New KS10 hearing aids, have issues

Hearing Aids
#1

Hello - I have been lurking here for a bit to get informed prior to buying hearing aids. I purchased Kirkland KS10s. I have a problem though that I wonder if it is isolated to me, or have others experienced and found resolution?

When I wear the hearing aids background noises are so intense and loud - paper rustling, dogs nails on the floor, cat meowing, I can hear doors creak across the house…its like I have super hearing, but for the wrong inputs. What is missing though is what I need to hear, voices are not overcoming this background noise input.

To further make the problem worse, I have to turn down the hearing aids to a comfortable level so that background noise is not painful, and I do not get the benefit of the hearing aids. I have been through several attempts with adjustments to try and fix, and have noise reduction at max on almost all profiles. Nothing seems to help. Have others experienced this issue? Is this an issue with this brand of hearing aid or possibly a defective set of hardware?

These are my first hearing aids so I am definitely new to the entire experience. Should I consider returning the KS10s and trying other Costco hearing aids like the Jabra?

#2

Hi it takes awhile when you first get hearing aids to get use to hearing sounds with them it took me at least 6 weeks when i first got hearing aids to get use the sounds and i was told that to start off by wearing them for a few hours a day mainly in doors for a couple of weeks then start wearing them out for a few hours a day and to slowly increase the amount of time you wear them but also it sounds like you may need to go back and get the background noise brought down a bit so as you are able to make out speech

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#3

I am a new user as well, and have zero experience with fittings or adjustments. but from what i’ve read it would sound like you need the audiologist to adjust certain freq ranges to lower those gains. i can tell you my hearing loss is the somewhat standard high freq loss, mild to moderate. and with my aids in i can definitely tell plastic russles way louder, tingier (if that is a word?), anything crinkling is way tinny sounding. I am curious if that is how it sounds to people that dont have hearing loss or if the aids make it tinnier sounding. doesn’t really matter i guess. it just means i am hearing more that i had forgotten about.

good luck.

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#4

I am at around my 6 week point now of wearing the aids, and have gone through 4 adjustments. The problem is they are having adjustment issues getting the background noise brought down - nothing seems to really make an impact to the issues. They have brought down the lower frequencies, but the environmental sounds still override any voice hearing benefit.

#5

If I’m not wrong there should be a setting to adjust just the amount of background noise rather than the lower frequencies but not sure with the ks10 as i wear phonaks and i know i had problems with background noise not that long and they just did some to change the level of background noise. Also maybe you could try just wearing them in certain environments for a short amount of time to get use to the way that environment sounds i don’t know what your hearing is like but i found that helpful for me. Also i don’t know if you have any other programs you can change to for something like say speech in noise as i have found that very helpful in certain situations

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#6

I am having the same issues with my Costco Jabra’s. I have worn aids for a dozen years and the issues you described are same as I am having. I am beginning to think it is a Costco HIS problem rather than an aid problem. I also am at the 6 week mark with 2 adjustments and about to just return them.

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#7

@wraith2626

I found the Phonak NoiseBlock to actually reduce speech sounds so had it turned off and more fine tuning instead.

Speech was so much louder with NoiseBlock at 0.

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#8

Basically people get used to how they’ve been hearing. Hearing aids provide a drastic change. Some people adjust to it more easily. If it’s intolerable, turn down the volume. If you don’t want to hassle that, have the hearing aid fitter turn them down, perhaps using the feature to gradually turn them up over time.
This is typical for new hearing aid users, or experienced hearing aid users who are underfit.

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#9

This is typical for new hearing aid users, or experienced hearing aid users who are underfit.

Count me as one of the latter.
I’ve worn different hearing aids the past 20+ years.
Two days into my KS10s I’m finding sounds that never bothered me before now quite uncomfortable. E.g., closing my car door, car rattles when I drive in-city or highway,the creaks of my chair as I lean back or shft my weight, and so on.

Some “discomfort” I put in the bucket of: get used to it, new hearing aids, they will sound different, etc. Others I am confident are a matter of programming.

So I’m taking copious notes of what works, doesn’t work, can be improved…so when I go in for my fitting the specialist at Costco can make sense of them as best they can…and fit the hearing aids “better.”

And if it doesn’t still work I know I have the option to try the Phillips and Resound though I’m “experienced” enough to know they will come with a different set of “discomforts.”

Note: as my hearing worsens–it is not going to ever improve, right?–my options become more constrained. I do foresee a time when my choices would be limited to maybe two brands at best and no matter which I pick, I’d find it problematic to hear what I need/want to and the discomfort disproportionate. Maybe by the time I get to that stage technology would have improved to help me better…or maybe not.

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#10

Wish I could try those aids, but Costco won’t even allow a demo, they say Jabra’s or BTE is my only option, which I know isn’t completely true.
And turning up noise suppression or turn down gain just makes speech even less understandable.

#11

I am a wearer fro 22 years and the KS-10 are great. Call Costco for an adjustment appointment. Some stuff you have heard in years like the sound of water in the sink or your feels rustling walking in the parking lot. No noise should be irritating and it all eventually should sound NATURAL!

I am a “fuss-but” Start a Word document of what bothers you and write it down. I went in with 12 items. In program 1, auto-sense, birds and frogs should sound natural, and furnace fans should not be noticeable.

Good luck

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#12

I had the same issues. I had to self program. My audy just can’t get it near being right. Buy a noah link wireless. Great investment. If you wear hearing aids, you’ll have them for the rest of your life. Get a programmer.

The stock hearing fitting is just to loud. In the software phonak target.

I had to turn gain down to 91% gain for it to be normal.

Also if you can’t self program, you can pair to the phone and make a noise cancelling program with a lower volume level.

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#13

I am pretty sure I will have to go that route. My loss seems challenging for even a good audi.
Costco HIS seems reluctant to adjust to my personal feedback
that i am relaying and wants to try to stay within the suggested fitting range. Just my opinion.
Wondering if with my loss I am better off buying older aids and self programming.
I can get some Oticon OPN S1 aids from a friend who’s dad died recently. He wants $200 and says they are less than 2 years old. I would need new power receivers and custom molds which make it a challenge to find an audi that will make me some molds. I have found many that will program aids not purchased there, but none will only make me molds. Any suggestions?

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#14

Having had hearing aids for several years from Resound to KS=10, I’ve learned that I need to be patient and I need to experiment with my settings. It is hard to complain when there are audiologists on YouTube praising those Phonak Paradise (same as KS-10). A few have even reached into the Costco KS-10 to praise the hearing aids but warn listeners to spend lots more money to get a certified audiologists to sell you one.

I have watched various Phonak adjustment videos where I have learned how to adjust TV sound and room noise using my iPhone. It takes some practice and adjustments to tune it correctly from one night to the next. The same can be done with other programs although I must admit I haven’t gotten them to where I want them to be, I’ve only had my KS-10 ha’s for a few weeks. I have also learned that when I am using my iPhone to control my ha’s I should turn my iPhone’s auto lock to never or to keep it from going into and out of the Costco app. I also need to download and try to use the Phonak app in place of the Costco app. That may not work, I’ll see. Some other things I still need to learn are how to better adjust my program settings and how to hold my ha’s there.

Lastly, Costco has a full refund warranty for 6 months. In the past the first ha’s Costco sold me just weren’t right. I waited until the day before that warranty expired, drove 100 miles to the nearest Costco and the people there were very nice and with no argument refunded those ha’s. Don’t jump from one brand to another without using the ha’s for a couple of months.

Hope these ideas help. All the best,

Ed Eckert

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#15

I should have directed you to a video from Doctor Cliff, AuD called “How to Customize Your Hearing Aid Programming” on YouTube. This one is sponsored by Phonak and offers a couple of programming adjustments. Except what is called “Dynamic” pn the Phonak app is the “Contrast” on Costco app. And, no the Phonak app does not work with KS-10 ha’s.

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#16

@kthejoker20

I think this is going to be my best route - it is 60 miles one way to Costco for an adjustment, and after my 3rd in person, and 4th video session, I am not getting progress on taking care of any of the needed adjustments. I get that it is a process that requires patience, but I also feel that the Costco team near me is set in their ways in regards to what to adjust or not, and when I have brought up ideas from what I have found here on this forum, I get the brush off. Plus I am a techie, so I feel like after seeing what I have seen so far in the software for adjustments, I feel like I want some personal control over the changes that the phone app are not keeping up with.

Looks like now I have to figure out how to get the Target programming software. I have the Noah link on order. Thanks for the recommendations on self programming.

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#17

Search for the target software on here. You may have to send a pm to someone in the forum and they can direct you.

When i first started out wearing mine, i made about 4 adjustments a days, so i feel your pain going to Costco if you don’t know about better.

After my first self program, i was much happier. Even better as time went on and i learned how to use it better

They are really good at blowing you off at costco. It’s ridiculous just to even get an appointment, unless you tell them you are buying. My belief is they don’t really know what they are doing. They sell s good product, but they are not tech smart. Like they don’t know how to operate a smart phone, why would you want them programming your hearing aids.

I have mine zero in so good i don’t even know i wear them. My ears feel normal again.

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#18

May I ask where you purchased your Noah Link? Tnx

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#19

You should be able to purchase Noah Link Wireless on eBay, for around $170 or thereabouts, that’s where I got mines…… Good Luck :wink:

#20

Here’s a list of worldwide suppliers:
HIMSA Distributors: Worldwide – HIMSA

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