Lyric 4 Trial disappointment! Suggestions?

Hearing Aids
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#1

New to HA’s with a “typical” ski slope loss beginning around 1kHz. I’m also early in the learning curve with getting used to HA’s, I’m aware that the process takes time and patience. My insurance covers Phonak Lyrics and I was excited to by the convenience of 24/7 hearing and all the positives associated with the Lyric, however, I was highly disappointed by the sound quality, or lack there of in the lower frequency range during my trial.

I’m an audio enthusiast (wannabe audiophile) no interest in streaming HA’s as I have a wonderful setup around my entire house and backyard. Listening to music with the Lyrics was less than subpar. It lacked fullness, solid low bass notes sounded like a tap, nothing resonated, the richness was gone. The Lyric was quite good for conversations, little to no wind noise, no feedback for me, but sounded shallow with no rich fullness that I’m accustomed to.

I’m thankful for this forum and the resource it has become in both researching HA’s and programming them! I am a proud geek, tech savy, so on a whim bought an Oticon More 1 (second hand) and a Noahlink Wireless. Programmed them successfully with Genie 2 and the difference in music listening and dealing with life in general (sound wise) was like night and day compared to the Lyrics. Not thrilled about an OTE RIC, convenience and aesthetics, but the sound was superior! Also, tried the Sony CRE-C10’s , low end version of Signia Silk and even they were better than the Lyrics, to my ears and brain.

Questions for the group, my audi is a nice guy, but might he be missing something in the programming of the Lyrics? Has anyone had successful music listening experiences with Lyrics particularly lower (bass) frequencies? Suggestions if I give them another try? Finally, I found this publication, two coauthors are Sonova employees and their findings seem to validate my experience with the Lyrics.

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2022_AJA-22-00061

I appreciate this groups input and any suggestions you can provide over and above my limited HA experience!

Phonak Lyric 4 User Review
#2

If you look up the frequency response of the Lyric, you’ll see that it drops off severely below 150 Hz–the frequencies you’re interested in. Your audi can’t do anything about that.The Phonak Lumity is much flatter in the low frequencies. Many on this list like it for that reason. YMMV.

#3

I am in the middle of a Lyric trial and have similar concerns. Moreover fundamentally there are limitations to an analog device - no bluetooth, no remote mike, no ability to adjust setting for different noise situations.

Fundamentally you have no choice but to configure Lyric in a way that is a compromise of all the sound situations you can be in.

But the flipside is that the 24/7 convenience is very nice.

I am planning to not commit to the Lyric yet but rather try the Starkey AI Genesis as a comparison. Its technical capability for customization, auto-sensing, and other features is superb, it is waterproof, and battery life is impressive.

So I will compare those and then make a final decision.

#4

I went with Lyrics for a whole year in an attempt to get “acclimated” to the analog sound vs the digital compressions of other aids. In the end I gave up, mostly for the reasons you are experiencing. they were fine for voices, terrible road noise when in a car, and music was just awful no matter what i tried. Church music was bad, listening to my home stereo was bad, the car music was bad, my grandchildrens band performances were bad. Too much in the high range and no bass. In the end, you have to be able to taylor the aids somewhat when to comes to music so I have done exactly what you have, get the Mores, self programmed for music, and called it a day. I have an excellent Audi, but there is nothing they can do there. My opinion is Lyrics are a fantastic solution for folks who dont drive much, or listen to music… which in the end is not me.

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