Thanks Firenzel
Kinda what I expected
Anyone know which TV &bt Computer uses; Media music & mic or Media speech & mic.
Below is pic of the audiologist settings for both those. Phone call and mic almost the same settings. She used NAL-NL2
Media Speech and Media Music is whatever youāre listening too.
Listen to a PodCast on your phone and itāll use the Speech, listen to music and itāll use Music.
Same with TV Connector, mostly itāll use Speech unless youāre listening to music on your TV.
Same with Computer unless on Teams / Zoom and itāll use Phone Call.
Regarding fitting formula, we canāt say, itās very much up to you and how your ears hear. I like NAL 1 but others like APD 2 so very individual.
Thanks Zebras. A bit of a learning curve here; and thanks to the members on this forum Iām starting to make sense of the target software choices/considerations.
Sorry if Iām being presumptuous, but the biggest barrier here sounds to be that you are a long-term intermittent user. Is that right? You donāt wear the hearing aids day-to-day are reserve them for special situations?
If this is the case, expect to have to pull the gain way down to a point that it is comfortable but not optimal for understanding. Expect to have to micro-manage the volume control in different situations as comfortable wonāt be clear and clear wonāt be comfortable.
Rehab for long-term intermittent users can be a struggle. Focus on getting a comfortable physical fit first because you need be able to wear them. All the time. Then find a gain level that is comfortable for you, focus on consistent wear, and bring the gain up a little bit every few months working towards full prescription gain. The long-term goal is that you can put them in in the morning and wear them all day at 100% target gain.
Maybe Iām way off-base and have over-interpretted some small comments you made in the wrong direction. But maybe someone failed to give you information on the importance of consistent wear back at the beginning and has done you a dramatic disservice.
Thanks for your observationās Neville and I appreciate your candor. Youāre spot on in whatās required to acclimatize oneself to the newness of the aid and to train ones brain to tune in and out where needed. My experience with hearing aids thus far is probably typical for many 1st time users experiencing hearing loss. This is why many aids end up tucked away in a drawer somewhere never to see the light of day.
Hereās the rub though. Over the years my expectations have diminished with each new ātrialā period of use. In 2005 and then again in 2018 I started out wearing the aids religiously for the 1st 3-4 months and then as I realize that theyāre just not doing what I hoped for and probably never will I abandon them. My good low frequency hearing and the inability to tune that out was overpowering the high frequency gains. Comprehension did not improve and loudness without comprehension is not my goal. I believe that in the 1st two instances of trying them either the technology was not there yet or the audiologist was not able to adjust them correctly or a combination of both. Regardless here we are 18 years after my 1st attempts and Iām giving it another go.
Technology has improved and my audiologist is giving it a good go, so I am more hopeful. I am at month 5 of this new go round ( month 1 with my 2nd set of aids) and am seeing many more proās than cons. Wearing them full time is not possible in my case as cutting the lawn, working in the shop with power tools and many of the things that caused my hearing loss are still being done. I do were them for a good 10 or 12 hours a day though. This forum and all the valuable information gained here has kept me in the game and I am much wiser today than I was during my 1st two attempts. Thanks again to all for all your great input.
Good. Iām glad I was imagining an old you and that new you is on a new track. 
The earmold lab at phonak is weak. I hope you can get that settled well, but I generally expect a few remakes with them before Iām happy. Often they seem to be able to get a nicer fit with an encased mold, although there are certain downsides to that over a slim tip.
How about independent lab as an alternative? My Oticon Real molds are from Microsonic.
Unfortunatly Microsonic is in the US and being in good old Canada we might not have access to their services (correct me if iām wong) . If anyone knows a good Canadian alternative please way in.
Yes, thus far I am not very impressed with Phonakās ear moulds especially when they had a plugged vent and (as my audiologist has recently informed me) their Slimtips require you to remove it from the aid in order to repace the wax protector. My audiologist has recommended I change to a cShell saying it will be just as good and maybe even better? She says Phonak is better at making these? As a side point my experience with the domes has basically been positive and they are more comfortable.
I love my titanium slim tips with my activevent receivers. I believe they were made in Vietnam.
WH
I use closed vents. Two tiny holes. Work for me. No feedback. Fingers in my ears volume stays the same
My fallback. Iāve stopped using waxguards for a week at a time. Then my old Audi would change the receivers out.
I hate the Paradise P90 waxguards. Iām getting better. Itās the locks that interfere
They welcome international inquiries and have a location in Hungary. So I guess they serve Canada too.
The cShells are often better, yes.
Molds from elsewhere are a possibility, it may just mean more $$$.
@Tealover
I have slim tips. Theyāre custom moulded. They are indeed clear and hollow and, as you say, the receivers push into them. Theyāre also vented, so occlusion is low. They are comfortanble.
My Audiologist said these gave him much more tolerance in high frequency gains, than domes. He said C.Shells would have been better still, but I just didnāt fancy them.
Peter
Where to buy this type of slim tips. I would like it for my 105dB receiver of Oticon More.
They were direct from Phonak and cost a lot of money. Maybe Oticon do something similar?
Noted with Thanks and have a nice day.
Hi Peter
The attached photo is a image of one of my Oticon custom molds and the difference from the Phonak mold appears to be the the depth of insertion. (now trying Phonak aids) The Phonak one requires the receiver to be removed from the mold in order to replace the waxguard whereas the Oticon one does not. (shame on you Phonak)
The right aid that I received from Phonak had to go back as the vent did not go all the way through (Blocked) and the left aid was difficult to remove from my ear. On one occassion, just the receiver came out and it was quite a chore retrieving the mould. On another occassion the ear lock broke off when I used it in an attempt to remove the aid. So I am not a big fan of Phonakās mould making dept. I,m using domes now while waiting on cShells from Phonak. Will keep all posted on my experience with them once I have a while to try them out.
Iām glad Phonakās slimTips worked well for you but not all ear canalās are the same and Phonakās slimTips did not work for me.
With my Phonak slimtips, the wax guard fits in the end of the the mould itself. The disc like dispenser doesnāt work though.
Iāve had 3 sets of Phonaks. Two had normal waxguards. Worked so well for me. I use them with locks to prevent loss.
Phonak Audeo Paradise P90Rāsāabsolutely terrible. The only reason to sell these is to increase profits. They just donāt work for me. Maybe itās the locks I useā¦
And Iāve had 2 domes ā way backāstay in my ears. With the old hearing aids.
New hearing aidsāI had a false alarm and visited my doc once when I thought I had one in my right ear canal.
@Phonak
ānew waxguards vs old waxguardsāIf it aināt broke, donāt fix it. Hire some designers my age and see how absolutely terrible the wax guards are. Orāstill have 'em when I need new hearing aids? They wonāt be Phonak when I buy. Itās a deal breaker.
DaveL
So several months on and am now using Phonak custom CShells & loving them; especially the fit and larger vents. Glad I kept at my HP to keep moving forward on finding something that works for my smallish & bent ear canals. Just finished a remote session with her and adjusted a couple settings as per my request. Love the Phonaks Lumity and its android blue tooth. Not without its quirks but much better than my experience with Oticon. My favorite feature is the tap control. Also just discovered that the Restaurant setting works well to filter out road noise while in the car. This would not be so if it were not for the CShells. I now believe they are just as important as the aid itself and maybe more so. Why spend thousands on aids and just pennies on cheap domes?
