Hearing test with K7s

Hearing Aids
#34

It does not make sense to me that an M receiver would not work for you. I also can’t think of any way it could be increasing tinnitus. Tinnitus is a brain induced sound we “hear” that is independent from the hearing aid. At most hearing aid noise (intentional or not) can mask the tinnitus. If anything the M receiver will have a touch more noise, but nothing noticeable.

The SmartFit is a good prescription too, but I am surprised they can do it, unless they are doing it manually. That is what my fitter does. She sets the REM equipment to display NAL-NL2 but makes the adjustment to what she sees for a SmartFit curve. Are they doing the REM test? That is where you listen to a female voice in another language that is kind of all nonsensical for words. They should be repeating the test at 50 dB, 65 dB, and 80 dB.

#35

I can use telephone with or without aids .I don’t get all words but almost all. . All REM test were preformed by mid level male voice with gibberish or multi foreign words. I had NAL NAL2 with m rec. with REM preformed. Noise could have been feedback because the sound is close to tinnitus I have (eeeeee sound) I was getting mild headache. Gone in the morning and only occurred after putting ha on for a couple of hours. Rexton rep. had her go back to s rec. he said not recommended for anyone with under 30 db at 500hz. He walked her though the complete fitting process and had me use tulip click domes. Sent me into store for 15 minutes went by tv’s and registers. I said it was to loud they took it down. Costco mgr. tried rattling coins or hitting them on metal. Said I would need real world experience and at home to know if it was spot on or useable. At home was able to hear near 5000 hz on hearing test and hearbirdsagain.com Did lose some of the sharp speech I bad with the m re. and wife’s voice. Will return and see if we can work on that. Before I left she said that she had applies SmartFit . I no longer notice my tinnitus or have mid headache. What ever the noise was it was enough to be a constant bother and could not be ignored. As I said earlier I have little to any knowledge about ha programs other than what I receive on this site and at Costco. I did like the clarity with m rec. but not the constant eeeee sound tv high pitched voices that seemed to have been higher in frequency. If Rexton rep. or mgr. could have fixed that issue would have been a happy camper. Rexton did not want to go there; again 500 hz at 20/25 db. It appears it’s game over as far as rep is concerned on M rec.

#36

Sorry failed to mention I also tried all dome even power click domes, a mixture of let and right open closed tulip. none helped with excess noise eeeeeee could even hear it with tv and fan on.

#37

I don’t know what the Rexton rep is talking about when he says an M receiver can’t be used by anyone under 30 dB at 500 Hz. I am down 25 dB at 500 Hz and use an M receiver. The issue with the S vs M receiver is at the 4-8 kHz frequency, not 500 Hz. I would expect unless they really turn the gain down, you could be getting into max power output in those higher frequencies with the S receiver.

The eeeeeeee sound yo hear must be feedback. It should have nothing to do with the M receiver unless they have simply cranked gain up so high that it creates feedback. About the only real way you can control feedback is with a better fitting. Have you tried the click sleeves? Signia claims that an open click sleeve can provide better feedback isolation than a double click dome. See this article on click sleeves. The other potentially better option is to go with custom molds. They should fit the best and do the best to control feedback.

#38

Ok heck if I know buy was on the phone with him and mgr when that’s what she was told ( off line she said she did not know that she always ry to fit with m rec.) I was happy with the M except for the steady eee sound and higher pitched voices words such as hits was heard as hitsss ending of words went up in my hearing pitch . I tried every dome they had at store never seen a vented click sleeve. I will try to print your e mail and article on sleeves and take it with me. Do all Costco carry them or is that a special order?
The power dome may have been to large and fill up the ear was uncomfortable I use 8 mm it was a 10/12mm

#39

Click sleeves are the only things I have been offered, other than custom molds. I think the issue is kind of hit and miss using off the shelf generic products. If the fit your ear, then all is good. If they don’t then all is not so good. Here is what they look like. I have tried small and medium and settled on small. They are kind of oval shaped and come in vented and closed. But the closed still has a small vent.

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#40

I have tried and have open and closed except for 8-10 double. I have never seen or been offered a sleeve. bottom row. Will check on next visit later this week. I did mention the DSLv5 to mgr. and to the other tech. both seemed clueless, I think they rely on what their computer graph recommends. They are quick to remind you the tech and the audiologist take the same state exam. They seem to rely on Rexton when they are uncertain. I look at spec. data sheet and there is no reason I could see that would prevent me from the M receiver as you have stated. Instead of changing rec. as 1 resort other option in fitting and tweaking should have been explored. It’s sad when information give on this site is more helpful than the providers. Only good thing is she is open minded and willing to continue to adapt ( so far guess there may be a limit) It looks as if I need to find a good audiologist for my next pair.

#41

One possibility is that the medium receiver has more “floor noise” than the S. This is typically described as a staticky sound. People with good low frequency hearing can often hear it. If you really want to try DSLv5, you can tell the fitter to go to the same section where they can choose SmartFit or NAL-NL2. I don’t really recommend it for somebody new who is just trying to get used to hearing aids though. It tends to really emphasize the high frequencies compared to other fitting regimens.

#42

My tinnitus is similar to the sound you get when hand nears your mic in ha just does not increase in volume. I no idea if I need to try dslv5. I believe you said you use k7 with s rec. our graph looks similar with left ear. Thar rec. works for you I know there are variables which could include a wr scores not been test in over 2 yrs. for wr or srt. I have worn these for 2.5 years and had issues with wife’s voice without asking her to repeat what she said. There was an improvement in her voice clarity with the m rec. noise or feedback or whatever the sound was to much for me. I know you said you tinkered with your setting to make the s rec. work for you. I am confused as to what to ask Costco to do going forward. The 3 thing most interested may not be compatible but watch a lot of tv so want decent sound and wife’s voice, and at least 6000 hz to help with misunderstood words. Is that unrealistic?

#43

Here are their choices in the Connexx fitting software. They can select from 5 fitting formulas. See the First Fit screen shot below:

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Here are their choices for click dome types:

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It sounds like your fitter is quite inexperienced and seems to be just following a fixed recipe for fitting. Do you have an option of trying a different Costco?

#44

What you are describing as tinnitus is almost certainly feedback caused by your domes not sealing well enough or the vents are too large. As far as DSL v5 it certainly would try to give you more high frequency levels. However it would be even more difficult with respect to feedback. You would need custom molds for sure. So, I guess it kind of depends on how badly you want to hear those high frequencies. Here is what it would look like with molds and a M receiver. Your left ear could really use a P receiver if DSL is to be used as even the M is running out of headroom at the high frequencies.

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#45

The 3 thing most interested in may not be compatible but watch a lot of tv so want decent sound and wife’s voice, and at least 6000 hz to help with misunderstood words. Is that unrealistic? I am confused as to what to ask Costco to do going forward. Don’t want to be a pain in the backside S receiver give some feedback quick squeal with higher pitches, and some mis understood words from wife within a 3 ft range.

#46

Have you looked at the REM results? How close did they get you to hearing 6000hz? It might be possible in the left ear, not in the right. How picky are you about “sound quality?” Frequency lowering can definitely make 6000hz audible, but you might not like it. If I’m remembering correctly, you were already complaining about sibilance (harsh sounding sh sound) That results from hearing high frequencies you haven’t heard before. Many people adjust to it. Others don’t (or don’t give themselves enough time–not sure which) TV has an easy fix. Get the device that allows direct streaming to the hearing aids. As far as how to deal with the Costco people. Share the problems you are trying to solve and let them try to solve them. I’d stay away from requests like “I want to hear 6000 hz.” and put it into terms like “I can’t understand my wife.” I don’t remember if you’ve ever shared your word recognition scores. Keep in mind we’re talking about improving your hearing, not perfecting it.

#47

I wouldn’t worry about being a pain in the butt to Costco. However, I learned a long time ago that it is very difficult to push a rope. It sounds like the local fitter is not all that competent. About all that you can do in that situation is keep asking questions. As MDB says ask questions like “Is there a way to help understand my wife?” With your loss in your left ear, DSL v5 is not likely to help. It is most likely to aggravate the feedback problems. What would be nice would be if they could put it into one program and let you try it. However, it sounds like that would be like trying to push a rope with this particular fitter.

Based on what you have described so far, I am not sure you can make a big improvement without going to custom molds. That would let them use more gain without having feedback.

#48

Thanks, it does seem to be a Don Quixote adventure. I’ve became complacent having issues fixed in a couple of tries definitely not with hearing. I know it’s not quite right but can’t quite put it into words that would make it easier for the fitter ( heck I didn’t even know the sound was feedback thinking it was my tinnitus) I will continue reading other post but stop asking questions for a while and see where I can get to with Costco. Thanks again

#49

Sorry, but made a discovery while watching the Marvel movie wife like to use sound system. I turned the noise/party selection on still loud so took sound down 3 beeps (K7’s also changed domes from open 8 mm to rt ear to tulip left to closed 8mm also zero feedback when hands touch mic. area) when movie was over noticed normal tv sounded good wife voice was good still lost words like cease hearing thief instead and k sounds hearing piff instead pick. If this could be improved upon a little I may have found a sweet spot. Guess noise program block sounds allowing speech to be better heard then lowering volume to my individual comfortable level. Can that be transferred to automatic program and then tweaked? I am on way back to Costco Thursday hoping this will help get to a good program level.

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#50

The main differences I see in Connexx between the Automatic program, and the Noise/Party program at least for the KS8 is that in Automatic both Noise Reduction and Microphone are in automatic mode. In Noise/Party they are in manual with noise control set to Strong, and the microphone focus set to iLock.

It looks like you could pretty much do that for the Automatic program too, but you would be defeating most of the automatic functionality for noise control and microphone focus. My thoughts would be to optimize the Noise/Party for your specific needs and keep them both as options.

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#51

I’ll just add that something I’ve found is that decreasing the overall gain in Noise/Party is helpful. Often a lot of the problem in noisy situations is that the noise is overwhelming and taking it down a notch helps a lot.

#52

Yes, in the Basic Tuning, they could cut back on the Master Gain setting for the Noise/Party program. I also often find it too loud, but just use my iPhone to drop the volume a step or two.

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#53

I was hoping for a break thru on auto set program wife’s voice is better/louder tv has high freq. pitches I hear the words with some feed back open domes but with any dome higher freq. are high pitched. Noise program louder voices more clarity but high pitches same as above when volume is turned down 3 notches tv very tolerable but wife’s voice declines. Not in noisy environment other than tv being on 8 hrs. a day. Was hoping they could look at where setting was with that program and domes and make adjustment off that for slightly better wife’s voice. I’m old school with flip phone guess I need to get out of the past,