Edge is now standard, and Edge+ is optional for more aggressive noise reduction.
I leave my Sphereās in the automatic (AutoSense) mode 99% of the time. Weird that some people fight with AutoSense. The only time I use a manual program is to force the Spheric AI program or the Music program.
Jordan
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In fairness, I think that it may have improved in the past four years. But music and speech together have always been a problem for me.
Iād love to hear more about your experence comparing the EdgeAI and the Sphere. Why did you end up going for Sphere. Was it more than just battery life?
This really really surprises me. Having also tried the l90s and now the Infinios, brightness Iād say is my key takeaway from them. If anything, I find them over bright, birdsong and natural sounds almost get over boosted for me. I wonder if there is more going on here than I understand. From spending time on this forum, itās become clear to me that the power of the receiver in the aid plays a massive role in how sound is heard by the wearer. For example I had mild to moderate hearing loss. I think I use an M type receiver.
Iāve talked about the fact that when high freq noises come in that the HA thinks are too loud, it clamps on the breaks and turns down the HA at various points.
From what youāre describing, this eb and flow of sound, the fact that itās muddying up sounds for you like birdsong, combined with the level of your hearing loss, I wonder if the HA is compressing the sound for you like this because of the power itās having to send those sounds through.
in other words, you need more boost than I do and as a result, the HA has to engage itās breaks I.E. compression a lot more of the time. Do you happen to know what receiver was fitted for your l90s? it might be worth having a chat to your audiologist about this for the next fit. Iām not saying itāll fix everything, but those behaviours make me suspicious. It may be that this is what happens when using Phonakās with a greater hearing loss.
This is a great question, because I had the perfect comparison of receivers and HAs. I used my UP receivers that I wear with my KS9s, when I trialed the L90Rs. Apples and apples. After my first month, I went back to the audiologist and she told me there were two basic fitment programs, and most new users preferred the one I was using because it boosted the lower frequencies. She switched to the second, which reduced the lower frequencies and that helped, but it still wasnāt as bright as my KS9s. The way she described it, the lower frequencies were overpowering the higher ones.
So, the L90Rs were not as bright as my KS9s yet not really all that much better in noise than my KS9s.
I didnāt explore this further because the L90Rs were not the ones that I was interested in. They were a substitute for the Spheres that we couldnāt get the trial version of. I trialed the Intents after that with double domes, which didnāt work well for me because I need the full ear molds.
This is the reason why I left Costco. My hearing loss is outside of the range and abilities of Costco techs to fit properly. I expect that whatever I buy next, will need to be customized for me. And it makes me wonder if I might end up using Sphere mode more than the average userā¦
BTW, real ear measurements were done at fitment time in all cases, including my existing KS9s at Costco.
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At a guess, perhaps the hearing aids of choice, are on the borderlineā¦ You might struggle with any RIC @CaptainTrips, given your loss, a Naida SP or Naida UP BTEās might be deemed as more appropriate? Just a suggestionā¦ That isnāt to say you canāt get a reasonable fit with a RIC, but like all hearing aids, there is a compromiseā¦ Good Luck, cheers Kev 
No battery was not the core reason. I wanted Edge AI to win during my selection process but I found sphere to be superior in speech in quite and noise. It also received superior technical scoring to support my conclusions. I felt the autosenseās changing of the gears (programs) was right on target in most situations but I did not get the same experience with Edge AI because there is no way to no know on the spot which gear it was operating in. Any way, I have given detailed reviews for both devices. For my detailed review of Sphere go to My experience wth Starkey Edge AI and comparison with my Phonak Sphere trial and for my detailed review of Edge AI and comparison of both devices, go to My experience wth Starkey Edge AI and comparison with my Phonak Sphere trial
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I wonder, when you say the Starkey sounded more metallic, that sounds like cone effect to me, the idea of hearing sound through your ears and also through the HAās with a delay. At a guess and it is only a guess, Starkey might have an older slower chip and this means the sound is more delayed. What I have noticed with Phonak over the generations, is that the processing is getting faster and faster. I was quite shocked as to how close to Widexās Universal program the Spheres sounded. Nothing beats Widex on the Pure program yet, I guess thatās the ultimate goal though. Get something sounding like Widex with the control of a modern AI hearing aid.
I tried Starkey Edge AI 24 and the sound was metallic at least to me. Iām going to try Phonak Infinio Sphere 90 with hopefully a more natural sound. 
Originally, my audiologist proposed the Naida, but changed her mind when we talked further and the Sphere was announced, followed by the Edge AI. I was going to trial a Naida, but then she suggested the L90. I have an active lifestyle and wear glasses and the Naida is just huge. The RICs have the powerā¦ for nowā¦
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It is very difficult to describe this. The HA industry needs to develop audio clips to help users pinpoint the exact feeling. Will it help if I said that spheric sounded more like analog piano whereas Edge AI at times sounded digital piano. Another example would be when you hear a speaker on a radio whose sound is crystal clear and then you hear the same speaker on another radio where he sounds high pitched. I admit that acoustical envoirnment can play a role in this. For both Edge AI and Sphere I wore closed domes with two vents. Having purchased Sphere I am now using open domes and the quality of sound is more natural but at the expense of not hearing well (wife and grandchildren) occasionally.
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I wear glasses myself @CaptainTrips, over the years, the Naida UPās (Ultra Power) have slightly reduced in size, after the Naida Ventureā¦ The Naida SP (Super Power) is a lot smaller, using a 13 battery, instead of the 675 on the UPās, just as powerful IMO, I have both, and occasionally I will rotate them, but granted, the Naida UP BTE is a tadge on the large size, but maybe as far as the vast majority of Naida UP users are concerned, if they are anything like me, we probably donāt care what size they are, if they help us hear better, then for us guys/girls in the severe/profound thresholds, that is our only concernā¦ I have said often enough on this forum over the years, if BTE aids were the colour & size of 2 large bananas, as long as there was an overall improvement, I would certainly wear themā¦ Lastly, a BTE aid, will IMO, always sound richer/fuller than any RIC aids, itās a far better sound scope than any RIC aid can offer, not too mention, it gives you plenty of headroomā¦ Good Luck in your endeavours for better hearingā¦ Cheers Kev
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I just want to weigh in from LEFT field hereā¦ I bought the Phonak Lumity Life 312-battery aids last spring. DANG THEY ARE GOOD! If folks donāt have money or ear space for the larger Spheres, consider these! I often donāt even have to put them into Speech in Loud Noise for restaurants. I definitely feel that these are an order of magnitude better than my older Marvels, and they are probably even a squeak better than my Lumity Life rechargeables. After all, theyāre 2 years newer ā¦
I opted for battery aids expressly for my lifestyle of travel, outdoors, long flights, and never wanting to be without power in my aids. Well, if you had my cinderblock ears, youād be the same! 
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