Hollow tubes vs wired speaker

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 1:16pm

What was at the end of the tubes? Was it a dome? Just curious because I was wondering about shifting from the RIC to a type of HAs whereby the sound comes down the plastic tube to the ear. BTW, anyone know the proper terminology for the HAs that are behind the ear and use the tubes vice a RIC?

Also, FYI, I was talking to my audiologist about moving up to a set of HAs that is controllable by a smartphone app. She was very enthusiastic about the Oticon HA IF one wanted to control them via a smartphone app.

KenP · February 13, 2018, 1:59pm

Tubes are BTE aids.

I don’t see the high replacement cost unless it is cheaper because you pay for all support. If that is the case, you price reduction should be 50% in ala carte pricing. Otherwise, you can get them online for that or a bit less and pay him per visit with the online vendor giving you at least a two year warranty for repairs. You new guy sounds like he’d charge you for all repairs and pocket that.

BTE tubes need replacement about every 6 months. Will he charge you for that?

Look to Costco for a longer warranty coupled to lower price.

MDB · February 13, 2018, 2:00pm

Hearing aids “with tubes” are BTEs (Behind the Ear) . BTEs can be further differntiated by being “thin tube” as well as the standard sized tube. The classic reason to use a BTE is if you need more power as RICs have pretty powerful receivers now.

Although Oticon Opns have a great reputation, they are not known for having a great app. Resound Linx 3D (or Forte 8 from Costco) have great apps.

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 3:43pm

FWIW, a good friend of mine, another senior, got his first pair of RIC HAs from an audiologist with sterling ratings. Next pair he got was Oticons, RIC, at COSTCO. He paid about 50% less for them at COSTCO and he said, just last week, that he has been completely satisfied with their sales and service.
That said, I live in an area which has a quarterly publication (Washington Consumer Checkbook), a local equivalent of Consumer Reports, which rates service providers: doctors, dentists, audiologists, painters, etc. They list the HA services of the 1/2 dozen COSTCOS in the area and the ratings vary widely. The highest rating for Overall Quality was 93%; lowest was 59%. If there is more than one COSTCO near you, it would behoove you to check them out before deciding

MDB · February 13, 2018, 3:49pm

Costco does not carry Oticons. They do carry Bernafons, which are made by the same parent company, but they are not Oticons.

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 3:49pm

Have to agree with this. My senior pal showed me the Oticon App on his iPhone X. Not very impressive, I was expecting an app which somewhat resembles the equalizer (if that’s what it’s called) on a good stereo system, like this:

The Oticon’s app seemed sadly lacking.

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 4:00pm

I will double-check with my friend, but fairly certain the app he showed me on his phone was Oticon. I just messaged him, but no reply. Perhaps COSTCO offers different products in different geographic areas?

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 4:02pm

You are right; I was wrong, His are ReSound HAs. My bad

pvc · February 13, 2018, 4:19pm

What would you do with that?

z10user2 · February 13, 2018, 4:27pm

If that was on your phone and could control left and right independently then that would be awesome. (for all phone sound output activities of course)
It would be even better if HA’s could be controlled similarly.

pvc · February 13, 2018, 4:43pm

Really? In addition to the hearing aid programming that compensates for your specific hearing loss, or to replace the hearing aid programming that compensates for your specific hearing loss?

z10user2 · February 13, 2018, 4:47pm

Ah. Indeed. Good to clarify. Always on the ball that pvc.
I (perhaps many people) will go some times without HA’s on. Using headphones from the phone listening to things it would be useful to adjust left and right equalizer to somewhat match ones audiogram.
I do that playing from my computer.

Edit: I re-read my previous post and yes i do mean in the HA’s. To have finer grained adjustment capability beyond just simple “tone” for odd situations. Then let it go back to the programmed settings.

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 6:17pm

But might it not sometimes be advantageous or useful to be able to tweak the settings for difficult environments? E.g., my bugaboo is restaurants with 100% hard surfaces. I.e., no carpets, no drapes, etc., to absorb sound. Only harshly reflective surfaces, like tile, formica, etc. I don’t have all the answers; just asking.

z10user2 · February 13, 2018, 6:23pm

I’m no expert but I’m not sure equalization would help in that kind of environment.
My KS7’s have a simple tone adjustment that’s basically a gradation from bass to treble.
Do you only have the one restaurant available to you?

pvc · February 13, 2018, 9:14pm

You guys need to quit poking smot and watching purdy lights.

czynsF

z10user2 · February 13, 2018, 9:22pm

mmmmmm…mesmerizing…

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 9:27pm

Medical marijuana has only recently arrived in MD. Maybe if my glaucoma worsens???

carlhammel1 · February 13, 2018, 10:38pm

BTW, what does PVC stand for?

PolyVinyl Chloride

Permanent Virtual Circuit

Premature Ventricular Contraction

Pigment Volume Concentration

Passive Volume Control

Postal Verification Card

Pipe Very Crowded

Pressure Velocity Correction

Plasticized Vitreous Compound

Pedal Volume Control

Partial Volume Concentration

Primary Version Control

Porous Vent Coaxative

Partial Value Code

Personalised Ventilation Center

Previous Virtual Cell

Psychedelic Variable Consciousness

Primitives Volumes and Collections

Plastic and Very Cheap

Prime Venezuelan Calf

Pre-Vacuole Compartment

Passion, Vision, and Committment

Positive Verified Connect

Priority Versus Claim

carlhammel1 · February 14, 2018, 1:20pm

I’m retired with not much to do; this would provide hours of amusement, if nothing else and keep me occupied and out of my wife’s hair.

Keithr · February 27, 2018, 3:32am

Sorry to take so long to respond. I’ve had major computer problems going on, as well as other things.

As for what was at the end of the tubes, I don’t know the terminology to describe the tips. I’ve been calling them all domes; what is a dome and what are the alternatives? I’m not sure which tubes he had me try at the time – it’s been more than a year. He’s used various tips as I’ve tried out several different brands; I could guess at what they were based on what I’ve been using recently, but don’t really remember. I have never noticed a difference in hearing with different tips, but some are more comfortable and some stay in better.

I’ve been waiting for a couple of years for a “Made for Android” hearing aid that would allow the remote control you’re talking about. I finally gave up and have been trying a “Made for iPhone” model (Signia Motion 13 Nx) with my wife’s old iPhone. It works wonderfully, but I was missing too many features and came back to my Android phone.

Signia have a fairly new device called a StreamLine Mic that allows for control with an Android app, among other things. I just started testing it today. It seems to be similar to Oticon’s ConnectClip. I used an Oticon “Streamer” with my old hearing aids that also allowed remote control, but I hated it for its streaming and phone call features.

If you have an iPhone, all of this can be done without an intermediate device, and there’s one less thing to go wrong.

Everyone, feel free to correct me on any of this. I’m clearly not as knowledgeable as many of you here.

(BTW, I have figured out how to get a real “username” here yet, so I don’t know what name will show up on this post.)