As I understand, they are not closing, but integrating into Demant. Perhaps this is due to the decline of the pan-European economy.
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The advertising that youāre listening to something by wearing headphones or earbuds is a good point. I find that like that also.
As far as Bluetooth for me, I use it mostly for app control only on my Resound Nexia 9ās. For any streaming, phone calls, etc, I turned it off for my HA, mainly because I canāt stand the very low quality sound compared to my Apple AirPod Pro 2ās. I can still take a call or stream to my HA, but only if I choose to for whatever reason, the default is sound to my phone. My AirPods are also tuned to my audiogram which makes them even better. Apple is releasing more updates very soon with more audiogram enhancements which may make them even better. I doubt I will use their new hearing aid feature, but it might be helpful for those times when Iām using the AirPods for streaming and active noise cancelation.
My hearing loss is in moderate to severe in high frequency, but pretty good in low and I also have severe 24/7/365 tinnitus. I also greatly prefer open domes which is the worst streaming sound, but even when I tried closed, tulip, or power domes, it sounds very bad to me compared to my AirPods or headphones.
Using Smart Fit and all the great info Iāve found here in this group, I have what I think is just about a perfect setup for the most natural sound, while also being the most comfortable. I went against the trend and standard recommendations and use M&RIE receivers with open domes. That gives me great directionality, very natural sound with the frequencies I canāt hear boosted, much better speech recognition, and Iāve had virtually zero feedback. For phone calls, I just use the phone as if I didnāt have hearing aids. If I want music or streaming for any length of time, I use my AirPod Pro 2ās which are tuned to my audiogram. I also use the Aipods with good tips and active noise canceling as hearing protection for things like mowing while listening to music or podcasts and its great. Not only do I have fantastic sound, the tractor or snowblower is just a nice low hum.
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Wow, do I agree with you Dallyroo about music fidelity! Itās still the poor relation among all the ingenious speech-in-noise developments. And some of those slaughter music unless they can be almost or entirely switched off for the concert. I would like HA developers to get alongside music engineers, loudspeaker developers and indeed musicians for a hands-on. You can count musically savvy HA makers on half the fingers of one hand. Itās barely mentioned in promo material and of course rarely assessed fully in clinic, though from cash-compromised UK we can look enviously at those American audiologists
who install grand pianos!
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I donāt have a music ear, and nevet had one, but i do enjoy all types of music, from classical, country western, rock and roll, to religious. But for decades I couldnāt enjoy it because of my hearing loss and the lack of frequency response of hearing aids, but with my Oticon INTENT1 aids I am enjoying music again, both streaming and live music. I am even enjoying concerts. But for me going to concerts I have to be more in the back of the concert hall and not up close to the stage.
With my INTENT1 aids the sound is better for me with my general program than with the MyMusic program. I donāt understand why. My guess it is due to my hearing loss. I have never liked loud sounds and differently never liked loud music. I find I likebit at a more relaxing level, and not in my face loud.
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Get a program with all the fancy processing features turned off. Great for listening to music and guitar playing with my Phonaks. I agree that the hearing aid companies seem to ignore musical requirements.
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Maybe musicians need to form a support panel snd all write to the big names manufacturers.
The same could be said about those, like me, that just love music and want access to it as a listener.
I think it depends on how you define āhearing aidā anymore! There are the kingpins, now resting on their current laurels (Oticon Intent, Phonak Sphere), but thereās Apple in the picture and a range of previously MP3-music ear bud makers re-defining their products for those with hearing loss. Over-the-counter aids are now as common as ear pods and prescription aids.
So I welcome all the variety weāre seeing on the market now. For the truly profoundly deaf, we may need to go the clinical route with an audiologist. But if there are hearing boosters/clarifiers to help ANYONE who feels theyād benefit from that, itās a trend moving in the right direction.
Now there are options for budget-minded, shy folks who prefer to keep their hearing issues to themselves, folks who need the aids for career and quality of life, and then those who flaunt their aids with bright colors and playfulness!
My only HUGE grouse at this point is the very unwelcome trend to rechargeable EVERYTHING. I have zero margin for hearing without aids in my ears. If I want to camp, go overseas, get lost in a jungle, whatever, how am I supposed to plug in my charger for the aids? DOH! Battery-operated aids are going the way of the dodo, and I fear Iāve bought the last of the previous top-line aids from Phonak: their 312-battery Lumity Life. I absolutely DREAD being forced into the rechargeable world again, and have dragged my feet on the Sphere for that reason - even as speech in LOUD places is still my Holy Grail.
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I totally agree. At least my dedicated āMusicā program turns off ALL autosense and things to give me the best dynamic range I can have - given the compression I still have with my Phonak Lumity Life aids.
And then you add crappy MP3-quality downloads and ānewly remasteredā (and ridiculously COMPRESSED) albums online that seem to dull the dynamic range even more. I suppose hearing aid makers consider the enjoyment of music as a much lower priority than the HOLY GRAIL of speech in loud noise, but to your point, does the market research prove that? And are we asking too much if we want both?
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Charging is not the only problem - there is also the problem of battery degradation. After some time, all electronics start working less and less - and you either need to throw out the old and buy a new one, or somehow change the battery.
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Yes, that is TRUE! I had to buy TWO (redundant) pairs of Lumity Life rechargeable aids cuz I could only get 14 hrs/day of use, and would therefore need to swap in the backup pair to get through a long day.
So then I got sly, and decided to send in BOTH pairs of aids for the rechargeable battery replacement one at a time before their warranties ran out, beginning in Feb. First pair took several weeks to come back and they had a horrific squeal in the RIGHT aid. So I used my old Marvel battery backup aids and sent in the 2nd pair of rechargeables. They also came back with that same horrific squeal! It tooks a few more months of delays, vacation, yada yada, DELAY, and then I come to find out that the squeal was cuz these BOTH needed to have Feedback Mgt run on them before being returned.
Iād never have gone through that malarkey if I hadnāt tried to āgameā the system and get these rechargeable batteries swapped for replacements 6 mos shy of their 3-year warranty period. Thereās no way around having rechargeables going DOWN. They will degrade, and one fine day, just GIVE OUT. If the owner doesnāt act proactively and get the batteries changed before that day ā¦ well they could be SOL in the wrong place at the wrong time with no way to quickly change a battery on their own.
Give me battery-operated aids ANY DAY, for less clutter and greater independence.
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Absolutely. Last year I bought a Vax floor cleaner with 2 lithium ion batteries. This is the same tech as our rechargeable hearing aids. One has completely failed already, with minimal use.
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Oh no, weāre going into the endless loop of batteries vs rechargeables!!!</Humorous comment>
Note for UK readers: According to the OED, āhumorousā is an acceptable spelling of this adjective for countries formerly in the British Empire
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We have posted many many helpful OPs on the subject of Music on this forum, with links to professional HOH Musician websites, such as https://musicandhearingaids.org/ among others.
Thereās a wealth of info out there for audiophiles, and musicians.
Just do a search on Music on our forum, and youāll see plenty of info.
Your best bet, imho, is to go DIY, and program your own music program in your listening environment.
Youāll be amazed at how much you can enjoy music again!!
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Maybe for a bone in your arm 
.
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wrong, some of the demand hearing aids have lithium ion battery replaceable hearing aids.
The real constrain is battery consumption, as the hearing devices need to run algorithms plus connect to the phone, stream + have enough battery for 24+ hrs.
With more efficient algorithms we would be able to run, speech separation. This was being done 6 years ago it is probably something which will come in some timeā¦ no doubtā¦
That speech segregation is so neat. I wonder if the profile you set up for Apple Personal Voice could be used as a sample voice for the speaker whoās voice is to be segregated. The Video above says that it needs about 3 minutes speech in a quiet environment to train it. Create a Personal Voice on your iPhone, iPad or Mac ā Apple Support (UK) (Apple Personal Voice) and if you were sitting with other iPhone users you could add them to the conversation group so it can focus on their voices.
When people feel the need to produce a YouTube video rather than putting their thoughts in writing their message is usually tailored to analphabetes.
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