The Phonak rep showed me a demo PilotOne during my fitting. It’s actually quite large. I would say the length of an index finger and twice as wide.
I guess I wouldn’t mind hearing from the rep if this reverb and mechanical sound can be fixed by tuning the aids somehow. I find it interesting that Ronnie didn’t experience it until after they were tweaked in a fitting. And perhaps if s/he has heard of a more global issue with intermittent feedback/noise. From what Phonak said to my audi, it sounded like they know about that particular issue. Thanks for offering, Stratuscom. 
Hi Stratuscom,
Thanks for offering to check in with the Phonak rep on any questions. Mine stem mainly from the iCom.
If you have the time and opportunity, I’d really like to understand better any tips to make the iCom stream fuller, richer sound (for music and TV listening, especially).
I’d also like to know if there is any way to enable a “mics to mute” program that can be used with the iCom and perhaps selected using the MyPilot or buttons. I’d like to listen to music with no ambient noise being fed by the mics on the HAs.
Totally understand if you can’t get to these or if its too much trouble.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Getting a fuller sound from the iCom is one of my requests of the Phonak rep as well. I am sure there is a way to do this because my iCom was fuller and richer before we installed the programs in Target.
A gain control for the hearing aid mikes with the MyPilot is a feature I was planning on recommending that Phonak program into the system if possible. You are able to turn off the mikes completely in each individual iCom program with Target right now. You just can’t control it with the MyPilot.
Banshee,
I will ask about the noise in the automode. Yesterday, my left hearing aid would produce a noise about every thirty minutes, but only when I was in my car. Rebooting the hearing aid made it go away. I will mention your voice sounding mechanical too.
If I may, the problem isn’t particularly with the I-Com, it’s an issue with the degree of venting afforded by the fitting (especially with a milder loss like yours). Lots of the bass is just ‘lost’ by the lack of seal on the receiver.
Fixing it is fairly straightforward: you either have the low pitch gain turned up on the I-Com program OR you increase the seal around your receiver with a more occluding tip: which might make your own voice sound loud.
Whichever case it may be difficult to achieve the drive level you want with such a small speaker, as a secondary function of what the aid is really intended to do.
I just remembered. I had the same problem of intermittent noise several years ago with an earlier pair of Phonaks. Phonak replaced the receivers twice but the problem continued. Turned out I had a bad batch of batteries. That may not be the problem here, but if you are still experiencing noise you might try a fresh battery from a different manufacturer, or if it is happening in one ear only, try switching the batteries and see if the problem follows. It is possible these new hearing aids are even more sensitive to voltage variations.
Good idea, thank you. I didn’t even consider batteries as a possible source of the problem. My aids are currently at Phonak getting the “fix”, whatever that ends up being. I’m really curious what your rep is going to say about the questions you’ll be asking.
Thanks, Um Bongo.
I suspected that I could improve some of the issue by trading into a different tip. That said, I’m also confident that the iCom and the programs in Target also need to be adjusted. The sound is really pitched to the mids and highs.
You’re also right that it will be difficult to get the headphones-quality sound I’m looking for from the smaller drivers in the HAs. Like I said in my earlier post, I’m just a bit greedy and want it all!
We’ll see what StratusCom learns. My next appointment is this week on Wednesday, so I’ll plan to post an update afterwards with the adjustments we made and what I’m experiencing.
Take care,
Chris
Does anyone who has a MyPilot get the battery level indicator to read anything but full? My indications are always full for the MyPilot as well as the hearing aids.
I have seen low batt on the MyPilot display for left aid and MyPilot.
TerryB
Thanks, I’ll have to trouble shoot the problem.
I’ve found the battery read out to be quite hit or miss.
Yesterday, my right ear battery went out. Since I put both batteries in at the same time, I used My Pilot to check on the left. It showed full status. Ten minutes later, it gave me the low battery alert. . .
Had my fourth fitting today, this time with the Phonak Tech Rep. All of the fitting issues were resolved. Bottom line: She reset all of the programs to the Target recommended values and that fixed everything.
The recommended settings brought back a much richer sound in audio streaming with the iCom, in both Bluetooth Audio and Audio Jack. Changing the gain from the recommended settings even a little can cause the sound to deteriorate greatly. The low frequencies came back and the highs sounded natural. I also was able to hear sounds again, like the car blinkers, computer tones, etc. that I had heard the first day before we started messing with the settings. Speech discrimination also improved significantly. We did add in a little more bass to the Manual Calm and Manual Music programs, but I have not had a chance to test those programs to see the effect. We cut the lows and the highs down in Acoustic Phone. My hope is that will allow the Acoustic Phone mode to work in a noisy environment.
The Tech Rep’s thought on why you could hear reverb and your voice sound mechanical is possibly the audiologist didn’t run the feedback program first and or didn’t enter the hearing aid’s exact acoustic coupling configuration including the vent size. Even slight variations here can cause sound distortion.
As for the crackling noise, she noticed moisture in my ear tubes. This can cause the hearing aid to produce the static like noise. The static noise did not reappear after my aids spent the night in the dryer. A bad battery is also a possibility.
MyPilot not showing the proper battery charge level for either the hearing aids or the MyPilot is definitely a software malfunction. The unit needs to be flashed again with the latest software and then replaced if that doesn’t fix it.
We talked at great length for the need to control the hearing aid mic gain during iCom audio streaming and eliminating the delay in audio start up when in Bluetooth Audio or Audio Jack. See admitted she saw the need and would submit a report to Phonak for their consideration. She said Phonak has an excellent customer feedback program and pays close attention to feedback from the customers and audiologists. They will always consider feedback that comes from two or more customers. So if you think this is important too, ask your audiologist to make this request to Phonak as well. Both of these issues could be resolved with a software change.
The Tech Rep said the FDA was slow to approve the Spice hearing aids for distribution in the U.S. Once approved Phonak immediately put the aids on the market before the dispensers could receive training. This has caused a number of fitting issues. A comprehensive training program for dispensers will begin in January which should resolve many of the fitting issues.
Right now I am very happy with my new hearing aids.
This isn’t just for feedback. The aid actually models it’s own gain based on these settings. It’s very important that this is run at initial fit or if the vent/mould/dome is altered, otherwise gain compensation isn’t applied to reflect the CC of the ear canal. Basically you’ll end up with a default level of gain - in a large canal the low frequencies will just get ‘lost’: a bit like shouting into a large sports hall.
Another comment the Tech Rep made was to allow a month to adjust to the new settings. I am sure this is the case if you don’t have any major issues. It takes that long for you (and probably the hearing aids, although she didn’t mention that) to acclimate.
After the fitting we went to dinner. The noise level at the restaurant was medium. With the manufacturers settings, StereoZoom was the best mode for conversation one-on-one. However, initially I was missing part of the conversation, especially from the waiter who had a quiet voice. Turning the volume down a couple of clicks in StereoZoom reduced the noise volume around me but left the volume of the person I was facing unchanged. I was able to understand every word, even from the quiet waiter.
There was one area of disagreement. I still feel the end user needs more information to assist the audiologist in getting a good fitting. Information like what we glean from this forum. She believed the end user just needs to accurately describe what he/she is experiencing and rely on the audiologist’s expertise to resolve all issues, but that is a topic for another thread.
Thanks for all this info, Stratuscom. And I saw Um Bongo’s subsequent comments as well - thank you. I’m glad for you that you had such a successful session with the tech rep. In regards to what you stated about reverb/mechanical noise, I do know that we ran the feedback program, but I don’t know about the other part. I do know that we made some modifications to make my voice less tinny. But what they were I can’t recall. I’m looking forward to getting them back to try it again in light of this new information. I am also beginning to think I need to get a remote. I have been trying to evaluate them in auto mode, with a couple of programs accessed via the buttons on the hearing aids (autozoom, stereozoom). Sounds like you have a lot more options with the remote, but I don’t know if I’m going to feel like having one in reach at all times.
I do like the MyPilot. It gives me more control. It allows me to switch between programs quickly and to see instantly the current program and volume settings. However, the only option that I have found you can accomplish with the MyPilot that you are unable to do with the program buttons on the hearing aids is ManualZoom. ManualZoom seems to work better for me in a car or airplane than AutoZoom or UltraZoom.
I have started wearing a PDA holster on my belt to contain my phone and HA remote. I’m wearing the iCom since I use it for my cellular and Desk phone. I used to carry the phone in my pocket but was always dropping folding money which stuck to the phone “cozy”. Much better in the holster.
TerryB
Thanks Stratuscom! These are really good comments. I think one of the reasons why I have had such a good experience with the new Audeo S Smart IXs is that my audiologist really didn’t vary any of the settings once the Target software created my initial settings. This is a bit counter intuitive to how audiologists have worked in the past with previous versions of the software where the initial settings are just a starting point. As I recall, the only thing we really did was to bump the gain up slightly in the StereoZoom setting because the logging function showed that I was constantly raising the volume in this program by a single click on the myPilot. I think we also also dropped the volume slightly in the iCom bluetooth program because I was finding that my AT&T bluetooth land line phone was a bit too loud when I used the iCom and there isn’t any volume adjustment buttons on the iCom. Other than that…my settings are pretty much the target recommended settings.
So…if you are reading this and you are about to get fitted with the new Spice hearing aids, remind your audiologist to leave the settings alone until the 2nd or third fitting.
I’m into my second month of using these hearing aids and I am really pleased. I have my 4th fitting tomorrow morning and I’m going to return the Alera 9s at that time and pay the bill for the Smart IXs. There is really nothing to complain about with these hearing aids. The only issues I’ve noticed is that sometimes Phonak’s new torpedo domes make the inside of my left ear a bit sore. I may just ask my audiologist tomorrow about the molded slim tips. The only other goofy thing is a weird issue with my iCom and bluetooth connections to my AT&T landline and/or my iPhone. When I hangup from a call using the iCom and my bluetooth landline phone, sometimes the iPod feature on my iPhone starts playing automatically. I think the reason this happens is that the iCom stays connected to both devices at the same time (even though sound is only being transmitted from the land line phone). When the iCom disconnects from the land line phone, I think the iCom is somehow also sending a signal to the iPhone that gets misinterpreted as a request to start playing music. Its not a big deal but its slightly annoying. I did a Google search on “iPhone automatically plays music” and it appears that this is an ongoing issue with the iPhone and third party headsets, etc. My suspicion is that this is an Apple vs. a Phonak software bug.
I think at this point I have tried these hearing aids in just about every possible combination of sound environments and they are extremely versatile. Of the 5 programs that I currently have setup (Calm, Speech in Noise, Music, StereoZoom, AutoZoom), I am finding that I never use the Calm or the Speech in Noise settings. The automatic mode handles most situations quite well and the combination of StereoZoom and ZoomControl is all you really need for noisy situations. I may just have the audiologist replace Calm with DuoPhone and replace the Speech in Noise with something else. Adding mute might be a good choice when you want quiet without taking out the hearing aids (airplane, reading in a noisy environment, etc).
Keep posting your comments and I will continue to do the same.
Regards,
Jordan.