My HAs arrived via FedEx and was most anxious to test.
The attached pictures show the size difference between Lumity 90 and Infinio 90-Sphere. I also show difference in chargers. There were questions at the the exact model number stamped on the Spheres and it reads “Audeo Sphere”. I wanted these in Red, but was told Red, Green and Gloss Black are N/A in the country. Not sure if low production, back order etc etc. The audi said down the road I would have the option of a color swap. I don’t feel any difference wearing the Infinios vs the Lumitys. I am also way past the point of trying to conceal my hearing loss, that’s why I wanted the red ones.
I’ve previously been using Lumity 90-RT and heavy dependence on the Roger On. If you look at my audiogram, noise bothers me a great deal. Otolaryngology at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital told me I am close to being a C.I. patient, which I am opposed to doing. I inquired about the Infinio Spheres. I was told even with Spheres there are situations I still may need the Roger On. As you can tell by the pictures, I am using Phonak cShells.
So why did I buy the Spheres? I wanted a better experience and less reliance on the Roger On. Two recent experiences had me frustrated. I attended a baseball game with six other people. Trying to carry on a conversation and wondering what direction or how to wear the Roger On was frustrating. I went from holding it in my hand to clipping on my jersey, looking like a TikTok content creator. The other situation, I attended an outdoor retirement party. We were outdoors, no background music, just people talking and conversations were difficult.
I’ve been using the algorithm Adaptive Phonak Digital Contrast 2.0 in my Lumitys as I thought it was the best natural sounding particularly when I stream music. I was anxious to see if Adaptive Phonak Digital Contrast 3.0 was an improvement. TBH television sounded tinny, but I’ll worry about that down later. Audis love to program HAs using NAL-NL2 and I don’t read much about user experience with Adaptive Phonak Digital or Adaptive Phonak Digital Contrast; so I’ll march down that road.
This afternoon, I made 4 stops. I recorded noise level in each venue using the android app DecibelX. I paid attention to what mode the HAs were operating. I know that when background noise is above 65db, it’s game over. The following venues are ones I have visited multiple times, and I know my experience in these venues with the Lumitys.
Liquor Store - (don’t judge me, it’s 90 degrees in ChiTown) - 67.4 db avg/70.2 db peak. Even at this background level I’ve had trouble hearing the register clerk. I put the HAs in manual sphere and I heard perfectly.
Walmart - 61.4db avg/67.2 db peak - HAs in Calm Situation. Nothing unusual to declare, I didn’t interact with anyone in the store.
Supermercado - 71.6 db avg/74.2 db peak in the produce section. AutoSense put the HAs in Sphere Speech in Loud Noise. The noise level increased to 76.6 db avg/80 db peak at meat/hot food counter. I’ve always had trouble conversing with the staff on the other side of the counter. I had to increase Noise Reduction on the Phonak app but I was able to hear the individual on across the meat case. Noise at check out was 75.5 db avg/78.8 db peak. The cashier was hard to hear but I didn’t want to take the time to make adjustments via the app. Sometimes it’s really inconvenient and a nuisance to make these adjustments.
Golden Corral Restaurant - I knew this place was going to be busy and loud, a good test. At the cashier the noise level was 75.5 db avg/78.8 peak. The cashier’s voice was tough to pickup, again didn’t really make an effort to adjust the HAs. I wanted to see how they performed automatically. At my table the noise was 79.2 db avg/84.9 db peak. This is were I wish the HAs did a better job of picking up the servers voice and for me it was underwhelming. Again, perhaps with some tweaking, it will get better in restaurants.
Several years ago, I began measuring background noise and documenting how my HAs were behaving to have a better understanding of when exactly I had trouble hearing in public and how the HA were handling the situation. I have learned a lot.
Is this a game changer for me? I can’t say there was a WOW factor. They did perform better than Lumity with Roger On. The next tests will be using these Infinios with Roger On, with an emphasis at restaurants/bars. At my gym I work out with a personal trainer 2x/week and she has to wear my Roger On during our sessions. I will be testing to see if she needs to use the Roger On with the Infinios.
I was gone about 2 1/2 hours. The HAs were at 100% power when I left home and 80% when I returned. I know there have been comments about battery usage when in Sphere mode.
I’m hoping this might benefit someone who is contemplating the purchase of Infinio Spheres. Everyone of us has different requirements, and we all respond differently to identical equipment. I am at the extreme end of needing help.
Did I or will I have REM performed? Probably not. One audi told me in my case, REM isn’t going to help me pick up speech in challenging situations.
Thanks for reading
