Nice points Jim, good discussion here. I was fitted with open domes, but in asking, Collin (HIS at Costco) gave me extras of open, tulip, and closed/bass/power domes to try. I asked if changing domes required refitting the HAs, and he stated usually that made no difference. He did warn me to make sure I got them attached well so they did not come off in my canal!
At first I liked the closed ones better for better music especially bass. He even gave me one larger size of closed domes to try. Yes they make music better streaming the HAs, but I miss sounds when listening to my stereo or TV speakers. I’ve been back to open domes for a few weeks now. I’m still trying to find a solution of better music when out walking, over ear headphones gave feedback, none of my earbuds work with the aids.
Now I need to try the closed domes again to see if I get the “processor noise” with them.
Your experience turns out to be my experience, too! I got tired of wondering every day, “Is this the day my audi calls to tell me my HA’s have arrived?!” So I called TruHearing and they said, “Yup! There’s a slight backorder getting Quattro’s through them but I should have them in 8 or 9 business days instead of the usual 3 to 5 for most HA’s” (am liberally paraphrasing conversation). So for me at least it’s not 2 to 3 weeks (or months). Given that Amazon has changed the world by letting you know everything about your order status, order history, etc., it’s too bad for such expensive items that one can’t have a user account whereby you can track order status, say through TruHearing, or if audi deals directly with an OEM distributor, through an OEM account or whatever - that way if you sent your HA’s out for repair, you might know when to expect them back, etc. Maybe a company has to be as big as Amazon to support such user-friendliness but allow you to know your calendar is free for x days on that score because the HA’s ain’t gonna arrive tomorrow… (and I hate phone tag, too).
Met with my Costco HIS yesterday to discuss upgrading to the Vidas (I’m still within the 180 day return period with my Fortes). She didn’t know anything about the feature changes – she said the ReSound rep was due to meet with the Newport News staff next week – but told me enough about the Vida’s rechargeable battery feature to diminish my interest. The charge is good for 10-14 hours – and significantly less if you stream. This means that you’ll often need to dig out non-rechargeable batteries to finish the evening. This might not be an issue for some folks, but for me, the main reason to consider rechargeable batteries is the toxicity of their non-rechargeable counterparts. We’ve a couple of cats that seem to want to eat anything that falls on the floor. So, for me, the rechargeable batteries aren’t attractive because they’d likely increase the frequency of toxic battery insertion and disposal. I’m still considering the upgrade pending more information on the mysterious feature upgrades (EchoStop and Open Fit Optimization).
I had the same result with Collin, Costco HIS today. He has heard they are coming, but no more info than that. This Costco has no Vida HAs yet, training is pending. I asked about EchoStop and Open Fit Optimization, and he did not know. I have until mid-February on my trial, so still time for them to arrive.
I actually went ahead and ordered the Vidas 2 days ago and will be fitted on Nov 2. I completely forgot to ask my Costco Audi about the Echostop feature. If I can remember (my brain is shot with 3 kids under 4 years of age), I’ll ask when I go to get fitted. It came down to the Zerenas or the Vidas and I prefer the app for ReSound, so Vidas it is.
I just got the Fote 8 on 9/29. Went in 10/13 for a follow up and found out the volume button wasn’t working on the right one. So it was sent for repair. And since I haven’t heard from Costco it’ll be next Saturday before I can pick it up. That’s if it comes back this week. I’ve been using my Starkey v90 again. Now I hear about the Vida. I need aids for work so rechargeable isn’t a good idea for me and I have no interest in streaming. Guess I’ll ask about them when I go back. Or call. Right now I have doubts about Resound and Costco. Hopefully that will change.
@mdb Exactly how do you perform this maneuver? Since I’m about to get my very first HA’s, it’s probably one of a number of things I’d like to try to see how the HA’s work while I’m still in my 45-day trial period. TIA!
OK. This only works with domes. It won’t work with custom molds. It’s pretty much as I said, but here’s a little more detail. Take off both hearing aids. Take hearing aid you want to test and orient receiver so that you can insert it into opposite ear. You’ll need to hold body of hearing aid. You won’t be able to wear it this way, but you should be able to check for any noise.
I’m still a little (a lot?) foggy. You orient the receiver in a way that you could insert it into the opposite ear. But (here’s where my confusion is) do you hold the body of that receiver up against the ear you took it out of (with the receiver essentially pointing away from that ear) or, are you trying to insert the receiver (almost) into the other ear? All along I’ve been presuming that one is holding the BODY of the receiver up to an ear canal opening but wasn’t sure which and whether the other receiver was still in the ear it belongs in - thanks for clarifying that for me. Or are you letting the receiver dangle in the air just outside of an ear canal opening and listening for noise from the receiver that way? I presume that it helps to find a REALLY quiet environment to perform the test in, too.
Or maybe I’m off in understanding the discussion, i.e., you hear noise in the HA in your worse ear, so just stick the receiver for that in your better ear instead, and still see if you can hear the noise. The better-worse ear factor went in one ear and out the other (or was it in one eye and out the other) in reading the post. Sorry if that’s what I missed and the ear difference in evaluating processor noise makes more sense to me now. (duh!-sorry to be a dummy!).
OK. More background. Situation is that I (one) hears noise in one ear (one’s better ear) Question to figure out. Is it some abnormal noise from the hearing aid or is it the “normal” noise of a hearing aid and your worse ear just can’t hear it.
So, Take BOTH hearing aids out. Orient bad ears hearing aid so that you can insert receiver in good ear. Fully insert receiver into good ear. Don’t do extreme measures, but you want to get as close as possible to the depth you normally wear them. Hearing aid body will be dangling out in space so you’ll need to hold it. Yes, quiet environment. Basically same environment you were hearing noise from the first hearing aid. Note: This is a make shift way to test. A shop would probably just change out the receiver and see what happened, but that’s not as easy to do at home.
Thanks! Never having worn HA’s (yet) I’m in the land of the blind, trying to understand info from a higher plane of existence! I understand why you have to hold the body of the HA in your other ear as you couldn’t mount in on the “wrong” ear without bending the wire, a big No-No!
It is probably covered in the contract. The Phonak Marvel announcement is a game changer though. Now they all will have to come out with generic Bluetooth connections, or it won’t be the big 5 any longer, but the big 1.
What if I don’t want to pay for the latest and greatest?
I am desperate for an informed opinion between Resound Vida and Phonak Brio 3.
My Brio 2 HAs worked well for 15 months and never again! Repaired 3 times and STILL screwed up. I have a pair of Resound loaners right now. Nice ANDROID app that WORKS. But HA less than perfect!
Both are good hearing aids. My leanings would be to ask them to replace the Brio3s with a new one. However if you’ve already tried that without success and they’re willing to give you a Vida (I wouldn’t think they’d do this, but who knows), that would be a reasonable option.
Two of us (Bryan9 and I) have had recent HA followup appointments with our Costco fitters and asked about the Vida. They have heard it is coming, but no info yet, and no training on the device. They did not know when it would actually be available. I’m curious too if it might be better than my Forte 8s.