KS10 reverts to default volume in 60 minutes ... can this be altered? any work around? Issue resolved

I’m pretty sure this is caused by your phone and not by the Phonaks. Turn off all notifications in your phone.
Every time the phone chimes, the HA switches to the streaming program and delivers the alert tone to the HA.
Then it switches back to the autosense program with its volume.

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This is not an intrinsic KS10 issue. It will be related to signals coming from your phone as @sterei mentioned above. I have NOT got them paired with my phone for audio (I use the Easy line app only and pair them with an ipad for streaming content) - I have never experienced what you describe happening.
Before you go writing to “Phonak” - technically I think they are made by Sonova as mentioned here…


and I would talk to your Costco Audi first… just my 2 cents :wink:
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I’ve read that for the Phonak Paradise there have been problems with user programs and controls that were supposedly fixed by a firmware update fairly recently. Check with your HIS at Costco about this as far as for the cousin KS10’s.

Additionally, when that firmware update is done there are some user issues that have come up. Dr. Olson has a blurb about that here:

I’ve no idea whether this relate specifically to your problem, but the standard procedure with an issue like this is always to first check for updates and that they are properly configured.

Thanks all for input, and I will bring it up with Costco fitter at my followup appt. He is very experienced but we are new to each other. It is actually fitter who told me that manual volume adjustments revert to default level after 60 minutes. I didn’t think much about that when he mentioned it as there was tons more he was pointing out. Per @sterei it seems like Costco fitter might be incorrect as sterei indicates that the reason for change is smartphone providing an audio notification.

I have turned off most but not all audio notifications. While writing this I got one audio notification; the program had already been on autosense with volume reduced and after audio notification the HAs did not revert to default/zero volume. I will track more closely what leads to the volume change (triggered by ______; or simply time based as fitter indicated; or ____).

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@jay_man2 While I typically have used HAs and allowed their intelligence (autosense for KS10/Phonak) to do the driving 95% of the time, there are for me numerous times when I want to over ride well adjusted HAs. For 1st time in my exp., fitter has enabled frequency lowering. During these 1st few days with freq lowering and new HAs my brain is a bit fatigued by all of the input. Thus I have wanted a lower than default volume and then ramping it up for several hours a day as I adjust. With HAs at default volume typing on traditional keyboard gives very noticeable mechanical clicking; might end up with a soft key keypad to deal with that aspect of things if indeed the fitter set default volume will be best for speech intelligibility.
On a more ongoing basis when watching TV with someone and not streaming to my HAs it makes sense for them to adjust TV audio output to their liking and for me to then adj. HAs. I have two other situations where I would probably consistently want a different volume; and might ask to treat each of these as a separate program, however my own preference is to have Autosense and as few other programs as possible so there are fewer choices to cycle through.

Again thanks all for your input, and in interim will experiment with turning off all audio notifications, and alert my employer of how to get my attention when something is truly urgent/important.

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Thanks for explaining your use of the volume controls. I hope you find a solution to this issue soon. Please keep us updated.

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Thanks for that and I will check with fitter at scheduled follow up appt. which will be remote.

Do you or anyone know whether a firmware update can be done remotely (versus in person).

I can’t speak directly to Phonak, but ReSound and Jabra aids that need them can get firmware updates directly in the app. At least the iPhone app. I’m not sure about the Android version of the app.

Thanks @mingus and @jay_man2, but expect that my firmware is the latest.
As far as I can tell from this forum and from Google search the Phonak firmware update was from about late April 2021. Since I got my Costco KS10s, five days ago I’d certainly expect that Costco would be very on top of any newer (within last 10 days) firmware update. Costco should certainly be motivated at corporate level to make sure that HAs they sell/trial to customers leave the store with the latest firmware to avoid extra work for fitters and frustration for customers. Nonetheless, I will check on the firmware with fitter.

I checked this with my Phonak P90s. After streaming, they revert to the program that was enabled before streaming, including the volume setting. As far as I remember, this wasn’t the case before the last firmware update. I don’t know about the KS10, maybe the last firmware update for them hasn’t been released yet.
And one more suggestion: Why don’t you turn off Bluetooth on your phone for a few hours or so? That way you can definitely prove if it’s really the cause of the problem or not.

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Thanks @sterei. Yes, I will turn off BT for an hour to determine whether when BT streaming or other BT use to HAs when BT ends triggers the result of volume change. In my one example below, it does not.

There are 3 things I am trying to determine: #A how are the KS10s desgined/programmed to operate; #B how are my KS10s functioning re: volume changes that are not manually chosen; #C how to get what I want - retain my manual volume adjustment without reverting.

Right now for #B, my KS10s do not operate as you described your Phonak P90s (after your firmware update): Namely …
I selected a saved custom program and manually changed its programmed volume; then
BT streamed audio, and then stopped that streaming, resulting
yes a reversion but NOT like you to the previous program, but to Autosense and yet retained the manually chosen volume (versus the default Autosense prog volume which is zero/0).

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Hi Again,
as far as I am aware the two things you can’t do remotely are

  1. The feedback test (specifically told this by the Cotco Audi)
  2. Update the firmware (I THINK I was told this by the costco audi :smiley: )

I will experiment with my non-connected KS10s and report back wrt the volume issue…

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@Oz-Tack Thanks for comments and for testing out the behavior of your HAs. Since I turned off some additional audio Notifications on iPhone, it is now quite rare that I am getting an annoyingly intrusive audio sound from HAs. Also a benefit to me is that so far HAs are retaining my manually adjusted volume AND this is true even when BT streaming ends.

I am 99.8% sure that my original complaint was not user error or user settings. While I can point to some changes that I have made in iPhone notifications, I am not yet convinced that I can control manual volume adjustments without it reverting to zero/0 default. Ideally I like to be able to do X and produce the undesired result, and then undo X, or do Y and have my desired result. Right now I am in a bit of the magical realm of … it is “suddenly working” but was not before.

It certainly seems that my Costco fitter was wrong in stating that in 60 minutes of elapsed time that manual volume adjustments revert to 0/default. He has 10 years of fitting exp. but his seeming incorrect info lowers my confidence in him. My trajectory seems toward DIY so fitter will become somewhat less vital.

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Sounds like you don’t have the latest firmware if your Aids don’t revert back to your previous program after a notification.

That’s what the latest firmware helped.

@Edma

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@Zebras and everyone I appreciate all of you trying to help and provide clear/useful information.

As I noted in comment 12 that when BT ends my KS10s reverts AND retains previously manually set volume, BUT unlike @sterei the reversion is to Automatic program and not to the program that was active before the BT streaming had happened. But @sterei is using Phonak P90; and based on @Zebras comment just prior to this one, I believe he also had Phonak HAs. If reversion is designed/programmed by Phonak to revert to both prior program and prior manually set volume for that program then either my HAs are not functioning properly or perhaps Costco has not updated its firmware as those with Phonak HAs like @sterei have only experienced this behavior after the June 2021 firmware update. It is conceivable to me that Costco might not be in any hurry to have its firmware be parallel to what Phonak has in its firmware, but I have no idea - perhaps Costco contracts with Phonak to create the Costco firmware as it does for the underlying hardware.

I also note:
Per this thread on forum (How to tell what firmware version - Phonak Paradise) Phonak updated firmware in USA in early June 2021. In that thread no one had any idea of what was changed or fixed or added as features.

KS10 (similar but not identical to Paradise 90) became available in April 2021. Our forum and google search does not indicate what was original firmware OR whether there was some update to it. Most do not think that the firmware is identical to Phonak P90 firmware.

Both forum and Phonak website indicate that user can not see what firmware they are on; can only be seen in Target software; and that firmware update can not be done remotely.

All of this motivates me more to get into DIY when I can make time.

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I’d much prefer to put my hearing aids in and forget them too, however there are several times a day I adjust mine. My work environment is sometimes too noisy, so I turn em down. Sometimes I’m talking with someone who speaks very softly, so I turn em up. Etc.etc.

I can confirm that with my KS10s and my setup (easyline paired only - not audio paired with iPhone) - I left them on autosense for 2.5 hours with increased volume from default - listened to music, silence, tv etc etc so autosense changed modes within itself - at no time was the volume reset to default.
No idea if that helps :smiley:

@Oz-Tack Yes that helps quite a bit especially because no one else on this thread seems to have KS10 but rather have Phonak P90 (or similar).

The additional thing that would help is to do this pattern:

  1. In Easy Line choose any program than Autosense, and then manually adjust volume to something other than the zero/0 level.

  2. Keep with this program - probably only needs to be a minute or two (not your previous very thoroguh workout of Autosense in your prior comment).

  3. Listen to music or anything else that would (without your doing anything yourself) switch things to BlueTooth which should trigger EasyLine to move to the BT Streaming program. Listen for a minute or two. Then stop listening. This last action should have EL move out of the BT Streaming program.

  4. Now look at EasyLine and see what it shows:
    If it were my HAs it’d show the program being Autosense and the volume would be whatever I had set in step (1) above.

Those who have Phonak P90 AND have updated to the latest Phonak firmware made available early June 2021 report that for this step (4) not only would the volume be retained from step (1) but the program would also be from step (1) and thus they would NOT see things being reverted to Autosense.

Mine are different - went from selected default easyline TV program with +2 volume.
Streamed music - automatically went to streaming at volume 0/default .
Stopped streaming - reverted to TV program +2 volume…
shrug
Do you have the latest Easyline app? 3.0.3 released about 8 weeks ago iirc.
Do you have the latest KS10 firmware update? No idea what it is… :stuck_out_tongue:

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@Oz-Tack Much thanks - I really appreciate you.Even though I had downloaded EasyLine app 2 weeks ago it was only on V3.0.2, and when updated my KS10 behavior (meaning not reverting manual settings) is what you report.

In my OP, I have summarized in detail what I have learned from this thread. If you read that summary and there are any inaccuracies please let me know so I can revise it. My goal is to summarize things so that anyone reading this topic in the future can choose to only read the summary and not miss anything important from all of the contributors to this thread.

Old thread, but figured I’d contribute…
I got my KS10’s in December '21, so after the date of the reported firmware/software updates. I’ve noticed that if I change programs either through the HA buttons, or the Easyline app, when next I go back into Easyline, the HA’s are back on Auto. I’m not sure if it’s happening due to a time limit function, or if it’s the activation of the app itself that’s making the change. I hear no warning tones when the change happens.

And on a totally unrelated note… My HA’s went back to Phonak a few days ago due to having lots of other strange issues.
One unit is almost always 20 to 30 less on battery charge than the other. It used to be the right one when it was set as the master unit. Now it’s the left one ever since things were reset to make it the master.
Many times when the battery level is quite different (moreso than usual) I can hear a very faint ticking coming over the lower battery level unit. The clicking appears to be every second as if sitting next to a clock.

Also, When I plug the units into the charger in the evening, many times one of the units will glow solid green, as if fully charged, even though it was at a typical battery level for the end of a full days use. Sometimes it will be the right unit and sometimes the left. Removing and installing them many times from the charger is needed to get the indicator lights (and the corresponding battery level numbers on the app) to change to what they actually are. If I leave a mostly depleted unit in the charger and the green light is showing, the next morning that HA is dead. A green light, although false, keeps the HA from charging.
And lately, with the newest version of Easyline, even though both units are BT connected to my fully updated Android phone (pixel 7 pro) and working as expected, I cannot get the right HA to pair with the Easyline app. No amount of turning phone/HA/app on and off helps, nor does unpairing or uninstalling the app help to get the right HA to pair with the app.
Back to Phonak they went along with the charging case. Costco says Phonak will most likely replace them as opposed to trying to repair them. I can only hope. Now, it would be nice if they actually helped me in hearing live voices better… And would be nice if they helped when in movie theaters, as ever since I started wearing them I can no longer make out most of the dialog during movies (no the theater doesn’t have a loop…they only have a portable video device you need to look at for subtitles which ruins the experience).