Just picked up Phonak Audeo Spheric I90

Just got back from Aspire Hearing after picking up my Audeo Spheric I90 hearing aids; they are nothing short of transformative and life altering! Stopped to eat immediately after leaving the Audiologists office and test out the Spheric in loud noise program (my Audiologist created a manual Spheric in loud noise program so I can turn it on whenever I need it) at a First Watch Cafe where the ceilings are open with all metal, walls are hard with no soft absorbing materials, floors are concrete and the noise is always overwhelming no matter how many patrons are present. For the first time in over 20 years since I began wearing hearing aids I didn’t utter the word “what?” when my server took my order or look at my wife to explain what she was asking! I heard every conversation easily amongst my family, including my 15 and 11 year old soft spoken grandsons. On the way home I placed the HA’s back into the manual Spheric in
Loud Noise program in order to easily hear everyone in the car speaking with absolute ease. I tried the “Speech in Car” program, but while it was better than any other hearing aid I previously used (probably have had about 10 pairs of different aids, including Lyric’s which I loved but outgrew their prescriptive range) it was still not as phenomenal as the Spheric in Loud Noise program. During the entire ride home, about 35 miles, I didn’t ask anyone to repeat what they said even one time! I will probably use the Spheric mode every morning, from 6-11am, continuously as I carpool with friends to an indoor Pickleball Club with such horrendous acoustics that everyone has difficulty understanding the scores announced by opposing players. I’m as excited and happy as I’ve ever been after spending over $6000 on hearing aids and convinced that my difficulties in socializing in loud and noisy environments are a thing of the past.

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The Phonak Sphere’s are nothing short of amazing. I would even say life altering. What I find crazy is that while many people experience the same “WOW” moment that you and I (and others) have both experienced…there are still a bunch of people who say they don’t notice any improvement with the Sphere’s. These hearing aids are so good that the only conclusion I can come to is that the person who set them up for those few people didn’t know what they are doing. So strange…

That being said, once you get the Automatic mode in the Sphere’s fine tuned (AutoSense), you will rarely find yourself manually going into Spheric AI mode. AutoSense just gets it right 98% of the time and makes good decisions about when to turn on the Spheric program. This is important to conserve battery usage on these hearing aids.

Enjoy your new ability to hear again.

Jordan

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Great, it sounds like you are as thrilled as some more of us here are. My only comment is that manually putting it into Spheric for 4 hours is going to be a big drain on the battery. Actually, Autosense does a pretty good job of managing Spheric in loud noise without the need of manual intervention. Your audiologist can adjust Autosense to kick in at a lower background noise level if you wish. Doing that will allow Spheric to kick in and out quickly to save battery but still be active when it is needed.

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I agree as well.

:slight_smile:

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Can Autosense be configured to enable Spheric in Loud Noise to automatically turn on whenever I’m in a car?

The Spheric mode is automatically triggered when the noise in your environment hits a certain minimum (I think 75 db but it can be adjusted up/down). When there isn’t enough noise to trigger the Spheric mode and you are in a car, AutoSense will default into the Speech in Car program. This program makes it easier to understand speakers who sit beside or behind you.

Jordan

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I think this sounds probable. Also, it could be related to the individuals’ level and frequency of loss. I’d like to see a correlation graph!

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I have had mine since June 5 with mixed results and not the immediate results others have. Mine are “set at the default setting until I test them.” I had REM. So, I am hoping that my appointment for fine tuning will get these great results and that there will be a visible Spheric speech in loud noise option in my menu of choices.

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Nothing personal, but @JordanK is smashing active forum contributor thanks :blush: :pray:t3:.

But, I disagree with the statement above, for the simple reason that:
Not every one who wears trousers is a man, and not every one who wears a skirt is a woman.

What works for one doesn’t mean it will work for others.

Just my observation :relieved: :slightly_smiling_face: :upside_down_face: :person_shrugging: :smiling_face:

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I love my Sphere I90 for my reverse slope loss… I will say though that for the improvement that the OP and Jordan talk about i think a more closed fitting is needed. For me i didn’t have a “WOW” moment until i switched to and active vent receiver. before that i was in a vented dome and it wasn’t a huge improvement over the Lumity i had previously trialed.

I’m curious if the OP is wearing domes or molds.

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Did your Lumities have earmolds/cShell /SlimTips?

No, vented dome. My Audiologist was against a mold for me. It took switching to a different audiologist in the practice to get REM and even try the active vent.

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I have had my i90s for 8 weeks now. They are a game changer.
I can now watch tv without subtitles, go to restaurants and actually hear conversations.
I had Widex 400s which are only 2 years old but the i90s were so much better i spent the money on them.
One big plus point is my tinnitus is now much more bearable since the i90s cover the higher frequencies much better.
I had a consultation with an audiologist who did his masters looking at tinnitus. He explained that the tinnitus sound fills the frequencies that you have lost the ability to hear. These HAs bring those frequencies back into your range of hearing

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Great. It is a bit annoying that HCPs look at the audiogram and automatically state: “Mild to moderate hearing loss? No customs, only domes!” even when the trial with domes is not satisfactory…

There is link to the example of great improvement with Phonak Lumity after changing from domes to custom SlimTips. I recommend the whole topic below:

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I still wait for cShell to switch to it from my power domes.

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Yes it is critical that the threshold where Spheric kicks in be adjusted. In my case it was lowered and this has been a game changer for me. Then you can rely on auto sense for it to kick in and out.

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Might not be a good idea because you would have to set the threshold so low that it would kick in way too often. Then your battery life might suffer substantially.

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You might find that speech in car program is good enough most of the time. Do folks talk for the entire 4 hours? If not, just turn Spheric speech on manually when you need it. If it is going to be on for four hours take the charger with you. It is pretty small and has two additional charges in it. If Speric is going to on for more than three hours each day make sure the audiologist has unchecked the box that limits use to three hours.

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Me too I just on my second week of trails phonak . I actually really enjoy them they aren’t perfect but I happy to wear them not like the last set for miracle ear they sucked a big one those are the worst they scream and didn’t work these I enjoy wearing them the mold fits great comfortable and never pops out like the ME anyway I think I will keep them it’s a lot bigger but hey they work pretty good :+1:

You need to ask for the “Spheric speech in loud noise” to be added to the menu in the app so you can manually turn it on when needed if it isn’t doing it automatically.

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