A very interesting article, but I saw no mention of the Rexton/KS method of frequency lowering. I’ve had my KS8 Hearing aids for about two weeks, and I go in today for 2 week adjustment. Yesterday I had lunch with my daughter and her family. It was in a quiet home setting. I understood all of my relatives very well except for my daughter (even though she was sitting right next to me. She has a high and very soft voice. Does anyone hear think frequency compression will help me understand her?
Your hearing is not really sloped, so I would guess no.
Soft speech is a separate adjustment so you could have soft speech boosted. I’ve had to do that twice and soft speech is still too low.
The KS8s use Frequency Compression. There are several good articles on frequency lowering and there’s been a fair amount of discussion on the forums about it. Googling Frequency Lowering and 20Q will get you quite a few good articles. You’re not an obvious candidate, but it might help. It usually takes some playing around with settings. It’s not a just turn it on kind of thing. You also might benefit from just bumping up the gain in the higher frequencies. Might even consider a special program for listening to your daughter. If it would be feasible, bring her to an appointment at Costco and see what they can do.
I visited Costco today and told them about understanding my daughter. They boosted some of the higher frequencies. When I asked about frequency compression, they sad there is not a setting like that.
Yeah, there are an increcible amount of options in the fitting software and people aren’t familiar with all of them. The KS8 definitely has frequency compression. They call it Bandwidth Compression (I confirmed it on the datasheet that can be found with KS8 Product Info post on this site) To get to the settings in Connexx (fitting software), one goest to Fine Tuning, Bandwidth Features and then selects Enable Bandwidth Compression. Then one has options for how strong or weak to make the settings.
I guess my audiologist isn’t well trained in KS8 software. Are you an audiologist? Or do you have access to fitting software?
I’m not an audiologist but I do have the fitting software.
What kind of interface hardware do you use?
I have a minipro, cs44 cables and 312 programming pills. If I were getting new aids now and starting over with programming equipment, I’d think seriously about the NoahLink Wireless.
I have size 13 batteries, but I guess you can get the pills for that? A couple of questions: does it void your Costco warranty and do the Costco audiologists get mad if you tinker yourself? I’m a little afraid that they might say: “I won’t work with your HAs anymore”.
Yes, they make 13 sized pills and although I think that’s what you would need, never assume anything in hearing aid program.
Nothing on the warranty says anything about being void if you do your own programming. For me it all worked out very naturally. Initially I had no intent on doing self programming but wanted to peak at the software so I downloaded it. I highly recommend that to anybody with an inquisitive bent if you really want to know the options in programming. From poking around with the program, I found options I wanted to try and pointed them out to the hearing aid fitter. She was surprised and fascinated that I had the programming software. After a shortwhile I decided I didn’t want to bug the hearing aid fitter for every little change I wanted to make and got the mini pro, cables and pills. At a subsequent visit I mentioned that I could now program them and she was again surprised and fascinated. I also had to remind her to use the programming from my aids instead of what they had on file. So in short, no problem at all. If they ever did try something like you fear, I think the appropriate response would be “Really, could you show me where that is in the warranty or your policy?” I think the key thing is to be credible. If you act like a flake and come in with hearing aids with busted battery doors, they might not be very understanding, but as long as you’re being reasonable and not making extra demands of staff, you’re actually saving them time and creating a more satisfied customer.
Where did you buy the Minipro and the other HW you need? I am a retired electrical engineer, so I will be very careful. Also you said you wished you had gotten the Noahlink. Does it work with the same software you downloaded?
@DanTheMan: Check out the DIY category here. Everything you need to know is there. I and a couple other people here bought from Buyhear. Tell them the aids you have and they’ll set you up with the proper cables and all and sell it all to you as like a kit. Try not to spend much more than $225 if you’re in the US. Otherwise aliexpress from China as mentioned in the big threads about DIY.
I’m upwards to 2 hours away now from my nearest Costco. When I got the aids I was about 1.5 away. Before I bought the aids I was a reader here and learned about the self-programming. So I knew pretty much right away that I was destined for it. I dutifully went for the appointments after initial fitting and had all the questions about adjustments. But I said little to nothing about DIY. In fact I mentioned at the possibility of it to one of the fitters and she promptly shunted me off to a different fitter wherein I said nothing about it. Then I got the aids. Then there came a time when I had no other questions for her and I haven’t been back since. It was then that I got into the self-programming.
That’s my story. Mostly motivated by distance.
I said I’d seriously consider the NoahLink Wireless (it’s different than NoahLink) As Z10 said, check out DIY section, but precision of language usage is tab in DIY. Pills are not flex strips (I still screw up). NoahLink and NoahLink are different devices, ETC. It’s key that your programming device is compatible with your hearing aids.
I use NoahLink Wireless with Signia NX. Finished with Minipro and pills. Check their website for compatible hearing aids. KS8 is Rexton and compatible.
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Do you get any pushback from your audiologist when he finds out you’re programming your own aids?
I didn’t tell my audi I self program my own aids (the ones I bought from her), but I told her I heard that people do it themselves and she gave a surprising reaction that she didn’t know people could do that or should do that or if they were allowed to do it. Because of this reaction, I stopped short of telling her that I do it because i don’t want her to give me any trouble in case I need to make warranty claims through her.
That’s a pretty naive reaction from a hearing professional in my opinion. If they know their field enough, they should know that it’s doable, has been done by many, many users effectively, and if they (the pros) support it, it may help save THEM a lot of office time with their patients. It’s a win win for everybody if the patient is willing and able (knowledgeable) enough to do it.
How did you enter the baseline for a starting point? Did the software read the program from your aids. Did you need to input your audiogram?
Yes, I needed to enter the audiogram. When the aids are connected to my computer through the minipro, one of the options is to detect the hearing aids. When I chose that option, it reads all of the programming from the hearing aids. Regarding pushback from hearing aid fitter. I thought I answered elsewhere, but didn’t see it. Essentially no. The reaction was surprise and fascination, but I’d built up some credibility with her before I got the equipment and started programming.
You mentioned that you were using the Minipro but that if you did it again you would go to the Noahlink wireless. It seems that the Noahlink wireless is much more expensive. Is it worth the difference?