunch at the sample counters and the Aussie Bites are great!
Maybe we should start a thread on āCostco Food for the Hearing Challengedā or perhaps āGrazing while Demoing.ā
I had Binaural Directionality programmed and have tried it a few days. While it works well in some situations, I seem to hear better in noise with the Basic + Softswitching program that was initially set as Program 1. I donāt know how much of that is attributable to the directionality aspect, or to the amplification applied in Basic + Softswitching versus Binaural Directionality.
Anyway, Iām pleased with the performance of the Kirkland 5.0 aids, and really enjoy the improved phone clip and TV streamer performance compared to my ReSound Remote mic aids.
If SoftSwitching works best for you, then go with that. Binaural Directionality is helpful if you have a speaker in front of you and one to your side. It can change the microphone setting on the side closest to the speaker to omni while keeping the opposite side in directional. The gain settings in both programs are identical by default.
For whatever reason, the gain settings in mine arenāt the same. Basis + Softswitching has more gain in the higher frequencies. I guess I should have the fitter copy the gain settings from Basic + Softswitching into the Binaural Program, then compare them again.
Your fitter must have made changes to the Basic+SS program. Changes in one program arenāt reflected in any of the other programs. Incidentally, if you have multiple copies of the same program, theyāre still separate and not linked.
The best thing to do is a āReset to Initial Fitā from Fitting menu. That way you start fresh and get all the default settings rather than trying to copy from one program to another.
After the initial fit she did a REM test and must have changed Program 1. Only later did I realize that it wasnāt Binaural Directionality, and had that set at a later appointment. The gain settings for it are very different. I like the gain settings for Basic + SS, and just want to copy those settings into the Binaural Directionality program, so I can see what impact just the different directionality setting has on overall performance.
OK, she can use the Autorelate feature to transfer the gain from P1 to the BD program.
I am also getting the KS5 in a week so I am trying to learn as much as possible before getting fitted. Thanks for the great posts. I did find this white paper on the Resound website that others may find interesting as well relating to directional options in the programming.
http://www.gnresound.ca/~/media/DownloadLibrary/ReSound/White%20papers/resound-directional-options-white-paper.pdf
Thanks, good to know.
I wore a pair of ReSound Live 9ās for a while and they were initially programmed with Natural Directionality, with a focus ear and a monitor ear, as described in the white paper. It didnāt work for me, as it made speech in front of me harder to hear. I eventually had that setting disabled, but donāt recall how the audi set the directionality after that.
After 10 years of having āborderlineā loss, finally ponied up the $$ for a set of KS 5.0s. As a new device wearer, I find adjusting to the electronic input is taking a little time. Not earth shattering results, but I certainly donāt have to work as hard to hear what people as saying to me. I have genetic low frequency loss, and am the last of my family to get into hearing aids.
Great experience with Costco, and felt like all the other independant audiologists that I visited over the last 14 years have been hacks. āborderlineāā¦ turn out Iām 35-40% normal hearing in my right ear.
Just a quick update on my KS5s
Using the Phone Clip and the TV Streamer fairly frequently, my first pair of batteries lasted 5 days plus a couple of hours.
-Jeff
Thatās good to know. I told the fitter at Costco yesterday that Iāve been back for adjustments so often, and gotten new batteries each time, that I hadnāt figured out how long they would last. I told her Iād just start coming in every 4 days and never buy batteries again.
Iām going back in Thursday to adjust the gain in the program thatās set for Binaural Directionality.
What is the binaural directionality and what does it do for you? I have mine set on party, restaurant and traffic. The traffic setting is worthless and Iām no sure that Iām getting that much help from the restaurant and party. How about you?
Okay, Rasmus, what is the best way to have them set if you are in a room with everyone talking and you want to hear the person in front of you?
I was fitted with the new Kirkland Premium 5s last week and I do like them as far as hearing. I can hear things that I didnāt hear beforeāturn signals, paper crumpling, my footsteps on the floor. So that is good. Also, the settings were too loud for me. I need to get my audi to lower the volume, which Iāve not had to ever do before. My challenge is with speech in noisy environments. I have the restaurant setting and the party setting, but donāt see a lot of difference with those. Iām interested in the directionality settings and what works best. I was surprised that I was able to hear well with the RITE and the power domes when before I have been fitted with the BTE aids. I find that if I get them in right, I donāt have any feedback. Theyāre definitely more comfortable than the earmolds. I am using all the accessories and so far so good there, although I havenāt used the mini-microphone yet. It will be good to use in church when my husband does the lesson and when weāre in the car traveling or at a restaurant. Over all, I am happy with these and you canāt beat the price!
binaural directionality:
Carla, I would change the directionality in either Restaurant or Party to āFixedā instead of āAutoScope Adaptiveā. Also change the directional mix from āVery Lowā to āHighā. This will give you the most focus to the front at all times. Try to stand with your back facing the people you donāt want to hear. Party has a stronger noise reduction setting than Restaurant. Glad to hear the KS5 is working out for you. Better than Bernafon?
My Kirkland 5.0s were initially set for Basis + Softswitching, Restaurant, Telephone/Telecoil, and Music. I swapped out Telephone/Telecoil for Binaural Directionality, but the other programs seem to work well for me. I am going back tomorrow to have he gain settings for Binaural Directionality set the same as Basic + Softswitching, so I can compare the two.
I have Traffic set in my ReSound Remote Mic aids, but rarely switched to that program with those aids. I usually stay in Program 1, but switch to Restaurant in my companyās cafeteria, to reduce noise levels. I also use streaming just about every day; the Phone Clip + and TV Streamer work well with the Kirklands.