My Experience with ReSound Verso 961 TS

Hearing Aids
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#1

Hey Guys.

Thought I’d share my findings and opinions on a pair of Resound 961 TM. I bought them used on eBay (Help2Hear) paid $1012.00 for the pair which included shipping. This is not an endorsement as I’ve just only received the item and have not had enough time for that. Ordered on the 15th and they arrived on the 19th. They did not come with case or accessories. The seller did program them to my test results taken in April. Shipping was fast, packing was adequate, after the sale correspondence was excellent.

These have no warranty but I do have 14 days to return if they are not as advertised or have issues.

I did not enable the tm feature as I want to have that done locally. Mine is minor and I only notice it when someone brings it up or at least very rarely.

I currently have 4 programs:

1. Bi-Naural Directionality
2. Restaurant
3. Telephone
4. Auto, running, wind. This gets rid of all the road and wind noise in my van. Just tried it and it works great.

I’m aware that this model has had issues with the wire coming off the body. If anyone has information that helps with this issue, please let me know.

I’ve only been wearing them for a few hours. So far so good. They are a little louder/harsher than my Microtech but about what I would expect without face to face adjustments.

I’m hoping that these will increase my speech in noise understanding and to tell the truth I’ve been shooting myself for not sticking with the ReSound Forza that I trialed from Costco. I just really liked the guys that sold me the Microtech.

I’ll keep you posted on how they are doing.

#2

dear sir/madam please dont return them as they are very good hearing aids, you can tune your self if you have airlink and software ,airlink is almost 380$ and software is free,the hearing aids you got are very good price though they are used,

#3

sho, if you’re not happy with the performance of the Microtech’s in noise, you should go back to your hearing professional and work with them to get an upgraded model. Most manufacturer sales reps have great flexibility when it comes to returns. They can take back your current aids and upgrade you to a higher technology level, with you paying the difference in cost. There’s no reason to carry around two pairs of aids, one for quiet and one for noise.

Also, as you said, there’s no warranty for internet purchases so what happens if the Verso’s suddenly stop working next month?

#4

I have that same body style in the Costco Future (Alera). I haven’t had any problems (2 years, 5 months). I’m guessing that some people grab the body and pull the receiver out of the ear and I can see where that would put a lot of stress on that body/receiver connection. I was told to grab the wire as it comes out of the ear and pull on the wire to get it out of the ear. That way the body is not involved and not stressed.

Have you tried to find a local person to adjust them? That might be your next challenge, finding someone to do the feedback calculations and other general adjustments. It might take several tries in order to find someone willing to take on used Internet aids, but someone will do it. It would really be smart of them to charge a reasonable amount to get you going, because you will eventually be in the market for a new pair. Plus you could recommend them to others. You could offer to do it two ways. You could offer to pay by the hour or session, or you could offer $600-800 for unlimited adjustments. I would only offer that after at least one session where you are convinced the person will be a lot of help and knows their stuff.

If you figure you will have at least 4 or 5 sessions soon, then a session every few months, and each one lasts 1/2 to 1 hour (sometimes more), the lump sum up front can really be cheaper for you.

#5

I am currently trialing a pair if Resound Verso 961. The title of this topic refers to 961 TS. I an confused about the “TS” and “TM” designation. Will someone please explain what they mean?

#6

rasmus, I’m pretty comfortable using the Internet and have http://www.directhearingaidservice.com/ in mind for necessary repairs. I also can ask my MicroTech dealer to adjust the resounds. He has the equipment.

Don, I’m looking at getting a Hi-Pro box to start DIY adjusting. There are a couple on ebay and the cost would be less than a years worth of adjustment at the price estimates you are using I also can take them to my current dealer even though I didn’t buy them from him. he can adjust ReSound also…

I’ve got the software already so once I buy the box, I only need the cords.

#7

Has the MicroTech dealer agreed to adjust them? That’s great if he has. If he could do the feedback control and basic adjustment you would probably be fine going the DIY route.

#8

Stan, sorry I didn’t respond sooner. My mistake, it is TM.

Don, my local guys are the best. So far they have programmed a pair of Starkey I bought off ebay, and now they just gave me the CS 63 cable with Flex connects. These are very hard to get. They also provided the Resound dealer brochure with setup instructions. Haven’t charged me anything for this.

Playing with the Starkey, and now the ReSound 961’s is for fun. Too darn hot out to shoot at the ranges down here. Won’t let up until almost November

#9

So, I’m coming up on just over a week and I’ve been wearing them exclusively. Very happy with the way they were programmed for me by the guy i bought them from. I found a Hi-Pro box and the software and also the connection wires and have made a few minor changes.

I did the feedback management as that is relatively simple and it made a big difference.

I removed the phone program as I haven’t seen a “wired” phone in years. I now have a Standard, a Binaural Directionality program, a restaurnat, and automobile. Working great.

As long as they hold up physically I’ll be a happy guy.

Programming is a blast. Some great software makes it easy peasy… well not really but it appears I’ll be able to learn it. There’s quite a bit to it so it will take a while. ReSound has some great training videos and resources.

I’ve worn them while in several restaurants and I’m very happy with the way they handle speech in noise. Yesterday I was in a Panara, it was packed with middle school kids that were LOUD and there was no problem hearing the people at my table.

There is a program included in the software that is for hearing while in automobiles and it is the best. It cuts the road and wind noise down to nothing.

#10

When I trialed the Rexton Cobalt 16 there was an outdoor or nature setting that was basically for windnoise. One day I set it to that while I was outside, then forgot about it and went to a loud restaurant. The Rexton windnoise setting was a great noise setting as well.

Would you try the Resound windnoise program when you are in an area of loud background noise, like a loud restaurant, and report back?

#11

I’ll be sure to do that Don. The automobile program cuts out the noise of the tires on the road and the sound of the Dodge Caravan, with windows up and AC on. I’ll still give it a try.

I made some adjustments yesterday to program number 2. #2 is the basic settings without binaural directionality. I cut the gain back on this program so it should be for when I just want things a little quieter.

#12

Sho, I see you have a binaural directionality program AND a restaurant program. What are the differences between these two programs? I would think that the binaural directionality feature would be the main advantage of a restaurant (speech-in-noise) program, so that there would be no need for a binaural directionality program AND a separate restaurant program. In what situations do you use each of those two programs?
I would also be interested in the results of the proposed experiment with the windnoise feature. At Don’s suggestion I tried the windnoise feature in my Resound Forzas (Aleras) and found little to no benefit in speech-in-noise situations. It’s great that you’re able to (hopefully) easily adjust this feature with your self-programming equipment. Thank you for sharing your information.

#13

The restaurant one will have faster acting suppression of impact sounds and reverbs but is likely to still hunt out the speech and may switch in and out of the binaural directional sound field as it suits. The straight directional will be fixed in this mode, which may not suit music or impact noise to the same extent.

#14

Thanks, Um Bongo. I’m learning more about hearing aid programming all the time. There really seems to be a lot involved, and many parameters for an audi to adjust. I guess an audi starts out with a factory default program like “restaurant” and then tweaks the various parameters starting from the “restaurant” default settings. Is that right?

#15

Actually, what they should do is to set up the aid properly in P1 and then add/link the changes to P2. The initial settings ought to be verified using speech-mapped REM, but the subsequent adjustment should be based on customer experience. If you keep a few notes of when each program is working, you’ll make tweaking the aid easier. BUT, it’s also important to allow each change to ‘bed-in’ allowing your mental plasticity time to adjust.

#16

I can physically see what the readout of the aids and programs is but I didn’t notice that the Automobile program was good for restaurant, speech n noise. The restaurant program seems to allow more sound of all sorts in while the automobile program seems to dampen what ever frequency the road noise is.

Today i removed the change i made in the overall gain in program 2. I then made changes that moved the “loud” high frequency down and the low frequency up. I’m hopping this will reduce the discomfort of Loud speech and loud noise. It will take a few days to find out.

What I’m seeing so far is that self programing is good because you have the ability to try the aids in different situations rather than sitting and talking loud or trying to reproduce sounds. I never have been able to tell much from when my audi is testing for changes. I think this is what umbongo is saying “” ‘bed-in’ allowing your mental plasticity time to adjust"".

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised at how helpful the actual program is. I know I can’t program like an audiologist or correct patient complaints but the amount of information within the program is excellent. It actually says "if the issue is xxxxx then do YYYYYYY. Save

#17

I think the TM/TS is for tinnitus, but I’m not positive. I am also trialing the 961’s. Everyone seems to love them, and so far I am NOT loving mine at all. I am on the third adjustment, and while they still need to fine tune the volume/levels and some of the frequency tweaks for sure… the thing that bothers me most is there is a constant “aaaaaaah” sound. LIke… surf or something. I’m wondering if it’s the sound of the unit in operation as I have a mute option and I can STILL hear it, albeit softer. Right now the adjustment is so off I’m getting a feedback sound when I talk. Also, any kind of fan, or traffic is incredibly amplified. Im’ going to post these issues in a new thread because I definitely could use some guidance in talking to my audio. Either in adjusting…or, I’m about to give up and try a whole new pair. For this HUGE price tag, I shouldnt have to ‘settle’. I can settle for less $.

WHat is YOUR Experience with the Verso’s?!?! I’m dying to hear more from others!
Anna

#18

Most of the comments I see are very positive. You should not be hearing anything when there is no sound. I know at first, the sound of the house central air was “again” hearable for me. It took me some time to figure out what was what. Also know that you should be able to tell your audi that you are hearing too much fan noise, like from your computer or other items and he should be able to get rid of that easily… There is a specific program available for traffic and road noise. Have him set one program for that because it is an option and a standard default program that is available.

My programs now are: 1. Binaural Directionality 2. Soft switching 3. Restaurant(speech n noise) 4. Automobile

When I think of feedback I think of a constant screach like from a microphone/guitar on stage and not coming from speech. If you are getting pops, and sss sounds from speech then that is different from Feedback noise. He should be able to tweak for that also.

I know that with some settings, speech will sound like someone is talking through a Kazoo. Speech has a zzzzzzzzzzzzz over the top of it.

Above all do not get discouraged. It may take you quite a few visits to get them to where you are completely happy. Also if they are not getting rid of the extra noise you are hearing, tell them. It’s possible to have faulty aids too.

#19

Ok guys I need some help. I’m fine with program 1 and program 2 but Program 3 is my restaurant program. It is very good for hearing people and understanding people at my table. Couldn’t be happier…but the background noise is almost unbearable. Note that I say almost. This observation was in an extremely noisy sports bar with 60 some odd televisions, 2 private parties. loud music on the stereo system and a comic, yes a comic. I could understand every word that was being said at the table but would sure like to have been able to reduce the background noise.

So Where do I start as far as adjusting my program? I’ll see if I can post a screen shot of that program by tomorrow morning. Don’t want to wake the wife while on the other computer.

#20

The automobile program does not help with that. I’ll look for other noise specific programs.