I have almost always worn ITE aids and I love them. If the vents are correct you will not have any issues with the sound of your own voice and the sound of eating
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What do you mean if the vents are correct?
The vents should be chosen for your hearing loss by the fitting software. If the vents are to large you will have too much feedback, if the vents are too small then you will feel stopped up and hear your own voice too loud, and your movement of your jaw.
Thanks. Guess I’ll just have to wait until they come in to see. BTW, I grew up in Hot Springs 
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I am interested in the Marvel Virto for the same reasons as traildog64, especially interference with glasses for behind the ear models.
I am current trying the KS-9 from Costco which I like very much. These have just been updated to version 2.0. This has eliminated some of my issues with the initial version so I like them even better now. However, the buttons on the device lie exactly under and touching the earpieces which makes it difficult the change the volume and programming without using the myPhonak app. This requires digging out my phone and waiting for the app to connect.
I would be very interested in learning about your experience with the Phonak Virto device.
Howard
The Phonak Easyline Remote Control Is pretty handy for changing volume and programs on the Marvel aids and now also the KS9 aids. Easier than pulling out a phone.
I am certainly considering this option, especially if it becomes available at a good price through Costco.
I am also very interested in IOS 14: “AirPods Pro Become Hearing Aids in iOS 14”.
Noise suppression, high quality streaming audio, convenience and frequency equalization might make the AirPods Pro a viable choice for someone like me with a mild to moderate hearing loss. A stretch for now I know but I believe the convergence of high fidelity earphones and hearing aids is coming soon.
I have been wearing ITE HA’s for the last 20 years. Started off with analog hearing aids that had no vent so I had to get use to the occlusion effect. With today’s digital HAs the occlusion effect can be minimized by using a vent and making the canal portion of the mold long which helps reduce the occlusion effect. My current ITE half shell has a pressure vent which helps with the occlusion effect along with reducing low frequencies and longer canal on the shell. With my severe-profound hearing loss I did not think I could be fitted with custom ITE HA’s. Also important to choose a HA that has good feedback management(along with a good fit) if using a vent with severe high frequency hearing loss. It also important to give yourself some time to adjust to the new sound which includes some occlusion.
So, I tried the Virto Marvels for about a week. Guess I didn’t notice the occlusion effect at first, but it became obvious after a couple of days. My audi did real ear measurements, which showed moderate occlusion in one ear, and mild in the other. We’re sending them back to Phonak to have the vents enlarged as much as possible. I hope this works, because I really liked the HAs otherwise.
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How well did the Bluetooth features work?
I have an iPhone Xr. I thought the bluetooth worked OK, but not perfect. The HAs did drop the BT connection several times. My audi explained that BT doesn’t travel through the human body very well since we’re mostly water. I probably had my phone in my front pocket during these times.
Dr. Cliff on YouTube also mentioned this in his review. He stated you have to position your phone correctly to get maximum range (e.g. upright instead of lying down).
I got my Virto Black hearing aids back. They did make the vents larger and the occlusion is not as bad. It’s still noticeable when I speak, but otherwise, I really like the hearing aids. Should I expect the occlusion be become less noticeable?
Just to confirm, this effect is still noticeable for you when your hearing aids are in your ears but turned off?
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Our brain can learn to ignore some stuff with the time. Give it a few days of not thinking about it and by then you’ll see if it disturbs you.
However if it’s here after a week or two and annoys you tremendously, then I’d say you need further adjustments on HA itself.
Maybe a little less gain on bass could help (or just for some transitional brain training period), if you hear it only when HAs are working.
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Yes, the effect is there with the devices turned off.
Try not to do this, its best to deal with this problem by venting and a bit of patience if possible, only do the SW adjustments as a last resort, because making a small change in the lower frequencies also makes changes in the other channels/gain handles. 1 or 2 weeks is not long enough to get used to the occlusion effect for most people, as annoying as it is.
Yes absolutely, over time it will become much more tolerable, this can take up to a couple of months for some people, so just hang in there.
Yes that’s because your ear canal is blocked, having them turned on or off isn’t going to make much difference.
Oh, I didn’t know that. My brain adjust to some annoyances in several days so I rounded it up thinking that 2 weeks should be enough to see the situation. Good to know, thanks!
So, occlusion won’t really go away. If it is minor, you may get used to it and stop noticing it so much. But in my experience, it won’t ‘adapt’ the same way your ears will adapt to hearing high pitched sounds that they have been missing.
Many people are able to happily live with a bit of occlusion effect, especially if it is a trade off for other amplification benefits. But in my experience, even after years of living with occlusion, people will report improved sound quality if they shift to a device that doesn’t have it (whereas once they are adapted to adequate amplification, they generally report decreased sound quality if shifted to a device with less). There is some evidence that this is the case in pediatrics as well. Because children’s ears are so small they basically cannot have any venting when they are little and so for those who have mild loss in the low frequencies they grow up with occlusion, but still report improved voice quality when they can finally be vented years later. (I know I go back to pediatrics a lot, but in some ways it’s a more “pure” data set because these kids don’t have preconceived ideas about how things should sound.)
So you need to ask yourself whether it is mild enough to live with, and more desireable
compared to other options (potentially moving to a behind the ear device, venting a bit more if physically possible but maybe losing some high frequency gain if feedback control is lost*).
But it can also sometimes be tricky to know if it really is occlusion. After a certain degree of low frequency hearing loss, occlusion usually isn’t a problem. Except that biologiy varies, so sometimes it still is a problem. But you need to separate it out from two other issues: 1) adapting to increased low frequency gain (which is why turning the hearing aids off is a quick and dirty trick) and 2) the sensation that your ears are ‘plugged’ with the hearing aids in (which will remain even when the hearing aids are off because your ears ARE plugged, but can be resolved with more amplification–essentially restoring the little bit of sound that is being blocked by having something in your ears).
Crunching, booming footsteps, your own voice echoing in your ears when the devices are in and off, tend to be the strongest issues with irritating occlusion.
*One is allowed to make decisions that negatively impact their hearing in order to improve their comfort/convenience/preference, as much as audiologists may resist it.
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Thank you, Neville. That was a very well-considered post. I’ve had a lot of good advice on this forum. I have a couple of weeks left on my trial period to decide if the occlusion is just too bothersome, or something I can deal with. The devices are really good. I do recommend them for someone with more low-frequency loss than I have.
I work in healthcare, and the frequent masking/unmasking makes wearing RIC devices really annoying. I know, First World problem.
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