Getting these pesky settings just right!

Hearing Aids
#1

I hope anyone reading this will not be put off by the length of my post as I will really appreciate any comments and/or suggestions.
I will be visiting my audiologist (UK National Health Service) shortly to get my 2-3 month old Phonak Naida M70s adjusted. I have used a wide range of aids over the past 30 years and I think these can be really good, but I’m not there yet.
I get the impression that some people approach this stage (tweaking?) believing that they may have reached the best experience they can ever achieve; you know - it’s not perfect but it’s better than not using them at all.
However, I have recently discovered that I am in a different situation as I use a Phonak TV Connector and the experience I have with that is well nigh perfect. UK BBC news (from their studio) is my benchmark of really, really, good hearing and I want to reach that same quality for normal conversation in a quiet environment. Possible? I hope so. Only after that do I want to start worrying about environmental factors – crowd noise etc. After all, if the base quality is not as good as it can be how can the other situations be sensibly compensated for?
At the moment I have two situations which are important but different and I want to get closer to my benchmark with both. When I say that one is my wife’s voice and the other is my boss’s, you will understand when I say important!
So, my first question is how to describe to my audiologist how my ‘normal’ settings are not achieving my benchmark perfection? I have always found this a bit like visiting a foreign country and finding the language there is useless; beyond the most basic things I don’t understand them and they don’t understand me. I need a phrase book or something where we can find common understanding. The best way I can think of is a collection of words that I have put together that convey (hopefully mutual) understanding of sounds I hear and therefore what is good/bad about them. I intend using my current collection and selecting from these 230 words to define each of the problems. Any additions would be welcome and the list may help some people who like the idea. (Excel file attached)
Having praised the sound I get from the TV Connector can my audiologist use this in any way to work out what adjustments are needed to my HDs and so possibly render my ‘phrase book’ approach redundant?
If you got this far – thanks for reading.

Sound Words.xlsx (11.9 KB)

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#2

Maybe look at the speech banana and see if you can determine which sounds you are having trouble making out. This might help to tune what you are/aren’t hearing. Just an idea, I’m a beginner at this.

WH

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#3

TBH, I hope that @kevels55 & @Zebras can give us some feedback, as he used Naida Marvel and currently is using Naida Paradise.
Do you by any chance have a recent audiogram, if you could post it, that would be helpful?

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#4

Maybe ask for REM to be done, if your NHS A.uD hasn’t done so already, he also switched me to a different algorithm, NAL NL2, took a while to get used to that, approximately 3 to 4 weeks, because it seemed so loud, but eventually I acclimatized, things became clearer, and ultimately crisper… Good Luck, cheers Kev :wink:

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#5

So impressed with what you have done!

I find your post really helpful.

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#6

@rogerinshoreham: In counterpoint to the length of your post (perfectly okay) - a brief answer.

No. Not in a million years .

The sound coming from your TV is so highly processed before it ever gets to your devices that a live, analog sound has no chance of ever driving those tiny, onboard mics in the same way as the direct input from your TV drives the circuits in your HAs.

If you could see oscilloscope traces of the two signals, you’d understand.

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#7

Thanks all have responded so far! I did notice a couple suggesting I add my audiogram, so here it is. I’ll look at all the replies in a few minutes.
Thanks,
Roger

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#8

TV news announcers are trained in pronunciation (well they were when I worked in TV in the 1970s), have high quality microphones and sound technicians to optimize the studio acoustics and clarity of their voices. They are therefore a very pristine source of verbal words compared to ordinary people in normal hearing environments (rooms, offices, streets, etc).
They represent a goal to aspire to as regards hearing clarity, but would be impossible to get to in normal hearing situations.

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#9

@rogerinshoreham: I apologize: I ought to have praised your phrase book approach and tell you that I think it’s helpful.

My original post was intended to temper your expectations of getting your devices tweaked so your wife’s voice would attain the clarity of the direct BBC feed.

I’m sorry…

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#10

A lot of people have found the TV Connector to be too loud so maybe your everyday program is not loud enough?

Only guessing tho.

I like the TV Connector myself, now it’s only going to one ear. My left doesn’t pick up speech at all. I have it going to my right only now.

I wear the Phonak Sky M70 SP so identical to yours, just Sky comes in cooler colours.

Getting REM done will really help like @kevels55 says.

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#12

I think you’re making it more complicated than it need be. Just tell him what you’ve told us. My take of this is 1) you have a hard time understanding your wife. Ideally bring her to the appointment. Your audiologist should be able to make some tweaks based on that info and also give your wife some tips on how to better communicate. 2) you have a hard time understanding your boss. Probably not possible to bring boss to your appointment, but that would be ideal. Would it be possible to record your boss? That could help the audiologist. I this is kind of like the old adage that a picture is worth a 1000 words. The actual sounds are likely worth a 1000 words trying to describe them.

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#13

@Baltazard

Did you know you can put the No Response parts of the audiogram as well in Target Software?

I see you’ve missed it out.

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#14

Hi Zebras,
Good to hear from - you helped me before - sound leaking from my moulds I think it was.
I use the myPhonak app on my iPad to set the volume for the TV Connx. You can set the L/R volume there - would that maybe help you a bit.
I’m thinking of doing some kind of tutorial for the app as it can be useful but like a lot of things it’s bulked out with stuff that gets in the way of seeing easily what it can do for you (IMO!).
You can switch off the iPad and keep the setting from then on until you switch off you aids - then you revert to the original ones.
Roger

#15

Hi White Hat,
Bananas! That’s what I use once a day to stave off cramp! And it works.
Seriously not heard about that until you wrote this and now I can see what you mean below. Thanks.
Roger

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#16

Hi Kev,
I have never come across an REM before. I will raise that with her. They don’t seem to be quite as proactive as you’d expect, sadly.
I won’t give up though!
Roger

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#17

Hey, SpudGunner,
No need to apologise. You were right to make the point. I put it all out there and people are kind enough to help me develop realistic expectations. It’s still a good benchmark and if I can get near it…
Roger

#18

Thanks Baltazard,
Now I know what a banana is! I can see what it’s trying to demonstrate and it does of course match my experience. I’ll take it along to the appointment.
Thanks,
Roger

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#19

@rogerinshoreham The funny side is you are missing E & U among others, which isn’t a big deal I guess, since UK has exited the EU. :rofl:
On a serious note, NHS’s ENT should be able to perform REM (real ear measurement):

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#20

Hi MDB,
I’m a virgo so life is always made complicated!
Seriously though, by putting the post on here I’ve got some really useful info. Your idea of recording my boss is a great suggestion. My wife is already coming for this meeting for that reason.
Thanks,
Roger

#22

Thanks for that, I just watched and it was all totally new to me.
I noticed that the soft and medium speech above 4k was below the line. I’ll have to check the banana to see what sort of things are in that region.

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