Costco Kirkland Signature 8.0 (Product Information)

[HalfEar]

I am curious as to why it is important to so many users here to have their phone calls stream directly into their hearing aids.

If you ask around (self included)historically many people that wear HA’s hear better on a speakerphone. Speakerphones are not very private and as mentioned earlier they do not go well in a work environment unless it is a conference call.

suddenly it’s bluetooth everywhere and it becomes the new standard for short-range communication.

Once again Bluetooth gives you privacy and security. FM would be like the early cordless phones or even a party line where someone you may not even know can just listen in on a conversation.

Many people consider concerns over privacy, paranoia. I suggest you might find it challenging to learn about or even help arrange a surprise party for your wife over a speakerphone.

[NateS]

Speakerphones are not very private and as mentioned earlier they do not go well in a work environment unless it is a conference call.

NateS:

suddenly it’s bluetooth everywhere and it becomes the new standard for short-range communication.

Once again Bluetooth gives you privacy and security. FM would be like the early cordless phones or even a party line where someone you may not even know can just listen in on a conversation.

Many people consider concerns over privacy, paranoia. I suggest you might find it challenging to learn about or even help arrange a surprise party for your wife over a speakerphone.

Very good points! LOL!

[jane_peterson]

Well I have them in my ears right now.
They do connect direct to iPhone.

[z10user2]

Well that’s exciting for you.
Before names and info rubs off on the outside…can you identify what things say on the outside and also maybe small stickers of numbers and things in the battery compartment.
The KS7’s had Rexton and KS7 on the outside and then 80 6C on a little sticker on the inside. The inside would have your serial numbers but you can keep those to yourself.

[ncgo4]

I pick up my first HA’s on Sunday. The new Kirkland Signature 8.0. Excited and nervous. I will post after a few days about this device. Really appreciate all of the input and information found here. This is a very important site.

[pvc]

Trying some other way nz

what the difference is KS7 vs KS8

Kirkland Signature 7.0.pdf TruCore Platform <-VS-> Kirkland Signature 8.0.pdf MyCore Platform

	KS7	KS8
Platform	TruCore	MyCore
Signal Processing Channels-Gain	42	48
Signal Processing Channels-MPO Handles	20	20
Direct Audio Streaming/Made for iPhone	No	Yes
Intelligent Mic Morphing	Yes	No
Microphone-pattern adjustment	Yes	Yes
Multichannel Adaptive Directional Microphone	No	Yes
Automatic Directional Microphone	No	Yes
Fixed Directional Microphone	No	Yes
My Voice	No	Yes
Wireless Sync	No	Yes
Volume and control coupling	Yes	Yes
Hearing programs	6	6
Binaural Signal Processing Synchronization	Yes	Yes
Speech	TruCore Speech	MyCore Speech
HD Bandwidth	10kHx	10kHx
HD Directionality	Yes	Yes
Directional iLock	Yes	Yes
iFocus 360	Yes	Yes
Focus 360	No	Yes
Stereo iLock	No	Yes
Voice Ranger	Yes	Yes
Reverb Reducer	Yes	Yes
Music Enhancer	Yes	Yes
XPhone	Yes	Yes
Dynamic Extender	No	Yes
Auto Volume	No	Yes
Bandwidth Compression	Yes	Yes
Feedback Preventer	Yes	Intelligent
Omni Sound Locator	Yes	iOmni
Sound Smoothing	Yes	3 settings
Noise Management	Yes	Yes
Wind Noise Cancellation	Yes	Intelligent
MyCore Automatic Optimization	No	Yes
Automatic Equalizer	Yes	Smart
Automatic Acclimatization	Yes	Smart
Automatic Classifier	Yes	Yes
Telecoil	Yes	No
Autophone	Yes	No

[whahuh]

Okay, I got myself un-lazy;

Thank you, I’m glad you did, because what you have now provided, is valuable to many people like me, who don’t understand or speak the technical language and Googling specific line item data, just doesn’t produce.

I’m sorry you misunderstood my question; I was only asking what the difference was between the two specs; 6c vs 8c and px vs Nx.

[MDB]

This info is pretty available on the forum. If you want to compare hearing aid features, search the name of the hearing aid and product info. That will get you to one of the nice pages that Rasmus has prepared. Find the link that lists all of the features and either save or print it up. Do the same with the other hearing aid you want to compare with. Note: Only similar hearing aids made by the same manufacturer are easy to compare. These features have few standardized names so trying to compare two dissimiliar hearing aids from manufacturer’s materials is a frustrating task. PVC did this and layed it out very nicely. If you compared Signia px and nx, the feature names would be different.

[KenP]

Improvements are made by engineers. Names are created by PR departments.

|Feedback Preventer|Yes|Intelligent|
|Omni Sound Locator|Yes|iOmni|

So what is the difference in the two above from PVC’s list?

Was the Feedback Preventer formerly Stupid? Or did some PR guy see the need to show an enhancement? We never really know.

The Omni was in both aids. How much better is iOmni than Yes? iXXXX is a buzz word. It sexier than Yes. Other than that…

All software gets tweaked. Software engineers are always cleaning/improving their code. It is possible that the hardware was enhanced to allow more code to execute in real time. But, that’s the proprietary side that never really gets disclosed.

[whahuh]

Ok, thank you everyone; I’m sorry you are all finding me so frustrating.

Let me try again;
What does 6c mean?
What does 8c mean?
What does px mean?
What does Nx mean?

Are those just “PR” terms, or actual “engineering” specs?

[MDB]

They are manufacturer’s names. It’s like asking what does a Ford Taurus mean.

[pvc]

Different platforms usually meaning advanced chips, sometimes die shrink, maybe faster processing, generally advanced software.

[whahuh]

Thank you both, I’ll drop it now.

[joehccw]

Can the KS8 use rechargeable batteries. I don’t see any metal pins and on the info sheet it is just a dash. I just got my KS7 2 weeks ago if the KS8 are rechargeable I am going to return the KS7 and get the KS8 . Not happy they did not tell me new model was coming out. I asked a lot of questions about blue-tooth.

[MDB]

I don’t think the KS8s are rechargeable, but I don’t “know” that.

[Jim]

They are not rechargeable.

As someone who was in Costco for a two week KS 7 refitting and adjustment when the new sign went up for KS 8 Please give me an explanation of the improvement of 42 channel over 48 channel. Is it enough of an difference between the two to exchange them. Thank you for your replies.

[MDB]

The 42 to 48 channel change is a non issue. Biggest reason to change would be if you want direct streaming to an iPhone. There are some changes in features but it’s really hard to tell if they would make any difference (and they migh make a difference to some people and not others). My thoughts: If you use or were planning on getting an iPhone, I’d definitely make the switch. I’d say rest is more personality related. If it’s been hard adjusting to hearing aids and they’re meeting your needs, don’t rock the boat and keep what you’ve got. However, if you like trying new things or if the KS7s come up short in some way and after talking with the HA fitter it seems like the KS8s might be better, by all means give them a try.

[KenP]

If you have an Android phone, the new BT device should be a major improvement. It does away with a magnetic resonance connection and utilizes more stable technology.

[ncgo4]

These HA’s I’ve ordered will connect to my iPhone. This will allow me to hear calls and music, I believe. Is there a microphone somewhere to speak into the phone or do I need to speak into the phone to talk? Also will music be stereo.g From this question you can likely tell what a newbie I am to this.

[z10user2]

You need to use the mic on the phone.
From what I’ve read it seems music would be stereo. But I’ll defer to more experts than I.