My audi has spent a lot of time tuning my Q90’s, with mostly good results. but I am still having trouble in one area. I play and sing in an acoustic duo. I use an earbud in one ear as an in-ear monitor. I would like to be able to use my RIC hearing aids while I’m singing. I can easily place the earbud in one ear along with the RIC tube. That way I could easily hear my partner’s instructions and comments from the audience between songs without having to change programs.
The problem is that when I sing with the HA’s in, I hear what I can best describe as a “trill” in my voice as I sing. This “trill” sound is like a very fast vibrato effect in which the Q90’s change the pitch of my voice up and down ever so slightly at a very fast rate, much faster than I could reproduce with my voice. I suspect that this effect is something that Phonak has designed to help with speech comprehension. When I wear the HA’s while singing, my partner says my vocal harmonies sound just slightly off pitch. So I tried singing without the HA’s and my partner said my harmonies sounded fine.
My Q90’s have a program that mutes the HA’s completely, so I am using that mute program while I sing. But between songs I have a difficult time hearing what my partner and audience members say. It’s cumbersome to say the least to have to cycle through the various programs on the Q90’s to get from the “mute” program to a “speech-in-noise” program and back again between every song.
I have asked my audi to design a “music” program that has none of the fancy speech-comprehension enhancements that work so well for normal conversations. The idea is that a very basic HA program might eliminate the “trill” effect but still would provide me with much better hearing between songs than the unaided “mute” option I’m now using. However the audi has been unable to eliminate the 'trill" and, of course, she can’t hear the “trill” that I am hearing.
Has anyone experienced this trill effect? If you use Audeo Q90’s try singing a loud, sustained, high note and see if you hear what I’m talking about. More importantly, does anyone know how to eliminate this trill/vibrato effect? Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can ask my audi to adjust in my “music” program to eliminate it? Thank you so much, everyone.
Yes, you can find instances in other forum entries where they might call it a warble or reverb. I am experiencing it in my new Phonak Audeo. I find it unacceptable… a deal breaker. They have been unable to make an adjustment that will remove it. So I am seeking another brand.
What you’re hearing could be entrainment artifacts from the adaptive feedback cancellation system. This can happen for tonal or music-like inputs. You can have your audi turn off WhistleBlock in your dedicated music program and see if that solves the problem, but your hearing aids are more susceptible to feedback when running under this condition.
Thank you, Rasmus. Another much-appreciated helpful suggestion.
I’m currently shopping for my first set of modern aids, and this has been a concern for me to as a choir singer. I demo’d my first pair (an older Halo model of some sort) and I’ve heard things that I don’t think I’ve EVER heard, but I just don’t know about how these will work out; if the compression used to bring some of the frequencies into range is going to impact pitch significantly. I assume that this can be turned off in a “program”. I’ve been very hesitant to move from what little acoustic ability I have left to relying on the digital interpretation. I’m expecting some significant adjustment period, but are my experiences with my music going to be satisfying? Other musicians out there?
It might also be a feature called compression where the sound is moved into a frequency zone in which your hearing is more sensitive. I have that enabled in my Naida Q70s. I particularly notice the effect in the way jingled change in my hand sounds. After listening to jingled change all of my life, I recognize the change in pitch or frequency. The reverb effect is caused by the slightly different frequency being fed to each ear. I believe this may be the trill effect you mention. I really like the way music sounds in my Q70s but then I am not a singer so I don’t have to be on perfect pitch. I do play the banjo but it is for my personal pleasure, not others.
Jeff
Thank you, Jeff. I thought the feature where a sound is moved into a different frequency was called “Sound Recover”. I don’t know if Sound Recover is a form of compression, but I have been under the impression that it is separate and distinct from compression. I could certainly be wrong. Your suggestion that the trill effect I have been hearing may be from a slightly different frequency being fed to each ear makes a lot of sense. I thought that my audi had turned off Sound Recover in my music program, but, if so, I am still hearing the trill effect; so that would seem to suggest that something other than Sound Recover is causing the trill. Any other suggestions or comments, anyone? Thank you. - - Updated - -
I have an audi appointment in a few days. I am going to ask the audi to change the Whistleblock setting on my music program. Assuming that the problem is indeed entrainment artifacts, does anyone (Rasmus?) have a suggestion as to what level Whistleblock should be set at in order to eliminate the trill effect I’m hearing but still provide protection against feedback? Obviously, the lower Whistleblock is set at, the more feedback is likely to occur. But I am hoping for a suggestion for a “sweet spot”. Thank you all very much.
— Updated —
I have an audi appointment in a few days. I am going to ask the audi to change the Whistleblock setting on my music program. Assuming that the problem is indeed entrainment artifacts, does anyone (Rasmus?) have a suggestion as to what level Whistleblock should be set at in order to eliminate the trill effect I’m hearing but still provide protection against feedback? Obviously, the lower Whistleblock is set at, the more feedback is likely to occur. But I am hoping for a suggestion for a “sweet spot”. Thank you all very much.