I would like some advice on whether I would benefit much from the latest NHS HA’s in my area which are these.
Or I may possibly be able to get these from Cost - Co in the UK https://www.costco.co.uk/hearing-aid @ a cost of £1200, and a couple of 300 mile round trips etc.
Do you think it would be a wise move to go for the more expensive ones or stick with the NHS ones, which in theory I could receive at the end of this month.
Thanks for reading and your time, it’s appreciated.
Christian
This is a very tricky question because to a certain extent it depends on your own personal preferences.
The danalogic aid is made by Resound. This is a very good brand. Crucially, the NHS will probably give you a superpower aid, as you have a profound loss in the high frequencies. The KS9, whilst it has frequency lowering, is not a superpower aid, but can be fit with a UP receiver, which I wear. I would say that if you do want to go down the Costco route, you could opt for a Brio 4 instead, which is a higher power device.
In terms of connectivity, both should be excellent. I am unsure if the Ambio connects directly to Android though. This may be one of your preferences.
In your shoes, it’s a hard decision. I would say you will lose nothing by opting for the Ambio. You can keep it and if you are really not satisfied you can then go for the private aid later. I have NHS Oticon aids and KS9s. Both are excellent.
Another consideration is that soon, Costco UK should be bringing out the KS10, as this just been released in the states. But still, the ambio should be a very good aid, with REM and good audiological support from the NHS.
Thank you so much Glucas for your very informative reply, regarding other options on the Cost - Co uk site, there is only one on there which is the KS9, I did spot the KS 10 had just been released.
I am a musician so although the pitch lowering would maybe help with speech, it would be a bit weird musically.
You are of course correct though, its better to wait and see what the NHS Ambio can do for me, straight to iPhone as well, which suits me, … lots to think about and I should probably stop trying to force myself into a snap decision
Thanks very much for your time and help.
Kind Regards
Christian
Yes maybe I should check it out, but if it isn’t included in those two models which are pretty much my only options currently etc, than I would maybe have to for go it for now, maybe I can find a demo of the principle online, that would certainly help educate me at least
I don’t think there’s such a thing as a demo for frequency lowering. It’s very subtle - you’re probably not going to notice it. It’s just a lower harmonic overtone transposition.
One caution: I see you going down a theoretical, rational comparison route, whereas fitting hearing devices is a physical process.
You can’t tell if the shoe will fit comfortably by reading its specs …
Yeah I understand what you are saying, I always find the ins and outs of a cats arse as my mum refers to it before I get something new lol.
Being honest I know you are correct though
Just me being obsessive and impatient as always, maybe I’ll go and do some music
Thanks
Christian
There are multiple kinds of frequency lowering and some are definitely not subtle. It makes a dramatic difference for me with my KS9s and if adjusted improperly can be dramatically bad. :>) If you want to do a deep dive on frequency lowering, I can provide references.
And it’s quite possible to set up programs with and without frequency lowering. It’s quite common to use it on speech programs and leave it out on music programs.
Thanks as always my friend, I think I have to stop being obsessed lol, try the NHS ones and if not for me maybe the KS-10’s will be available over here
Which I think would be a good deal judging by the price of KS9’s etc.
I think anything else would be out of my price range anyway, so probably best to limit it to the NHS ones and the KS9, KS10 Etc, but thank you so much for your kind offer
Christian
@MDB: @Volusiano once explained the kind of frequency lowering in my Oticon More3s as follows:
“I think maybe the way frequency lowering is done by Oticon, via frequency transposition and composition, instead of via frequency compression (as done by other brands like Phonak), might have helped make music sound not as distorted as it might have been. I’m music oriented as well and I never feel like the music I hear is off tune by one bit, even though my built-in Music program (based on VAC+) has Speech Rescue turned on.”
… so, I would have to think that what my devices use is of the more subtle type. I’m sure you’re correct about the subtlety of other makes, with which I have no experience.
You’re welcome … this Forum is amazing, and will help you (me, too!) learn what we need to know to get appropriate hearing instruments that fit, and recover some of the quality of life that "The Great Silence " has stolen from us.
Below is an example of the Speech Rescue frequency lowering technology from Oticon.
Composition is cutting up the Source frequency bands (shown in grey) into 3 parts and stacking them in the same Destination frequency band (shown in red).
Transposition is the part where they move each of the 3 cut-up sections from the Source frequency band to the Destination frequency band.
The nice thing about this is that you can choose to preserve or remove the original sounds from the Source band, so you can hear both the original unlowered sounds (if you can) on top of the lowered sounds.
You also have the option to amplify the lowered sounds at 6 different loudness levels (see second screenshot.
Depending on where your ski slope is on the frequency scale, you also get to pick between 10 configurations to match the location of your ski slope the best on the high frequency scale.
