Costco Kirkland Signature 9.0 (Product Information)

I tried that search but all I found was being told to give it a few weeks for ears to adjust. Was there something more to “an idea how to fix it”?

I have two questions pending in my possibly verbose post above from yesterday which seem to have gotten buried.
I would very much appreciate any guidance and advice in reply before I call Costco to request a follow-up appointment with these two problems.
Thanx!

Since you had a recent change (different domes, more powerful receivers and presumably some increase in gain, I’d give yourself a little time to possibly get used to the irritating noises. If too irritating, decrease volume a notch or two.
Regarding domes and concha lock. Try curling the concha lock into a tight twist. It that doesn’t work ask for help the next time you’re in Costco (likely wouldn’t require an appointment unless you wanted other adjustments done)

1 Like

In regard to the " pre-curled canal whips" that you mention, they are commonly called “concha locks” or “sport locks” as @MDB states above. In my research on this forum, I have seen reports of them being installed incorrectly. Here are close up photos of mine, if that helps.

Note that I have the domes pulled up and inverted to show the detail, they are not normally like that.

I lost one about 10 years ago. It was a RIC aid fitted with an open dome. I think it fell off while I was getting off an airport limo in a hurry.

I found Oticon and Phonak HAs sound more metallic than some of the others but they seem to be the best for clarity. Given time, I could adapt to occlusion effects but metallic sounds seem much harder to overcome. I had worn a pair of Phonak Brio R for 3.5 years but the tinniness still bothers me.

Does anyone have experience with the SlimTips. Are they better than the cShells? Do they cost more than the cShells?

I’m new to hearing aids. I just got the KS9 hearing aids and I’m trying to figure out how to set up to hear the person calling my cell phone without pull the phone out of my pocket to see who is calling that is in my phone book.
I have a google pixel 3 cell phone.
Otherwise the bluetooth set up works fine. I like talking on the cell phone with the hearing aids.

Thanks, MDB.

My appointments tomorrow. I wasn’t planning on going back this soon about the above issues, but they called to ask me to pick up the 2nd TV Streamer I ordered for my laptop and that led to a discussion about the “uncurled” canal locks and the shrill sound effects.

Some of that shrillness caused me to pull my HAs out of my ears, but I don’t want to give up the big improvement in understanding my sig/other, as I even understood her riding behind me in another couple’s car Sunday night and even at the restaurant!

The shrillness is not coming from her voice but a few other sounds around the house and even from the TV last night. (The TV’s speakers, not my TV connector which was fine.) I discovered I could eliminate the shrillness by changing from Automatic to Noise 1. (She put a “1” after each of my three selectables.) Next time I will try your suggestion of reducing the volume setting instead.

Also, I wonder why she switched me from double domes to single domes. The doubles stayed fully implanted better into my canals.

Thanks for the photos.
Mine have returned to almost straight lines, sticking out at about 90 degree angle from my ears! :rofl:
I tried to re-wrap them around a thin pencil, but they’re having none of it. :smile:

My K9’s are set so when my phone rings, I can press a button on either HA and it will answer. I have to hold it down for a couple of seconds. If I do a quick tap, it hangs up or rejects the call. However, I have an iPhone X, not a pixel. But, it should work the same. You may need to have Costco set it up for the button pushes. Good luck. This is one of the best features of HA’s that I’ve used. Though, it has led to strange looks when I just start talking to those little voices in my head.

1 Like

I didn’t realize phone answering could be set up different ways, or maybe it’s an iPhone/Android difference. I have an Android phone, and I answer with a short push of either button and can send a call straight to voice mail with a longer push of either button. So I guess everyone needs to be sure to understand how their own aids are set up.

I have trax42, and can answer calls IF I keep the smart connect around my neck…which I don’t. I quickly found out when I went to these aids I could not use this feature. I do NOT answer the call unless I recognize the number, and that requires looking at the phone. Just way to many calls on new medicare, car warranty, cruise vacations, etc. Has anyone found a work around for that problem?

  1. You should not have to look at your phone. If you do not have a built-in option to announce the names of your callers who are in your directory, there are apps which do so. I use one called “Shouter” available from the “Google Play” store.
  2. You can set your phone to send all callers not in your directory, without ringing, to voicemail. If they don’t leave a voicemail, they are sales, scam or political calls. Legitimate callers not in your directory, for example doctors’ offices calling from an inside unlisted number to remind/confirm an appointment with you, know to leave a voicemail. I use an app called “Call Control” for this but there are tons of such programs, and it may even be built into Android and/or iPhone now as an option.

A follow-up with my Costco hearing aid person today resulted in her seeing how my canal locks were not curling into my concha anymore. She took both KS9s into another room and when she returned they sported locks which curled properly into my ears and which also allowed my domes, which she said were actually just like the original domes, to imbed further into my canals, thus slightly increasing the distance between the receiver tips and the microphones. I don’t know whether the canal locks were replaced, recurled or right/left reversed, but was happy that problem was solved, and we agreed to go a couple more weeks to see whether it might also have solved the shrill occasional screeching or feedback without losing my delight in now being able to hear and understand my sig/other’s soft, high frequency voice almost without exception.
A good day!

2 Likes

My previous question seemed to get buried. Asking again.

I’ve ordered and am waiting for my fitting for the new KS9’s. I was reading the through the user manual and see the domes are very different to my KS4’s. I used to wear open and then moved to closed which were way better.

What’s the difference between the following domes for the KS9?

  • dome
  • slimtip
  • cshell

Thanks
Rob

Domes are usually classed as open, closed or power(double)
Slim tips I believe are the custom molds that are small, similar in size to domes but custom made to fit you better.
C Shells are the larger custom earmolds. These can be different sizes also but cover more of the inner ear than slim tips.
Slim tips and CShell molds can be made out of hard plastic, simi hard silicone, soft silicone and lately titanium for the slim tips.

A google search will help answer questions not answered here.

See this picture from the manual. Your explanation doesn’t match the pictures, for example what you referred to as custom.

I have KS8’s which are Rexton/Signia, so take this with a grain of salt. The domes are off the shelf fittings that can be open, closed, or power. The Slimtip seem to be custom molds that fit in the canal only, just based on what they look like. Don’t know about Phonak, but Rexton offers all kinds of different style custom molds. Typically the S, M, and P power receivers can all fit the off the shelf dome fittings. The UP, or SP receivers are larger and typically require a custom mold. Perhaps that is the cshell? Don’t know, just guessing. Here is bit of info from Phonak. My suspicion is that if you have previously used open and closed, your are most likely a dome candidate. If you have a high loss in the 3 kHz range, you may have feedback issues which will require a tight fitting custom mold to address it. That little antenna like thing on the custom molds is a “handle” to pull the darn things out of your ear. Custom molds fit quite snugly!

Phonak Acoustic Coupling Guide

1 Like

My phone is set to only ring for people in my contact list. There is an exception, if someone calls twice within a few minutes (then the feature is overridden and the call rings). I love not getting all those call warranty calls!

1 Like