I have just started a trial of Bernafon Verite receiver in the ear aids. I’ve only had them for a couple of days so I’m not ready to make any judgments yet.
I wanted to try the open fit Bernafon Veras, but he fitter at Costco felt with my loss, I’d do better with the Verite aids. I’ve had several opportunities to try open fit aids for brief periods of time and I liked the way they sounded.
I have a couple of questions that maybe someone here can answer. Given my loss, do you agree with the fitter that the Verites are the better choice. If I do go with the Verite, what kind of tips would be best for me.
Thank you for your help.
R ear: 250-10 500-10 1000-65 2000-60 4000-45 8000-55
L ear: 250-10 500-10 1000-60 2000-50 4000-35 8000-35
A rite instrument has a better frequency response… sounds beter than a open fit…
I tried an open fit and it just wasn’t enough with my hearing loss. I liked them better but just couldn’t make them work.
Too Tall,
What was it about the open fit that didn’t work for you?
xbulder,
I have ear buds for the Verite that have a cone shape made with two very flexible leafs. They make my ears feel more occluded than the dome shape buds (I hope I’m using the right term here) that have little openings in them. Do you see any reason I couldn’t use the more open tip for the rite?
Thank you.
I’m not xbulder, and don’t play him on the Internet :p, but I use the tulip domes too, because I have some low frequency loss as well. Looks to me like you do too, starting at the 1000 mark on your audiogram. Tulip domes have the two overlapping leaves, whereas the other domes look like umbrellas with sections snipped out of them.
Thank you Jay man. At least I know the difference now. Why can’t I describe things so well? Are you happy with your aids? Do you feel occluded at all?
When I went from in-the-ear aids to these open fit aids with tulip domes I did not feel occluded. When I tried a pair of RITE aids with open domes I noticed that the tulip domes are occluding. And when I tried RITE aids with tulip domes they were even more occluding. Having the receiver in the ear and a tulip dome blocks more than just a tulip dome on the end of a thin acoustic tube.
I don’t like the feeling of being occluded at all but I don’t know what to suggest to my fitter. Jay man or someone else, could you tell me what might be a good solution considering my loss. Thanks.
250 R-10 L-10
500 R-10 L-10
750 R-65 L-55
1000 R-65 L-60
2000 R-60 L-50
4000 R-45 L-35
8000 R-55 L-35
Tough to fit your loss with anything too open, it is possible that there are custom tips available for your hearing aids that could be made with larger vents (think between the open “dome” and the closed “tulip” style). At least this would allow some air and natural sound into your ears and reduce the occlusion effect. I have had mixed reviews for comfort however. Your thresholds at 750Hz to 1000Hz make fitting a true open tip very difficult with no loss of volume.
With the open fit I just couldn’t get the volume I needed. When I turned the aids up I got nothing but squealing. My loss is evidently too much for these type of aids.
I see no reason why you cannot try the open fits as well. I will say that the Verite is an excellent hearing Aid. Your loss looks OK to me for Open Fit as long as it is an advanced/premium instrument. My statment is based on your air scores alone as don’t know much else about you and your hearing loss.