I looked into Speech Enhancer and see that it was introduced on the Paradise 90. Coming from Marvel to Paradise, I missed that there was a new setting in Target to change the degree of SE in a calm situation. I must play with it on my own P-90s.
I’ll try to upload a Phonak paper in case you haven’t seen it, and it might be useful to you. I found the testing setup very interesting, with loudspeakers at 4 different distances from the wearer playing the same sound clip at the same volume and assessing the wearer’s ease/ability to hear and comprehend.
This 100%. To answer the original question I would say that generally changes are minimal and it’s ok to skip a generation or two but every now and again something special happens. I am a Phonak wearer mostly. Paradise and Lumity were not enough of a change but infinio with the Hardware AI chip has been a revelation. Speech in noise must improved, battery life much improved.
@HomerSimpson.
Sometimes I wonder about the validaty of the word recognition test. A couple of times I’ve done a word recognition test in a noisy background. The noise is a consistent sound of white noise from the headphone. Isn’t that too easy for the brain to push it to the background? Noise in real life is more vairable and unexpected.
Also they often use meaningful words. So your brain is working to hear them properly. Back in the day in my IT job I came across nonsensical names of programs and files like PBD123. I remember discriminating between a P and a B was one of the hardest.
I’m starting to think the same thing. I have been working with the same audiologist for the last 10 years (am a lifelong hearing aid user since age 12). He’s been acting strange lately after I roadtested the Phonak Sphere and Oticon Intent without much success. Out of the blue he’s been talking about how severe my hearing loss is (not true) and then last time starting talking about my getting a cochlear impact (are you kidding me?). My current aids are Oticon Opn S1 and they serve me fine except for noisy situations so that is why I am looking for an upgrade. Wow how can I find a good audiologist?
I found a good one by looking at Google reviews. Some colleges and universities have a hearing and balance program. Students guided by teachers. Possibility?
I went from Phonak Audeo’s in the 2008 to Resound Quattro’s and the difference was huge. I couldn’t hear well with the early Phonak Audeos. Now I went from Resound One to Jabra 20 and did not notice any real difference - i couldn’t hear well with either of them. Next I trialed Phonak Audeo Infinio Sphere I90 and its a night and day difference in terms of what sounds I hear, and what speech i can understand. I can hear much better with the phonaks compared to the jabra and resound hearing aids.
I once had a discussion with a young doc in residency, who was a friend of my son-in-law. We were looking for a new physician at the time. I thought to ask him, “Geoff, how do I find a good doc?”. I followed with questions such as years of experience, reputation of school where graduated, board certification, online reviews, etc. As I was going through my list, he would shake his head slowly, almost painfully. Finally I ran out of options. At that point he said to me “word of mouth”. I was stunned. Turns out it was excellent advice. Patients may not know all of the technical details of what their providers are doing, but they generally know results, lol. So my advice is to start noticing friends who have HAs - they’re everywhere - and having discussions.
Interestingly and coincidentally, Geoff is now a cochlear implant specialist, focused area pediatrics.
I built my service business by word of mouth.
As a matter of fact when they called for service I would ask who told you about me.
That’s always the best way.
I’ve gone from Phonak Naida P70 UP which I think came out in 2021/22 to Oticon Xceed 1 UP which came out in 2019.
I found a good example of how Phonak work and how Oticon work for speech in noise. It’s a classic example of why I felt deaf with Phonak and hearing with Oticon.
I don’t plan to upgrade anytime soon. I was never happy with the settings on my Phonak HAs but I am with Oticon.
