Hi guys, just registered here and uploaded my audiogram.
I’ve been wearing Starkey Soundlens IIC for about 11 years (wow!) and they have been really good at helping me all this time, however Starkey aids don’t work well in noisy situation. Hence I started looking at other options.
So, I went to Costco and was fitted with KS10 with custom molds, first after wearing IIC I didn’t like them as I’m also wearing glasses and now mask. After a while I got used to them, however my speech understanding hasn’t increased at all. Sound was mechanical and not natural, lots of wind noise (I live in windy area).
I didn’t like the app as it doesn’t save my settings.
Streaming to my iPhone worked great.
In the end, I decided to return KS10 and ordered Jabras with custom molds. Costco said I will have to wait till February for them.
KS10 is too short for my audiometric, up today I was using Resound Preza, I like them. Also, I did try out Resound Jabra Enhance & I like them more but did have a problem with the fitting mold (solid-acrylic).
Ultimately I decided on a pair of Phonak Brio 5, 675 batteries with soft mold & a tube. I just picked them today.
The main reason; Jabra enhance cannot go down to 120, and Phonak Brio 5 connected 2 Bluetooth at the same time.
I don’t know about the ks10/phonak p90 but I know the jabra/resound one receivers only go to 105 loss. It looks like you are above that so I would question whether it would work…
Like I said, yesterday afternoon just picked up. So far I can only say; 1. Look like Sounds are more natural, taking into account this is a tube, and Preza was wire+receiver. I never before used tube HAID. 2. Mold is soft, and I never before used half skeleton soft mold, but I am feeling happy bc looks like they have real retention in my ear. 3. The brain has to adjust to it I know. Tomorrow will start the real test on my job.
As an aside note, at the gym, I usually muted the microphone Costco Preza HAID to focus on my Apple Music, but it was, unfortunately, this Costco Brio 5-675 didn’t bother to stop the craziness of gym music. I will research to find a balance between my music, and me, at the gym.
According to Costco HAID professional, Costco Brio 5-675 get to 120, exactly where I’m right now.
For some reason amplifying highs in my right ear results in headaches and wanting to turning the volume down or even switching the aid off.
I don’t think going to Brio would solve the issue as it simply amplifies and makes it louder. However, in most aids, including Jabra there is a compression tech that can at least convert some of the highs to a more manageable level.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
I feel here in the forum there are some with the capacity to answer that question, also it would be good to combine the points of view here with the opinion of the professional who is with you. In my case, I just wanted to give information about my experience with Costco Jabra, I do reaffirm that I liked it a lot but two points moved me to Costco Brio 5-675.
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Resound Jabra cannot reach 120 to my profound level. However, I am very surprised at the work they do. Resound Preza taught me to be confident, and Jabra gave me much more assertiveness in my communication. However, the unpleasant event with the molds made me look towards Brio. Here I want to explain the mold problem was a simple professional handling error.
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I found out Brio can be connected to my iPhone, and at the same time, can be connected to my Chromebook Bluetooth. At my job, there is another iPhone I going to connect via Bluetooth.
The fact Brio comes down to my 120 is a welcome ability.
There’s two kinds of compression. Compression (used alone) means giving more amplification to softer sonunds than louder sounds. This results in soft sounds not sounding much different than loud sounds. The dynamic range is limited. There’s also frequency compression which is a form of frequency lowering where high frequency sounds are shifted to lower frequencies so that they can be heard.
Just a quick FYI. I was at Costco yesterday for my 1st Jabra follow-up appointment (much happier with adjustments) and I asked why she didn’t want to fit me for the KS10. She said with my loss, she feels Jabra covers my loss better. But, she also said that she is rarely advising KS10’s because in 2021 she (manager of this store) has a 69% return rate. That includes unsatisfied patients as well as quality issues, which she said are over 50% higher than any other aid they sell.
Mr. C-
What is your understanding of the adjustments that were needed? I wear Jabra’s and have not had the issues you have mentioned, but it would be useful to understand what was happening with yours.
That’s interesting. My HIS stated more returns with them as well but nothing about quality control. I felt from the initial walk around that the dynamic range on the philips, and jabra, were far better. But of course that’s just my hearing.
My biggest complaint was the shifting directionality causing an auto adjustment that changed the “brightness” to the sound, then returning, and repeating. She turned the “directional” setting off or way down. That solved that issue (not sure how this will effect other listening situations or environments yet)
Many times I was overwhelmed by noises far away, but still couldn’t hear a person next to me. She said she adjusted something with the compression I believe. I also complained about sharpness at high frequency sounds and she said my gain was to high in the upper freqs (I had a different HIS fit me at initial) and lowered the settings. I also asked her to bump up the bass in my streaming program to the max.
As I mentioned my issues she seemed to adjust settings as we talked so I’m sure she did more than I’m aware of and she spent a good 45 minutes with me. I am very pleased with the changes, but once I’m back at work will be the real test. I will be fitted for custom molds since these GN domes are not the most comfortable, at least compared to my previous aids double power domes.
Adding that gain was increased in my bad ear, equaling out the sound…
Glad you are happy with your Jabra’s.
Just a quick update. I was fitted with Jabras hearing aids and they were horrible, even worse than KS10s. Sound was tinny, streaming totally lacked in Bass. Once I sat in my car and turned on radio, I wanted to shut it down immediately. I live in windy area and I couldn’t hear anything with the wind. It was just lots of static noise - I have none of it in my IICs, and a bit better in KS10 that I tested earlier.
Back to my old Starkey Soundlens 
Honestly, I have no idea what to do next.
Probably will find an audiologist that can fit Starkeys. But we don’t have Evolve AIs in Australia yet.
I don’t know about the getting use to it,I am a 11 year hearing aid person,and I just picked up the Jabra,and having a problem with them,well ,many problems with them. I have these new Jabra for 3 months now and will go to another Costco to try a new hearing aid women this time,she also has a hearing problem and wears hearing aids,I have high hopes for this one.
They do not help with the wind noise!I have the 3 mic;s also,
The best solution I’ve found for wind noise is to either use the program for outdoors (forget what it’s called - outside, something or other 
or what I do is have the all around program but setup with the m&rie, which uses the in ear primarily. No wind noise at all.
Thank you for the information,I am seeing a new fitter at another Costco soon,I will mention this to her,it really is a hit or miss with these adjusters at Costco! the outdoor program did not work for me at all,and this fitter rush me,gave me about 15 mins, of her time,
AlexQuatro
I had a similar initial experience with Jabra. I described the sound as thin to the Audi. After many adjustments the sound became acceptable. I tried the Philips 9030 and immediately liked them better but not perfect so many more trips to the Audi were in my future.
I purchased a NoahLink from Amazon, downloaded the HearSuite software and am programming them myself. After a month of fine tuning I feel I am getting close to their potential for me.
The point is that it takes time and skill to adjust hearing aids to fit properly. All the top hearing aids do basically the same thing so having a good Audi is critical - or do it yourself.
An interesting aside is that my right ear is easier to fine tune than my left. I found that the dullness I was hearing was due to my left side.
That’s what I meant, it may become acceptable after a couple of changes. But I don’t want to settle on acceptable. If I switch from IIC to RIC I want a major difference, not just an improved noise filter…
Hi Kate,all I want is a comparisons about the K10 and Jabra I am a flip top cell user,ha so on this web site everyone is a smart phone user,so you might be a little better off in getting information then me ha