I guess when you use the TV connector you are using bluetooth and not the autosense program, so you would need to turn WhistleStop off in the bluetooth streaming program.
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Hmm, not sure, but I think the TV signal is BT but I don’t think the regular hearing signal is…
The Phonak TV Connector is decidedly NOT Bluetooth. But either Bluetooth or the TV Connector use a streaming program that is separate from parameters in other programs. I recently had these modified by my audi for my Marvels, but I don’t remember if they were separate programs. Anyway, just make sure they make the Whistle Stop adjustment to your liking for the streaming programs as well as all the other programs.
As a working musician I had to work around this tremolo effect for years. I was using Phonak high end products and my audi turned off the feedback manager. This fixed the tremolo but my hearing aids weren’t as effective as they could have been, In my search for new products 2 years ago I demoed Starkey as they could turn off the feedback manager on individual programs while the Phonak were an all or nothing proposition. I also tried OPN hearing aids and the tremolo effect wasn’t able to be remedied even after calling the tech help folks. Fortunately, I discovered that the Widex 440 Beyonds had no such tremolo effect problem and there was no adjustment needed as well as having a better overall sound.
I believe this statement is incorrect. Phonak’s Target software can adjust each and every program’s feedback with Whisleblock.
At least that’s the way is see it.
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My experience has been that it’s on for all programs or off for all. Just reporting my personal experience of being a Phonak user for 20+ years.
That’s not the case. You can adjust each program.
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The audiologist or fitter has control over whether feedback rejection is turned on for each program. I too am a jazz musician and have the Costco KS-9s (Phonak’s Marvels). I have a separate program for playing live music. In the range of auto programs, I have the feedback rejection turned on because I ride my bicycle a lot and the proximity of the helmet and over-the-ear wind reducers trigger feedback. From Costco, I have a pair of the Philips HearLink on order. I am told that these should give me the same satisfaction that you are getting from the Widex. We will know on Wednesday.
The Phonak feedback control is much more than “turned on or off”. If it’s off it is off but when on it has many adjustments of sensitivity.
Yes, but all values of ON create the annoying trill on higher frequencies. Even setting 1.
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This gets back to not wearing the proper acoustics discussed before.
Not worth hashing out again.
Sort of, depending upon what you mean by “proper”. If there was no need for some users to to require feedback rejection, then it would not be there. Again, no problems with open fit on other hearing aids. Let’s politely say that with your hearing loss and mine being quite different, we shall agree to disagree on this.
Oh the tremolo! Just migrated from obsolete Phonak Naida S VSP, to Signia Motion 13. Mostly better - more transparent. Audiologist took much care over the settings options, knowing I work with music and voice. Tremolo was instantly noticeable on my own voice, at all SPLs and gain settings.
Getting home to my favourite organ music I am dismayed: Festival Hall pipe organ sounds like a Hammond, sopranos with rock-steady pitch (e.g. Elin Manahan Thomas) are misrepresented.
All music sounds as though it’s from fluttery cassette. Music is still the poor relation, it seems.
I shall contact the manufacturer, go back to the audiologist and report further.
As you’ll all know, there’s a great research prog going on at Leeds University, UK, Dr Alinka Greasley, into music and hearing aids. Will talk with them, too! Very pleased to discover this thread.
Old thread, sorry! Yes, my Phonak Naidas ruined music through the pitch-shifting - so I had that turned off and endured occasional whistling. Phonak told me in an email that my obsolete NHS aid had all or nothing feedback rejection, but implied that later instruments offered a separate option on Music. However they also babbled on about improved processing speed etc etc, so I wonder if the issue was ever fully addressed.
Currently fitted with Signia Motion 13. Better sound, no whistle, no detune - but tremolo over everything!
I have commented more on that elsewhere on this thread.
Old thread, I know - but it’s still relevant today. Is turning off WhistleBlock still our only option these days? Is there a particular frequency range in which we can reduce gain instead? Something else?
I’m wearing a Phonak Naida Paradise.
I am also working through this issue wit phonak audeo paradise 90s. I am pleased to find this thread too. Have yet to try to reduce or switch off Whistlestop but will try that next week with my Audi.
I found that 440hz (concert A from my acoustic guitar) reliably causes the tremolo effect. A single note from an acoustic instrument is complex with a fundamental frequency and many higher frequency overtones, so unsurprisingly it also happens at all the multiples of 440 I.e. at each higher octave. We fairly crudely reduced the frequency response of the aids in turn at 440, then 880, 1760 etc. At 3520hz the tremolo effect had disappeared. Of course this has made the music lose it’s sparkle… but as I said we did this quite crudely at present. I hope to improve this on my next visit and to try reducing or removing Whistlestop on my Acoustic Guitar program.
FYI I had a similar problem with Oticon More 1 except it happened around 880hz and sounded quite different … not a tremolo warble but more of a lower after-tone.
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This is great, detailed info - keep us updated! I would love to be able to fix or reduce this effect without disabling Whistleblock.
I’ve heard the tremolo you are talking about describe as “singing into a fan.”. I struggle d with this when I had my Phonak aids. My audi turned off the feedback manager ( Phase invertor?) and that helped but still some feedback problems as you can imagine. So upon demoing several various manufacturers I found the Widex aids to be better than Oticon, Starkey, or Phonak with regard to sound quality. No adjustments were needed for the tremolo. It wasn’t there.
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Hello Jazz Pete - and Hooby and pheno.menon. This early thread does merit revival, I think, as hearing instruments are getting ‘smarter’ and may do even more to the signal. Great for voice, bad for music!
First, thanks for the tips about makes: it does seem Widex get praise for musical capability. They seem to blurb about it more than other makers. What we all need is more detailed specifications - such as we see when we buy hi-fi, or even a bottle of multi-vitamins!
We should keep the topic upfront as there is still limited music awareness, among manufacturers and even the people who train UK audiologists, so forgive me please for repeating my enthusiasm here for the work of Dr Alinka Greasley at Leeds University: great research among musicians using assisted hearing.
Those dreaded artefacts: my Phonak (old Naidas) warbled the pitch of notes around D7 (2,349 Hz) by a semitone up and down - so piano practice was an even greater torture than normal. Audiology - after I went back twice - turned that off. Music acceptable, conversation sometimes whistly.
Currently trialling more recent Signia Motion 13: much superior on speech with or without noise, generally cleaner sound, but a quite deep phase tremolo across most of the range. Cars sounded like steam trains.
Audiologist (new and very keen) was astonished, contacted Signia, looked into her incredibly clunky interface, and managed to disable the effect in a Music option. So, some whistles again. I can live with those, but the auto-volume levelling is entirely unsuited to music: too syllabic, with clicky overshoots. Turns my lovely Yamaha acoustic into a honky tonk! Chopin/Chopsticks.
When it’s safe to go back, I shall have to see if Widex can be offered by our local section of the NHS. Thank you each again for insight.
I posted a couple years ago about this. The information is still valid and covers the functionality of the Costco KS9 as well as the Phonak Marvel:
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