#2

Hello Malbert, I am a long time HA user, 40 years. I have been using Bluetooth HA’s for about 7 years. I started with Starkey Halos and this year upgraded to the Livio AI, both RIC and paired up to iPhones.
The Starkey aids haven been the most reliable ones I have ever owned, Sound quality is great. The Bluetooth connection is solid.
The only issue I had with the halo was the microphone cover design would plug easy, they fixed that with the Livio. This is my first pair of rechargeables and at the 6 month mark no problems. I wear my HA’s 15 to 16 hours a day.
I have worn many brands over the years but only Starkey since Bluetooth came along. Don’t know if this helps you,

#3

Hi, malbert. Since you asked, my opinion is why not try some other brands? Even if you try multiple brands and none are as good as the Starkeys, what have you lost by trying? It’s possible that, as good as the Livios sound to you, another brand might be even better.

#4

Contrary to other advice here, I would say before you change again, think carefully about what you would like to be better. Then discuss that with your audi. There may be (almost certainly will be) adjustments that could be made with your present HAs that improve them even further.

And anyway your audi needs to know what you are looking for or the chances of her/you stumbling on something else that works so well for you are not great.

Overall my own view is that if you are happy with them, then forget about messing around with changing hearing aids and get on with your life.

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#5

I agree with David. See what features you like, and by all means, read about others. But if you don’t see the must have feature with any other, and this pair fulfills your current needs and especially you can work with the sound they provide and find it comfortable and speech is understood, and you’re overall happy with them, I don’t see the need for further trials.

Also, don’t forget your loss, if your word recognition score is below 90, there’s no aid in the world you can plug in your ear and get to 100.
Most important is that your brain can work with that sound and with training (using) getting a bit better.

But if your WRS is let’s say 70, just keep in mind, no aids can give you 100. Because your loss distorts the audio signal and your brain has trouble interpreting it, and aids main function is to send you clearer signal and louder as opposed to the source of the sound, but the sound still has to go through your damaged cochlea and what not, and your brain is still left to work with that mess, albeit a little smaller, in ideal situation.

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#6

This statement pretty much speaks your mind.
But, there are other brands of aids as your audiologist has said that might be worth trying.
Is your hearing loss stable?
What is your word recognition with these new aids?
What Bluetooth devices do you use?
You are a long time member of this forum. Lots of information here. Too much sometimes.
I personally would try a few other brands if your audiologist is willing to help.
Good luck

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#7

Thank you all for the great advice and feedback!

I have 5 children (ages 6-16). I brought the 16 yo along with me to the fitting a few days ago because I would almost always have problems understanding her. So I had her tell me a long funny story while I walked around the audi’s office and the audi made adjustments based on what I was hearing of her voice.

My general happiness with these devices basically comes from this- I feel like I hear people’s voices and understand what they are saying, SO well now. It’s like a new super power. I was so surprised to be able to clearly understand what one of my kids was saying from a room away. I think there have only been two times now that I have had to have the 16 yo repeat herself. Dinner with two buddies at a fairly noisy restaurant was no problem at all. Our church hallways were crowded and full of a couple hundred people but I was able to have conversations fairly easily.

Also I play the piano. All day on Sunday at church and probably daily at home. I was afraid that sound would suffer somehow but it has not, it is very good even without a dedicated music program, which I was warned initially might have to be the case.

I feel like the biggest departure between these HAs and the previous ones are A) significantly different equipment and B) a different audi. The old audi (she passed away) was very patient and kind but was more an old-school HA salesperson, no medical training. The new audi complained that the previous one had me very overamplified. When she re-adjusted me to where she thought I “should be” a couple months ago, the next couple weeks were pretty miserable as my brain adjusted to the new settings.

Sorry for the wall of text.

My hearing loss is fairly flat (I think? see audiogram) but consistent, it slowly continues to decline.

My last formal hearing test in the booth was a couple months ago, and my speech recognition (in the booth tests) was she said very good-
image

How is it normally measured after the HA’s are fitted? Via the REM? If so I’ve never had one done.

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#8

Also adding that regarding Bluetooth, I’m happy with the HA integration on my iPhone, but not happy that it looks like I will need a separate device to stream from my laptop and desktop workstation. The laptop sees the HA’s as a Bluetooth device, but not as an audio endpoint (like it would headphones).

#9

Not sure what Starkey has for TV streaming but other brands have TV Connectors that work pretty good with computers.

Thanks for sharing your hearing data.

#10

I think my own choice would depend on how much I’m personally paying. If I were paying $6K, $7K or thereabouts, just to get some additional knowledge of what other brands are like for all that money spent, I’d try them. Will your audi hold your custom ITC’s in reserve with the expectation you’re very likely to want to come back to them? Seems expensive, though, in time and effort and a trip through resources if you’re going to have a custom ITC aid made for each brand, though (the conserve our resources nature of me!). Would that mean a new ear mold for each and every aid you want to try?

#11

I’m by no means an expert but I don’t know of a computer Bluetooth implementation that does everything that MFi does to allow an iPhone/iPad/iPod to directly connect to your aids. Even fairly recent Apple desktop and laptops don’t connect to MFi aids (mine are Oticon OPN S 1). Maybe in the future Apple will see the light and implement MFi in their new Apple silicon devices but who knows. I don’t know the Starkey device that would be similar to the Oticon ConnectClip but the clip provides the microphone for the Oticon solution that allows bi-directional audio with a computer for things like Zoom. Some people use a TV adapter device with a computer but that typically would only stream audio from the computer to the hearing aids without providing the other path for your voice required by things like Zoom.

As far as I know, the only hearing aids that offer connectivity directly to classic Bluetooth as included in computers are Phonak or other aids from the Phonak parent company (Sonova).

In the future, Bluetooth 5.2 and the new LE audio codec will probably offer a more general solution but both the computer and hearing aids will have to include the new versions and that may take different, more capable hardware and/or software/firmware.

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#12

Took a look at these aids a little closer. Pretty informative information about wireless connectivity.

#13

My wife’s insurance covers me for 100% HA replacement, every 3 years. Yes I know it’s an amazing benefit. I believe the form I signed for the 30-day trial said $7995. I have a feeling that even I tried other brands for a few months, these originals would sit in her office until I was decided.

I’m guessing each separate company would make their own molds for their own devices.

#14

I made the mistake of assuming that “Bluetooth” meant the consumer version that we are usually familiar with, as far as headphones etc., i.e., a conduit for audio. But in the case of the MFI devices, Bluetooth becomes a conduit for data and info, not necessarily audio itself.

You raise an excellent point though, and I am going to call Starkey next week and find out about any upcoming 5.2 updates. I wonder if it will require new hardware (and would my warranty allow for an upgrade to it) or maybe it can be done with a firmware update only.

#15

That’s an idea! Keep trialing aids until the brand/model you like comes up with BT LE Audio! But with ITC aids, you’re not going to get the battery reserve you might want for all the streaming goodness or phone call chats you might want to enjoy. I guess with ITC aids you get the same pinna benefit that ReSound is trying to sell with its M&RIE microphone in the ear ReSound One RIC aids. Maybe if you’re audi is encouraging you to try others, you could try to ask her for her recommendations and why.

#16

I have the Starkey Levio AI aids and I use a remote mic+ to stream from my lap top to the aids. I also use it as a remote mic. when I attend training classes (before covid stopped those) I have a streamer device connected to the TV both devices are from Starkey and work very well for their intended purposes. I am happy with my Starkey aids and devices. I hope this helps

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#17

Thanks for the info! I had looked at the Starkey accessories and also realized I would need the Remote Mic+. Looks like it will do everything I need- stream audio from my PCs, and also act as a mic for my Zoom calls on the PC.

#18

Your welcome if you decide to go with Starkey you might ask about the table mic it came out after I received my streamer and mic+ it may be better than the remote mic+ it even streams TV however I think I would rather have the streamer be permantly attached to the TV and use something else for my laptop and publicly group conversations.

#19

I’m on my 4th VA trial hearing aids–Starkey Livio Edge AI 2400 ITE-RT (rechargeable telecoil), and I’m keeping them. I started my 1st trial with Starkey Livio AI RIC-RT on 03 Sep 2019. I liked them but they weren’t adjusted properly and the VA performed a REM with them–“equipment not available.” I complained about the loud high frequency sounds but the VA never checked the settings and suggested I try something else. So, I tired Phonak Audeo M90 RIC-RT and then Signia Pure Charge-N-Go RIC-RT, and all came with TV streamers.

Some hearing aids and streamers worked better than others, and some of their iPhone apps were better than others. That would be the Starkey Thrive app by a large margin, at least at the time I was trialing their hearing aids. Even with my bad experience with the initial Starkey’s, their TV streamer and iPhone app stood out from the others.

Plus, right after receiving the Signia trial RICs, we started wearing masks and Starkey had released their rechargeable Livio Edge AI ITE hearing aids. Between flipping off RICs when removing a mask (yes, I tried and use a behind-the-head strap for the mask) and wondering why I should wear two-part hearing aids over the ear and in the ear, I requested a Starkey Livio Edge AI 2400 ITE-RT trial.

I’ve been wearing and liking the Starkey ITE hearing aids since I started the trial. I did have one hearing aid go out but I was able to test and confirm the outage using the Starkey Thrive app. It was repaired/returned within a week. My trial was initially extended to 03 Aug 21 due to COVID-19, but my AuD called last week to tell me the trial was ending at the end of Jan 21 because they do have, as necessary, in-person appointments.

Although I said I’m keeping the Starkey ITE’s, I initially ordered them with a beige faceplate and clear shell. I passed on the push button but was sorry I did that. I asked my AuD if I could change the faceplate/shell color to black and add the button, and he told me that I could because I was still on the trial. So, I’m waiting for my ITE’s to return looking like new!

I don’t think there’s any perfect hearing aid out there and wearing them is going to be inconvenient no matter what you get. For me, this my hearing aid of choice and the least inconvenient one to wear…

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#20

After having tiny IIC’s for more than 10 years, I trialed the Livio Edge AI BTE, and after only two days knew that BTE was not for me! Mostly due to them getting knocked off, I am VERY happy with the ITE’s! I am a little over 2 weeks into the trial and had a check up yesterday. I told her I will probably keep them.

I use them connected to an iPhone. As an IT guy, the Thrive app in my opinion leaves much to be desired. There are just so many inconsistencies, and I don’t really see myself using it much. My own personal mindset is that I want to just get used to the hearing aids, as much as possible without any fiddling. I don’t really have any “challenging” environments so I don’t see needing to adjust the programs much, if ever.

Good call for asking for the button. I have needed to power cycle mine a few times, it’s nice being able to do it without taking them out of the ear.

I just yesterday got Starkey’s “Remote Mic Plus” which is what is needed for streaming audio from a PC, and also can be used for online meetings like Zoom etc. Took me a good while to get it set up and working because initially it would only pair to a single HA, not both. I did all kinds of things all over the house. Not sure what finally helped but about the 10th attempt both HA’s finally paired to it, and I streamed from the PC for about 3 hours. It worked great. I plan on getting a second unit for my laptop.

You are absolutely right about no perfect HA. My audi told me she likes me as a patient because I’m “realistic” about what HA’s can do. These Custom Livio Edge’s have given me much better speech recognition, and they are very convenient. The rechargeable part is such a cool feature for me.

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#21

You should try the Phonak Audeo Paradise. These connect like a BT headphone to PC, Notebook, Android- and Apple-Tablet and smartphones respectively.