My local NHS hospital recently provided a pair of Phonak Nathos Auto SP hearing aids with ear moulds as an upgrade. Previously I had Phonak Naida S V SP.
Initially they swapped me to Oticon Synergy Sense but overall I found them vastly inferior although maybe the settings were far from optimal. At this appointment a hearing test was carried out. This showed overall a slight loss realistically simply from age plus a bigger drop in low frequency response on the right side, which overall has a greater loss.
At the next appointment to return to Oticon to configure the Phonak Nathos Auto SP all they did was load the same settings as for the Naida S V SP. When I tried to ask about the options they they seem not know and even told me I had three modes where as the Naida had four and that is actually what the Nathos now have …
The one feature potentially better with the Oticon was a directional mode.
I sent the content of this post by email to Phonak but they responded simply that I need to contact my provider, not very helpful hence why I joined this community.
Speech in Loud Noise with the note M programme only
I suspect I have the first mode set as one programme. When selected it seems to reduce low frequency sounds and cut sound from behind me but still has a wide angle of around 180 degrees.
My key question is if I had the second mode as another programme would it have a narrower angle at the front even if overall not very loud noise but more than one conversation? What I seek is a narrower angle to concentrate on one conversation by facing the person speaking.
From this page https://www.phonaknhs.co.uk/hearing-aid/nathos-auto/#tab-styles-fittings-colours
my interpretation is these aids can be configured with four program modes in addition to the base mode. Presuming the base auto mode has not been disabled, if indeed possible, can anyone confirm this is this correct or is the limit actually the base mode and three programs ?
The Nathos Auto SP is the same as the Bolero V70 SP. Quite old technology now that came out in 2016. They are now handing out the Naida M70 SP which has Bluetooth.
I will try to get ’ Speech in Loud Noise ’ added as my fourth programme.
Nathos Auto SP are what were brought out when I rejected Oticon. If my hospital has them I can not envisage being able to get Naida M70 SP for a while although I’m not that bothered about bluetooth. I can only guess Oticon are cheaper and what they are instructed to supply. I wonder how many just accept the aids they are given and settings as the best NHS can provide?
The hospital is convenient to me but I now wonder if another NHS funded provider would give better service e.g. Specsavers who have a local hearing centre. Boots are not convenient.
A topic for dedicated post.
With my thanks to all who have helped in some way I now have programmed ’ Speech in Loud Noise ’ as a mode.
When selected the two aids are working together. I realised that if I touched one aid I could hear this in both ears. I have had some interference too - static electricity ?
I have not used enough to find out but am expecting this mode to draw more power so reduce the battery life.
From what I have gleaned since making this post the NHS supply the same or better aids. Also government theory was for others to deal with straightforward cases and provide an at home service for those with mobility problems or other disability making hospital visits difficult. The hospitals would then concentrate on those with more complex needs.
Of course simulating real world situations is difficult. However IMO at least having a speaker to simulate radio and TV sound set at a level typical for good hearing and a selection of test speech and music test files to play would be a step forward. Not having an induction loop is another fundament omission. Just with these in at most 30 minutes the setup could be far better than ’ Can you hear me ? Is the volume level comfortable '. A step further would be a second source to add a simulation of background noise e.g. fan / air conditioning / office equipment etc.
Part of wanting to get a reasonably narrow directional pickup is cutting background sounds. While the settings on the Nathos Auto SP were a copy of the Naida S V SP as soon as I went into the office I found far more background noise in the fixed ’ speech in noise setting '. As I have set ’ speech in loud noise ’ for the Nathos Auto it blocks the background like the Naida. Time will tell how much battery life is reduced. Maybe I will try changing ’ speech in noise ’ to see if I can block more noise without reducing clarity.
To set another program based on this I can temporarily remove music as a selectable program.
For so long as the NHS issue aids that can be programmed with the serial Hipro I sourced and through this forum or elsewhere very kind people can provide the software I will keep with NHS.
How NHS will react / respond when they find out I have reprogrammed is a bridge to cross. Regardless of what I think to both their limitations and my recent experience I will just very politely explain why not least as overall I suspect / presume the shortcomings are the system and facilities rather than the audiologist. For the audiologist I suspect constrained by appointment time limits and no time to prepare. At the last appointment the audiologist has not been briefed on why the appointment was made nor had seen the comments I had sent by email.
The gain settings are transferred but they have to select NoiseBlock, WindBlock etc to where you want it. Transferring the settings, don’t set these parts.
Thanks for explaining this. I really do wonder if the audiologist knows what is and is not transferred. As I said in the other thread the total time to take back the Oticon Synergy Sense and issue the Phonak Nathos Auto SP was only about 15 minutes.
Only by actually seeing the software myself before I actually had the Hipro and cables did I find out what could be adjusted.
When I first looked at the NoiseBlock, WindBlock etc settings and started changing them I found most if not all were at the default marker.
I have now made various changes and of course they are a balance to cover various situations.
I’m leaving as is now until I have encountered more situations.
I have just read on a thread about music the effect of whistleblock and turning that fully off then tuning the gain at certain frequencies to stop the whistle. Something to experiment with sometime.
Another test / experiment will be with a signal generator and headphones to find the frequency / frequencies where I have a bigger loss then compensate for them.