My experience so far with Trax 42

Hearing Aids
#1

I have had my Rexton Trax 42 HA’s for 3 weeks now, so I thought it was time to share my thoughts about them. I trialed a set of Resound KS-6 aids before these; but had some issues that I was not happy with. Voice in noise just didn’t do much. Background noise was still being amplified. Also the streaming, which was so convenient through my iPhone, just didn’t sound right. Way too tinny for me. So I ended up not using the streaming for music. It did work quite well for phone calls and playing games on my iPhone.

I was going to list pluses and minuses; but so far the only minus is a slight raspiness on loud high tones on my worse ear. We will keep working on it to eliminate that issue; although I can live with it. Below are my thoughts on the Trax 42 which I have been very pleased with. Prior to the Trax 42, I had Rexton Rivera aides for 4 years and then Resound Futures for almost 4 years, both from Costco.

Sound Quality – I have found that the sounds are fuller than any of my previous aids. I think the biggest difference has been for music streaming through the Smart Connect. Although not as good as standard ear buds, the music quality is quite acceptable and I enjoy them a lot. My HAS told me that Rexton receiver is much better than the KS6, which is why he recommends them. I have also found that these are the first aids that stay in my ears without pushing them back in during the day. The open domes look just like the ones I have had on every pair I have owned; but something is different, since I push them in and they stay in. I am sure having them fully inserted into my ear has helped with the sound quality.

Voices in Noise – The main reason for getting new aids was because I was having issues understanding people in restaurants and parties. With my previous Resound Future’s, they would stop amplifying most of the background noise, but they also didn’t amplify the people in front of me I was trying to talk to. With the KS-s aids, they didn’t seem to quiet down the background noise at all, so I was quite disappointed. It is possible that I had a bad set of KS-6’s; but my HAS thought that I would like the Trax 42 much more, so I gave up on them. When he first fit me, he thought that I should get the Trax; but because I was so into my iPhone, he thought it would be worth my trying the KS-6 first. I am glad I did, since I would have always wondered if I would have been happier with the KS-6 if I hadn’t tried them.
The Trax 42 does shut down amplification of the background noise, thank goodness. However, with open domes, the background noise is still there, just quieter and not amplified. The only places I have been to that are noisy so far are restaurants and I have been able to understand my wife’s voice better. I am looking forward to going to a party to try them out in that kind of environment.
I do like the microphone pattern adjustment. It does narrow down the focus of the amplification. Now that I can change it without the Smart Connect, I am looking forward to experimenting with it more often. It should be perfect for a party environment.

Controls on Aids – I have been thrilled with the controls on these aids. Unlike my previous aids that just had a button to make changes, these have a rocker, which allows you to go forward or backward. It is so nice to be able to change from program 1 to 2 and back again with just one click either way rather than going through 4 clicks to get back to 1. I have my aids set up to change volume with a short click and program with a long click on my left ear. On the right ear I can change the pattern adjustment. By having the pattern adjustment on the aid, I don’t have to fiddle with wearing the Smart Connect for this feature. So I only need to wear the Smart Connect now to stream music, normally when I am doing my daily walks or sitting around the house.

Battery Life – When I ordered my aids, I was replacing the KS6, so I just called Costco and told them what I wanted over the phone. I told the assistant that I wanted the ones with the larger 13 batteries, since I was worried that I wouldn’t even get the 5 days I have normally gotten with any of my 312 battery aids. When I picked them up, they had ordered the ones with the smaller 312 batteries. I didn’t realize until I got home and opened the package that had my free batteries in it. I knew that the model with the 13’s would be larger, but assumed I would need the additional power with the streaming. I had been worried that the larger model could be a bit uncomfortable, since I wear glasses all the time; but I thought I could live with that.
I told the HAS that I would use these and see what the battery life was before making a decision on whether or not to exchange them. I have only been able to see how long the batteries last one time, since they change the batteries every time I go in for adjustments at Costco. I was pleasantly surprised that they lasted 8 days. Having never gotten more than 5 days with any aids using 312’s, I was thrilled. At this time, I see no reason to bother with exchanging them for the larger aids. I only use the streamer for about a half hour a day. If I use it more, it could make a difference.

Bottom line – I am very pleased with my Trax 42 aids. They cost $800 more than the KS-6; but they work better for my loss. $2,600 with the Smart Connect is still a great price for aids that do what these do, plus I can return them in 6 months if I change my mind about them. I don’t think I will.

#2

I’m coming up on my forth week with Trax 42 XMs and I am finding my experience really parallels yours. I am very happy with the rocker switches set up volume on the left and microphone spatial control on the right.

I was in a noisy pub for dinner with 5 other people early in the week and I am really getting used to the spatial microphone control. It is very helpful in a noisy environment and I could hear everyone at the table.

Monday night I was in a meeting room with 8 people. It is a place that I had previously had a lot of trouble hearing because of soft female voices and fan noise from the ventilation system. I was able to hear everyone at the table and the fan noise was not noticeable. In fact, other people who don’t wear HAs remarked on having trouble hearing, when I was not.

While the phone control is nice, I now find that I don’t need it and, like you, I only use the Smart Connect when I want to stream or call out. The Smart Connect stream TV audio along side my normal sound system, works great to top up the voice audio while picking up the ambient sound track and extra base from the sound bar.

I am very happy with the Power user default setup with richer base and mid-range. At this point, I may not need anything more than the Automatic program, although I may get the TV/Music program for when I am not streaming.

I am hearing better and have better word recognition at work, at home, at meetings and in restaurants and pubs with music.

#3

I have had my Trax42 XM for three weeks. My hearing profile is very similar to CaptainTrips. I am back in for adjustment today. I am having some issues that I hope can be made better.

  1. Gain is too much somewhere. I can hear and recognize almost 100% of news radio and some deeper voices. I can hear but not understand my wife. She is not soft spoken or particuliarly high pitched. She gets loud and distorted as do many loud sounds. Too much gain somewhere (?). Does the frequency extender being on cause more distort? I have poor low freq so before I hear about Widex I have nothing to extend down to.
  2. TV is also pretty bad. He put a misic program on and that is actually best for tv sound.
  3. Car I would like one specific non adjusting program. I can tell when these self adjust in the car based on different road noise and it drives me crazy. Seems would be good if it was set to not change at all from a perfectly quiet moment to just turning on the car - whatever that program/setting is.
  4. Streaming and phone thru smart connect seem fine.
  5. Last are two things which are we made mold impressions. They may be in today. I know we will have to reset things. Importantly, is Costco really trained to NOT use manufacturer proprietary fitting program and default to NAL or something like that??? Does Siemens Connex have a “power” setting. I saw the experienced on the training internet but was unaware of power. Also, any use in trying the HP receivers? Will report back.
#4

Would suggest using the binaxfirst… it’s nal2 with some mods to fine tune for binax. . be sure he checks the data log so you what’s going on each program in the universal set can be changed so you don’t need extra programs

#5

It has been 3 months since I first got my Trax 42’s. I just want to follow up with my experience to date. I had to go back a couple times for adjustments after the fitting and have not needed to since. I absolutely love my HA’s. I rarely have to change the programs, since the aids do so well in noisy situations. When the noise is really bad, I will use the pattern adjustment that is on my right aid to focus in on who is in front of me, which works well. I have been surprised when at a party how I can understand what people are saying without trying to read lips. I can hear so much better now and couldn’t be happier with them.

#6

I’m a new user (very satisfied) of Rexton Trax 42c RIC hearing aids from Costco. Would you please explain “Power user default setup with richer base and mid-range” – I, too, find the Automatic program suffices 99% of the time, but would like richer bass and mid-range if possible, for streamed music in particular.

Thanks in advance for any clarification you can offer.