To fix the music problem, have you considered adding a dedicated music program? That should solve your problem in that situation.
Thank you for taking the time to research the older threads. And yes, I think you’re likely on the right track, and if you can get your audiologist on board, you will see improvement in these issues. I no longer hear entrainment in my Aleras after the digital feedback cancellation setting was disabled and I was switched to custom ear molds. Yes you can have custom ear molds made for the Alera 5. They are worth a try–they’re less than $200, though there’s no risk-free trial because they’re custom made to fit your ear canals–I also find them more comfortable (less itchy) than open domes but not everyone does–ear molds do need a very careful fit to be comfortable). There’s a good chance that your audiologist will know what you’re asking about if you say the word “entrainment” and will be able to make the adjustments in the setting software. If she just doesn’t seem to understand what it’s all about, there are several approaches to try:
- Bring along a few printed-out posts from here to share with her.
- Ask her to call her support person at ReSound, who very likely will know how to advise her to proceed (and then she’ll know too–and believe me, everyone in the medical and related professions understands that every case is different, and each new case is a new opportunity for the practitioner to learn new skills as well.
- If she’s still not on board, just ask her to humor you and try the setting to turn off feedback cancellation. (It is counterintuitive because it seems like turning off feedback cancellation would only make things worse.)
If you can, bring along portable music that you know sets off entrainment for you, so you can test any change in settings while you’re still in the office. (For me the problem was worst listening to classical music on FM radio in the car but as I say, it did get resolved–even before making the adjustment, headphones didn’t cause it as audibly for me. Mariah Carey could probably set off entrainment as well, but how would you know the difference?? ;-). Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
Oh, and in response to Audiogal, if I recall correctly, the Music Mode program in the ReSound setting software does disable by default or at least offer the opportunity to disable feedback cancellation, but one issue for the OP is that Alera 5's only allow one special program beyond the default, and OP may need that for something else such as Restaurant Mode.It sounds like you have a problem with the feedback managing system in the HA’s.
Problem 1 (poor music performance): Sounds like you’re correct. It’s too bad you don’t have the Verso (ReSound’s newest model) as they have a new DFS setting available that maintains excellent feedback cancellation, while significantly improving how music sounds.
Problem 2 (difficulty with female speakers): This is a separate issue. My guess (based on you saying that gain has been reduced multiple times) is that you’re simply not getting enough gain in the higher frequencies. I’d bet that in the course of trying to troubleshoot problem 1, she inadvertently created problem 2.
As far as turning off DFS goes, that is an option. There’s a good chance you’d then have to switch to a more occlusive (pluggier) dome or a custom mold. The reason for this is that right now DFS is what is preventing your instrument from squealing due to feedback. With that turned off the current acoustic seal (probably an air-dome) may not be effective enough to prevent feedback on its own. That’s where a more occlusive dome or (probably better for your loss) a custom mold would be required.
One thing you should be careful of is trying to attribute everything to entrainment. To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail and to someone who just discovered entrainment you may be tempted to blame everything on that.
Great feedback thank you.
Point taken re man with a hammer! I mentioned the female voices because I noted that posts on entrainment did not make mention of issues with hearing higher pitched female voices and yet to me the muddiness (extra tones) I hear with music appears very similar to the muddiness with these voices. Thanks for indicating the causes may be quite different.
I will take the advice of taking music along to my next appointment and will trial a program without DFS. I will also discuss the pros of molds in case no DFS gives me too much feedback. I would really like a one stop shop for a program for most activities if at all possible (with the addition of a restaurant style progam).
You are correct in that there are only 2 programs available for the preset options (basic, restaurant, party, traffic, music etc) with the alera 5. There is a third program, but this has only the accoutic phone “preset” program available. The gain and MPO of program 3 however can be adjusted to match for example the music or any other preset option but I do not know if there is perhaps background software that is enabled/disenabled by virtue of the root program being accoustic phone. I may get the audiologist to set program 3 identical to program 2 and then see if I can notice any difference.
Once again thanks for all the advice.
I have a version of the Alera, from Costco, and I remember having something like that going on right at first but my audiologist adjusted it out. I have much more gain in mine and have DFS Ultra working and it all works great. I use a type of open dome called a “Tulip” named as such because it consists of two petals that slightly overlap. It helps with feedback but is still “open” with no occlusion. But I would think with your loss level that true open fit domes would be fine.
If you had a custom mold, with your normal hearing on the low end, you would probably have uncomfortable occlusion. Put your fingers in your ears and talk, that’s what it would be like.
If your person doesn’t seem to handle it pretty quickly you could request a phone session with the Resound rep. That really helped us get mine about 90% correct. The audiologist got the rep on speaker phone and asked me things and talked her through the basic setup.
Folks, Have visited the audiologist last week and we turned off DFS ultra on both my programs. What a difference!! I cannot believe the fix has been so complete and so easy. I get a little bit of feedback on my right hand aid when I put my hand directly above the aid or put on a wide brimmed hat. However I am able to wear my ear protectors at work with no hint of feeddback.
Thank you to all who have had input to this topic in reponse to my query and in the past. This is a great forum.
Regards
I have a similar problem with my Forzas: Feedback at times and distortion at times in response to certain classical cds played on two different units in two different rooms. In one case, the same piece of music played by different violinists on 2 different cds caused the same distortion at the same point in the music. I also have had feedback at an opera performance and a vocal recital. These are just a few examples. My Costco person has made several adjustments at different times but the problem continues. I recently phoned the appropriate person at Resound who made other suggestions which I will be discussing at Costco.
Despite what the Resound person told me, I wonder if this problem is more prevalent with Resound products than those of other companies. A few months ago I mentioned this problem here and two other Resound owners seemed to have similar problems. But no one else replied. Have others in this forum with other manufacturers’ hearing aids experienced this problem too? And what about the audiologists on this forum? Is the problem endemic to all digital hearing aids and in some cases not resolvable?
Propensity for feedback is one issue, but another might be the peak clipping of the input level for high intensity string sounds over 100dB.
There are several feedback suppression systems out there; using several different techniques - not all of them work well with music. Even some of the latest products work better in a bespoke music program. Other destination based aids are able to offer an automatic switch into the music mode which deals with the issue in a similar way.