Phonak ActiveVent Mini Review

Hearing Aids
#37

I received my ActiveVent a couple months ago with titanium ear molds and like other have said, the popping is annoying. Same about the issue when in loud places the ActiveVent will open and close constantly adjusting to the sound and I find that annoying as well. You can use the “speech in loud noise” program and it will stay closed, but I can’t say I like the sound or that it’s any improvement hearing when in closed for loud settings, so I typically use a different program like restaurant which will not close the vent.

For me, what makes ActiveVent worth it is the audio and phone streaming. I stream much more than I used to, although it does annoy my wife at times when she thinks I’m listening to her. An adjustment I would like to see added is to control how much hear through you get when the vent is closed. It makes sense as default the ActiveVent passes some sound through for safety reasons, but I would like to be able to close off all external sound at times when I’m streaming.

I to had the #2 wire fitted, but on my way today to the Audi to get #3 wire put on as it has been cutting into my ear.

1 Like
#38

Have you tried sliding the mix to the right on the details page for the program when streaming? You can mix in more or less mic in some of the streaming programs. I do that a lot with the Roger.

#39

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#40

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Hope these images help. That mix screen isn’t available for things like speech in loud noise, but I think it is there for bt streaming, tv connector and Roger mic programs.

WH

#41

Thanks Whitehat, I just tried that and it does what I was looking for.

#42

I had the same issue when replacing the wax guard and pushed the rubber gasket through and damaged it. This does appear to be a weak point that will fail over and over, so good idea to ask for replacements and the plastic tool.

#43

A couple updates.

  • The rubber grommet fail in my other ear mold, so I had my Audi order replacements. I received them (6) a week ago and they are very easy to install. It seems like these might be a bit better than what came with the ear molds in the first place, but time will tell. Btw, no plastic tool required.

  • So just after three months I had one of my ActiveVents fail in the closed position. My Audi has ordered a new one under warranty, but I am starting to get a bit concerned with the 6 month warranty. Hopefully this was just a one off and they can get way further beyond 6 months. That said, it did get me thinking if I would continue to use ActiveVent if I had to replace them just after 6 months, and the answer is yes. The sound clarity is much better than the standard tips in both open and especially closed (streaming) modes. I had switched back to my previous ear piece while waiting for the rubber grommets to arrive, and during that time I was very disappointed in the hearing aids, so I was extremely glad to get the ActiveVents up and going again. My hope is Phonak will continue to make changes son the rubber grommets last longer, and either extend the warranty or fix the durability of the ActiveVents.

Anyone else with updates to your experience with ActiveVent?

1 Like
#44

Hi @Ragman! I got the titanium tips a week ago today. There is good and bad with them, mostly good.

The soft slimtips seemed to aim the business end at my ear canal wall fairly often, making me feel occluded both in open and closed modes. The titanium rarely does that.

The seal around the AV seems much tighter than the soft tips, so air going in or out when in closed mode sounds like farting when the wire or the tip is touched quite often. Most disturbing aspect of the new tips.

They don’t work their way out quite as much as the soft tips did.

The sound quality is even better than the slim tips, which was better enough than the domes over regular receivers I knew within about 2 minutes of putting them on in the audiologist’s office that it was good. Music sounds better than ever. Really, I haven’t heard music this well is SO long.

WH

#45

Hi Everyone,

I am a DYI hearing aid guy – meaning I have the Phonak software, and I recently got a nice pair of P90-R hearing aides used (I have been using M50 13T for the last 3 years with Medium open vents). My hearing loss is getting worse as I get older but is more severe at the higher frequencies and pretty symmetrical.

I was able to get a Phonak Active Vent Starter Kit off of eBay and set up the hearing aides to use this with the 3rd largest size of the temporary silicone tips. I would say streaming sounds better, but I expected the Bass to come in a bit better – they are still very tinny.

The switching is a little annoying but nothing I couldn’t adjust too. I guess if these work out well, I would order Titanium Slim Tips from my audiologist. BTW new AV receivers seem to cost around $75 each vs. $25 for the normal ones.

I don’t have coverage so if the are failing every 4 months, that will get annoying – but I would image you cold clean them with steam and compressed air / alcohol if they got clogged and bring them back to life.

If they don’t seem to work well I wll go back to medium vented domes. I definitely prefer that to the Titanium vented CShells that I got a few years ago (just my opinion).

I guess there aren’t too many people sing these Active Vents yet…

doberwiler

#46

Still loving mine every day!

WH

#47

Hey WhiteHat, do you know if there’s some sort of fitment chart for these Active Vents? I’m asking because I’m usually fitted without a vent on earmolds now. I figure if I don’t have a vent, I wouldn’t benefit from it.

#48

This is the only Fitment chart I could find. It appears your loss might be outside the requirements for the ActiveVents.

PH_Candidacy_editable_form_ActiveVent_Receiver_EN_V1.00_027-0642_02.pdf (143.9 KB)

2 Likes
#49

Phonak ActiveVentTM Receiver Candidacy checklist

I posted this before, but here you go again.

WH

3 Likes
#50

You are correct.

…

1 Like
#51

@berettadm1 @WhiteHat @Neville Thank you for confirming my suspicions, this community is great. :slight_smile:

#52

I’ve been wearing Activevents for 2 months now and I have to say that my experience has been very disappointing. I believe I have the only set in use in New Zealand, as no one seems to know anything about them. I go to my audiologist with issues, he calls Phonak for support and basically gets frustrated because they never answer his questions.
I have opened tickets with Sonova with questions and basically get brushed aside. They say to contact my audiologist (see above) or ask more questions. After I answer their questions, I get no more responses.
I am ready to return these things because They are not working properly and there seems to be no support to get them working.
Reading the literature, these things should be exactly what I need, if they could be made to work as claimed. As it is, I am paying extra to hear worse than before.
My satisfaction with Phonak has crashed from a solid 10 to less than zero. I could not recommend Phonak to anyone at this point.

#53

What’s the problem behind them and what is your audiogram?

#54

I’m trying out phonak HA’s with the active vent reciever wires… is anyone else using them and what has your experience been with them … are you having to replace them every 6 mos?

#55

Sound is “tinny”. In a noisy environment they constantly open and close. App that is supposed to be able to control them is not available. One titanium shell does not fit (keeps falling out), Phonak’s fix was a longer receiver, which has nothing to do with the shell not fitting. Sound is horrible compared to my original titanium receivers. Phonak just seems to not care. Just brushes me and my audiologist off.
Audiogram shows mainly high frequency loss.

#56

Cent you just go back to a std receiver?

1 Like