Many truths here! I wish my audiologist had explained it as well as you. Instead, they perform the rote hearing tests, recommend a brand of aid, and then don’t want to prepare me for the almost inevitable disappointment when the aids don’t do what I’m wanting them to do!
I totally get the analogy of a compressed painting vs my compressed band of hearing! Imagine a Georges Seurat pointillist painting compressed to a single band! It would look so abstract that it would be near impossible to recognize “A Sunday on Le Grand Jatte”.
That said, I will give you an example of how I’ve adapted to the Phonak Lumity Life aids (after 1.5 yrs of “training”): My husband and a guy working on our home theater system are talking about 15’ from me - in the house with HIGH ceilings. With the Lumity Life aids in, I can hear every word said and contribute throughout the conversation from that distance. Next day, the 3 of us are standing 3-5’ apart. I have the (completely lame) fitted Oticon Intent 1 aids in and catch maybe 60-70%. It is incredibly frustrating! I KNOW these Oticons can do better, but I’m powerless to make that happen cuz I don’t have an audi with passion who wants to make a “miracle” happen.
That kind of speech incomprehension was annoying. But during my 3-day trial, I’ve also had never-ending issues with BT connectivity throughout the day. Today, I couldn’t even answer a call! Neither me nor my husband on the other end had ANY audio at all. After 3 call attempts back and forth with the Oticons in, I swapped into my Phonaks and immediately, the call went thru like normal. Instantly. Maybe it’s the version of BT on my Android phone?
There is a huge DOWNSIDE to BT unreliability, cuz that is one of my strongest points with streaming my Phonaks to the Android phone. I can hear ANYONE with ANY kind of accent, even if they mumble or we have a terrible connection. Today - another case in point. I called Phonak Customer Support to ask about the myPhonak app. The person who answered the phone was almost completely unintelligible her accent was SO BAD. Yeah, I’m honest! I actually laughed out loud at the absurdity of someone who can’t speak English at a HEARING AID company talking to a cinderblock-eared person who is me. But then, I powered thru and gadang got the job done cuz I hear fabulously on the phone with the Phonaks.
If I can’t get that kind of confidence from another make of aid, I’d best hang on to what I have and wait for the day when someone knowledgeable and PATIENT can fit me with Oticon. I don’t doubt that the aids can deliver on sound quality, but the issues with streaming spooked me. I am not going to give up my utter confidence in that arena by switching aids for something that works half the time. I’d run scared from the phone - and I’m not used to that. I always offer to make calls for other people cuz I know I can hear exceptionally well on my phone.
I found that the Oticon Intent 1 I trialed cut out a LOT of ambient noise - so it should be better, but the fitting was completely lame, so I ended up getting very clipped and muted speech. The audio quality on my phone was muddied and volume too low. (streamed music sounded FABULOUS, oddly!)
I finally realized that I was trying to jam a square peg into a round hole with the Oticon 1. I don’t blame the aid. I blame the trial. That’s why I’ll return these aids on Monday cuz I don’t need 2 weeks to taunt me when the trial was set up to fail from the get-go.
I feel very fortunate that with my snake-belly audiogram I can do so well in nearly every situation. But put me in a giant gathering or a loud, rowdy restaurant and I’ll just grit my teeth and count the minutes.
I always appreciate your technical analysis and analogies! The facts are welcome.