@David1959, I’m glad to hear that your Phonaks are working for you, but…as a new HA wearer the only thing you have to compare with the Phonaks is unaided hearing. The Phonaks may seem like a revelation to you, but it’s also possible that you might try Oticon or Widex or another brand and find that they are even better than the Phonaks.
In a perfect world (for patients, at least) you would be able to trial as many HAs as you wanted, and you could have unlimited adjustments with each HA and be able to switch back and forth among different HAs and different adjustments until you had the best HA with the best adjustment for your personal taste. And your audi would be equally skilled in adjusting all brands of HAs.
In the real world that can’t happen, but, if I were you, after getting used to the Phonaks, I would ask to try at least one other brand for a few weeks. I would suggest Widex for the comparison, as I found Oticon and Phonak to be similar, but Widex to be different. Some others here will, I’m sure, disagree. Make sure that your audi is experienced in programming the second brand. IMO you shouldn’t insist on trying a brand that your audi is inexperienced in programming.
I would also make sure that if you preferred the Phonaks over the second brand, that you could go back and buy the Phonaks.
On whichever HAs you decide to buy, have your audi set up a separate program for performing and/or listening to music. On that program, have the audi set the anti-feedback setting to the minimum setting possible that still avoids frequent feedback. This will help the music to sound more natural and less garbled. Hope this helps. Good luck.