My experience going from Widex to Oticon to Starkey trial

Hearing Aids
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#200

Missed (at least I did) in the recent Starkey update is that their audiologist programming software, Inspire X, was updated to v2020.1. Here are the Important Updates noted in the update:
Inspire X 2020.1 Important Updates.pdf (126.9 KB)

Notice two new functions–Introducing IntelliVoice (read the Inspire X update description) & Find My Phone. I didn’t find any info on that 2nd one.

Also missed is an updated * Thrive Hearing Control App Advanced Version manual. Check-out unnumbered page 4 under Accessories. You’ll be able to access/enable IntelliVoice by tapping that accessory. However, this is “available for Edge AI technology and iOS only.”

So, I guess we have to visit our AuDs to get these. For Veterans, Starkey also updated their Remote Car Anywhere capability which should satisfy the VA’s requirements. Now we only need to wait a year or two before it becomes available…

#201

I’m going to audi in the morning I’ll ask about the updates. Also one of the complaints in Dr Clif’s video was the remote programming, notice they improved on that too.

#202

When I went to the VA to have molds made for my current ITE HAs, the AuD told me the problem was Starkey used remote adjustments instead of live session adjustments. The VA didn’t allow that type of remote adjustments/programming. Starkey now has live session remote programming, so that part should be fixed. Now, it’s when will the VA approve it or whatever they have to do to start using it.

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#203

I just called Starkey tech support to find how the HAs are supposed to find a phone if the Thrive app is on the lost phone and there are no other phones available to use. Even if there were, you’d have to download Thrive, pair your HAs, and ask Thrive Assistant to find your phone.

What you need need to do is preset Thrive Assistant as a double-tap gesture for your right or left hearing aid BEFORE you plan on losing your phone! Then, that double-tap for Thrive Assistant will send a signal to your lost phone to play a ringtone. I haven’t tried this nor do I intend to because I currently have Edge Mode & Start/Stop Audio Stream setup on my right/left HAs and that’s what I’m keeping.

Since there are no instructions for this procedure in their updated user guides, I suggested they add these instructions as an FAQ so people will know how to use it and decide if they want to use it.

#204

It was a bad week to be trialing HAs. We had thunderstorms all week with high humidity and barometric pressure going crazy, so was my ears and hearing. Ears feeling clogged up and stuffiness everyday. When that happens everything I hear is distorted. I did figure out when my ears are like this Livio’s did better than OPNs. I had a little better speech understanding with Livio’s. Went back to Audi this morning and she tweaked a little more. Still didn’t run REM though. I’m not sure why she waits to do that. She waited a while on the moments and OPNs also. I trust her though, she seems to really know her stuff, as far as I can tell.

It finally cleared out here today, no humidity with nice temperatures, so maybe a good hearing weekend coming up.

This is starting to sound like a diary. :astonished:

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#205

Standard practice for fitting HA’s is run REM before any other programming is done.
If she knows her stuff, she sould have done it 1st!

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#206

I’m sure it has something to do with the vibration and distortion that I have with my hearing loss.

#207

Disagree with this, REM is usually run to amend the initial fit after setting up the feedback manager and initial calculation. It’s a measure of output, so you can’t perform an initial pass unless you’ve let the hearing aid/fitting software set the aids to its own inbuilt target.

The other aspect of this is that being overly prescriptive with REM on first fit, especially with new clients, can cause significant acceptance issues, so you have to go through the two step of establishing a level, then backing the aid off to an ‘acceptable’ level through the experience manager.

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#208

@Um_bongo, You are correct,sir. REM should be done during, not before initial fitting.
Sorry for misleading anyone.

#209

Well it’s been a rough month. I’ve had a hell of a time trying to figure out the best HA and dome/mold for my vibration problems. We are still working on it. The custom silicone molds came in but the vent was made wrong. They had a large vent in the outside of the mold but it didn’t vent to the inside of the mold. Audi called it something, can’t remember exactly what. She said they know I never use that type of vent. She went ahead and set them up on the Livio, did REM, made a few adjustments. I admittedly didn’t like the way my voice sounded. After I got home and started walking around I knew this wasn’t going to work. Every footstep was accompanied by a loud boom inside my head. Next day I put the tulips back on. She left a program tuned for the tulips per my request in case molds didn’t work out.

She keeps extending my OPNs trial. Noises that you don’t want to hear are louder with the Livio’s but I can understand speech just a little better than OPN’s. I can put the OPN’s in music mode and get the best speech comprehension but then surrounding noise is even louder than the Livio.

Thank goodness I have an Audi that seems dedicated to the cause. Correct molds should be in next week (I could tell the vibrations were better with the silicone mold) and hopefully the booming footsteps will be gone.

#210

I’ve been away for a while but I wanted to give an update to this thread for anyone who might still be interested. I have chosen the Starky’s. Speech understanding was just better with Starky than the OPN’s. Also being able to control the noise reduction in the app is a very valuable tool for me. Lower or no NR means voices have less vibration for me. I also have tried several different kinds of custom molds and none have improved speech understanding over the tulips.

At my audi visit a few days ago she mentioned wanting me to try the Oticon More because of the chipset. If she gets me some to try I will but have little confidence they will be any better than the opn1’s.

#211

You’re lucky to have an audi who seems to have your best interest at heart.

The Oticon More is 2 generations away from the OPN (with the OPN S in between them), so even if you don’t think it’d be any better than the OPN, I’d still try it if I were you because

  1. It’s not everyday after you’ve chosen a different brand that an audi still is still giving you an opportunity to try out something else brand new just released, and

  2. Even if you find the experience on the More the same with the OPN, at least you know you’ve given it a chance and confirmed your choice for the Starkeys with another solid. The only thing you have to lose here is the time to try it out.

  3. There’s a lot of interest on this forum right now for impressions on the Oticon More, so your opinion of the More will be valuable inputs many folks on this forum would be interested to hear you share, me included. :slight_smile:

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#212

As always Volusiano, very sound advice.

#213

She also wanted me to have a CI evaluation before purchasing the hearing aids. She said if I was approved and decided to have the CI I would only need one hearing aid. This is after 8 months of trialing hearing aids with her. That told me right there that she definitely has my best interest at heart. I’m just not ready to take that step yet.

#214

Wow, you have a great audiologist there, I have never came across one that is willing to let you trial hearing aids that long, let alone other makes and models. My experience has shown once you commit to one hearing aid then that’s it your stuck with it whether they can get it working good or not. I wish you the best of luck. Veterans Affairs would only go for the More 3 and while they give you lots of sound, I also find I get a lot of noise with it that makes it extremely hard to understand any speach at the same time, and after 3.5 weeks of a 4 week trial I am not noticing much of a difference, so I guess you could say I may never be able to learn to understand it.

#215

I feel very fortunate to have found her. I owe that to this forum, teaching me what to look for in an audiologist in just a few days.

Thanks I appreciate that. I believe I made the right choice going with Starkey.

#216

I would encourage the CI evaluation. It doesn’t commit you to anything and you gain information. If you read the CI threads, it seems the most common reaction is “Why did I wait so long?”

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#217

Sorry, @sstotz, but I have to chime in here to disagree. I’ve been wearing More3s since March 3, and the hearing aids have been life-changing for me.

My aids have both VAC+ and NAL-NL2 into them, as well as a music program and T3. The music program is the least impressive, but the others give me excellent speech comprehension (but I admit that I am seldom in what would be called a difficult hearing situation).

I’m just sharing my experience to provide a balance - these are very new speech engines, and people may have different experiences wearing them.

:chair::chair::+1:t2:

#218

I’ve been using Oticon Opn S aids for three years or so and like them but as curious about Widex and my audi loaned me a pair of Widex Moments. My audi programmed the Widex to the same spec as my Oticons.

Interestingly, I have noticed a lot of the same problems you have with the Widex! I was driving with both windows down recently and noticed a lot of wind noise that I don’t hear with my Oticons. I ended up rolling the windows up to get rid of the wind noise.

Just outside the room where I work on the computer there is a big AC/heat vent and up inside somewhere is the AC/Heat fan. When I’m wearing the Widex, the fan makes a hell of a lot of noise - just loud air rushing noises. I barely even notice it with my Oticons. I have to close the door if I listen to music on the computer.

Using the WIdex in Music mode, they have a lot brighter highs and male voices seem thinner than with my Oticons and I don’t think the Widex reproduce bass quite a well as my Oticons. The Widex sound for music is interesting but it sounds like they turned up the mids and highs about three steps over the Widex. BUT the noise from the AC fan is really loud. When I switch to UNIVERSAL mode the fan noise all but disappears. WIth my Oticons, even in Music mode I don’t hear the loud rush of air from the AC/heat. My audi has disabled noise cancellation in Music mode but I still don’t hear the nasty rush of air when the AC is on in Music mode, unlike the Widex.

Two things really bug me about the Widex. First, I open the Widex app on my phone and set it to MUSIC. As soon as it hears voices or what it thinks are voices, it switches to a streaming voice setting automatically. Whenever I sit down to listen to music, the Widex are constantly switching modes between Music and some streaming voice program - back and forth, back and forth depending on what the aids hear. I tried to listen to music last night but they kept switching back and forth so often that I gave up. I can’t find any information on how to disable the automatic switching to make it stay on the desired program. Maybe this is a “feature” and can’t be disabled. It’s impossible to live with!

I paired my phone with the Widex via BT so I could use the remote app to control them but now every time my phone makes an audible noise - a beep, a phone call. a reminder, they beep in my hearing aids. I got a call and it automatically fed the caller’s voice into the HAs. I’m ok with the latter, although I’d rather decide for myseld how I want a phone call to work, but the former - sending phone beeps and key tap noises through the HAs (this can’t be disabled from what I’ve read) is terrible. I don’t want to hear all that crap!

My opinion so far is that the Widex Moment are too finicky and too “automatic” for me. If I can’t be in control of the program and the sounds from my phone, then I don’t want them, and the constant automatic program switching is a terrible feature and makes it impossible for me to listen to music using the Widex.

Goodbye Widex.

#219

Sound like your audi did not do a very thorough fitment for you.

I wear Oticon, but I’ve never heard complaints like that about Widex.

Most of what you are reporting is software programming.

You can turn off notifications to your HA’s in the phone’s bluetooth settings, as well.

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