So here is an update for you.
I have not had a chance to look into music streaming at all yet. I work 12 hour shifts. When I’m working, I basically work and sleep, not much else. But the comments I have received regarding music streaming have been very interesting.
I sometimes have to work around some very noisy equipment. Electro-mechanical systems with LOTS of cooling fans. With the Siemens, I would usually switch to my noise program. If I had to be in the area for more than 20 minutes, I would just mute the aids unless I needed to talk to someone.
Yesterday, I just happened to realize that I was standing near the noisiest group of machines, and not really noticing. So I walked over and stood right in the center of them and just listened. It was indeed noisy, of course, but it was tolerable. I called a co-worker over (he knows I just got these aids) and asked him to talk to me. We chatted for a few minutes, and I had to concentrate on listening, but I was able to hear him for the most part. He tested me on the words “heat” vs “heap” and I failed. We work in a cleanroom and wear a hood with a face cover, just your eyes showing, so there’s no lip-reading. But for the most part, I was able to carry on a conversation. I told him, “I can stand here and it’s not annoying.” He replied “it’s driving me crazy, let’s get out of here.”
So, in a nutshell, noise suppression is amazing. And I don’t need to switch to a noise program. The difference in how I feel at work is incredible.
I spoke to my wife on the phone during my 30 minute drive home. I found that with the road noise, I had to turn my volume up quite a bit to hear her. With the Siemens, I had complained about road noise, and the audi set the outside mics to off during phone calls. I found that to be a little stifling, so then he set them to 50%. That worked out well. I don’t know if that can be done with these because the outside mics are what I’m talking into. That will have to be a topic of discussion on Monday.
On her end of the phone call, my wife said that the car was a lot noisier than with the old aids. But even with that she felt like she could hear me better than before. She is extremely pleased with the result.
With the Siemens I had troubles with the domes backing out, so went with custom molds. Apparently, my ears move a lot and that makes them difficult to fit. The molds were very painful at first. The audi had to grind them down a lot to get them comfortable. Once that was done, they were great.
But surprisingly, these domes are staying put. At this point I am considering just sticking with the domes. The owner’s manual (yes, I did read it) says the domes should be changed about every 4 months. Does anyone here actually do that? I’ll have to ask him if a supply of domes is included in the bundle.
Other minor observations. The administrative area where my boss’s office is has an eight foot ceiling with motion sensors for the lighting. When I walk under those sensors, the Siemens would squeal. The Marvels do not.
I used to put my aids in, then close the battery to turn them on. The Marvels have an extremely tight battery door, and I can’t do that. It pretty much takes two hands to close the battery. On the plus side, with the old aids I would sometimes go looking for the down volume button and open the battery by accident. That ain’t happening with these.
I really just need to figure out the music streaming thing and then I think I am going to be very happy with these.
