It sounds silly but for the money to spend I am still wondering which would be the better choice.
Maybe someone out their who by change had the possibility to try- out two of these given possibilities?
Some time ago I had the change to try- out a couple of Starkey Livio AI2400 ITE/ R. (Before that I had the Resound Lynx2 961 BTE.)
Had some issues with the Bluetooth connections and could sometimes not use my android- phone to change listening conditions in the app. At this time there was coming out a new firmware for this which could solve the issue… I gave them back before that.
In total I was very happy with the performance in music and speech and they were very comfortable in wearing. And I could hear things where they came from not as in my BTE hearing things from my back and disturbing wind noises when I was walking outside.
Because the Starkey Evolv was coming up soon I decided to return them and wait for the new and better performance expected of the upgrade against de Livio. But in the meantime short after release of the Starkey Evolv Phonak announced the Phonak Virto Paradise P90/R.
Of course one can wait life long and performance will get better every year. But I cannot decide between the Evolv 2400 and the Virto P90. Both seem to be very good. The only for me big difference I think will be the Phonak with real BT protocol and the Evolv only with MFI and Android connections.
And next to that I think the Phonak Paradise is technology from 2019 and Evolv 2021.should this make a difference?
Hope someone gives me some interesting thoughts as possibly user of one or more of these types.
In your profile I see you are from Michigan and you had the KS-9 before you got the KS-10. So the upgrade did a lot for you, good for me to know not to go for the older version. And about this year or maybe next the successor for the Paradise will follow I think.
If the same difference would be the case for the comparance of the Livio and the newer Evolv series it would say a lot, but I do not know yet/ did not find any useful reviews as the Evolv is the last years model.
I think you are talking about the RITE of the Phonak with domes. But I tried the Evolv Livio 2400 custom made IC and was happy there was a difference to RITE. So I am probably sticking to Virto or the IC Starkey.
By the way in two weeks I will get a possibility to try- out the Phonak Paradise P90 RITE, which also will not be the custom made ITC but anyhow the one you were pointing to… so I can play around with the BT classic versus the BTLE and BT ASHA protocols.
I’m interested in this too. I’m looking for a new device in some kind of ITE form factor. I need to be able to hold a phone to my ear and use a variety of headphone types.
Hold a phone to your ear or rather get the sound from your phone into your ear? Using a variety of headphone types means over ear with ITE’s in place? As this is how I use them momentary for a long time already in my Resound Lynx2 BTE’s.
For ITE form factors there are many available nowedays already. The strugle at the moment is the BT protocols which will be better in the comming years as the miniaturization is on its way since the Apple protocol started in the Resounds. But not only the protocols but also the antennas and chips will not let the problems to be solved in the near future. Compare the easily made Apple aer buds which do not succeed since years already to fix the issues. And we are talking about not simple streaming music ear buds but complicated hearing aids.
I was born maybe twenty years to early I’m afraid haha.
Yes I have a variety of phone and headphone situations both at home and work. My next HA I will use streaming perhaps for personal use (PC, Android phone, TVs), but it’s secondary. Most of the streaming I have tried so far (Starkey before 2.4GHz) was OK, but used too much battery to be practical.
The battery drain of course is an other worthy problem at the moment which can be avoided by the overaer haedphones use. Maybe we should go back in time to the first transistor body worn wired hearing aids in the eighties and wear the batteries separate on the breast to make a possible streaming time for the whole day.
Sorry maybe I expressed my self the wrong way. I’ll try to explain again.
I am wearing the Resound Lynx2 961 RIC BTE at the moment for a longer time now.
Looking for a future exchange. Thinking about custom made Starkey Evolv/R ITE and Phonak Virto Paradise P90/R at the moment.
Got the possibility to try the custom made Starkey Livio AI2400 ITE/R for a short time and was impressed about the difference in comparance to my Resounds Lynx2. But the Starkey I returned because the newer types were on their way. So now I wear my Resounds again.
Try to geather information about the custom made Starkey in comparance to the custom made Phonak and only know a bit about the available specifications of the two. After that I have to decide which of these two I am going to ask for a try- out. Additional to this I can try the Phonac Paradise BTE next week to know how they compare to my Resounds but at the end will go over to the custom made ITE’s.
I found that this site has a comparison tool. You need to move up a level to compare brands, but this might get you started. It looks interesting. Please change the instruments in the drop-down boxes to ones that you are wondering about:
Thank you grantb5 for the link. It is a nice beginning, although not fully detailed and up to date with these new generations.
Dr. Cliff AuD on Youtube also has some nice information and technical details I look into often.
I think it is to early to have userreviews already about these custom- made models.
The Paradise technique is out for a couple of years now only the ITC is added and the Starkey Evolv engineering is brandnew. I wonder if this could have a technical leg- up already.
It is only a pitty that Starkey does not have the real BT connectivity as Phonak has.They both have 2Way Audio if this works it is great to have for calls.
And I am wondering about the BT antennas, but can imagine that the placement in the custom molds depends on the users earcanal so could not be really compared by different users. Being disconnected from the app is cumbersome and relying on the antenna placement.
The hard mold fitting deep in the earcanal of the Starkey with a very small venting for me personally was great.
There are some metal connections for the Starkey to recharge and the Phonak uses a contactless system.
Phonak also seems to be a little bit bigger than the Starkey, that’s what I am guessing.
Furthermore the phone- applications are very different as are the functionalities of the HA’s. Starkey offering some health and speech translation for what it may be usefull for. The feature of HA’s…
Thank you bluejay2025 for your appreciated additional information.
For those who are interested in choosing their HA and next to that music lovers: Just found a new book from Marshall Chasin, who already wrote a nice book in 2009 “Hearing Loss in Musicians: Prevention and Management”.
The new book from 2022 is called “Music and Hearing Aids: A Clinical Approach”. In this he talks about the future of streaming and wishes for music listeners, "A return to older technology?” that includes input from many musicians who wear hearing aids. Unfortunately the book is a little bit pricey…
Maybe should call it relativly technical. This is quotet from the website which also has a fiew sample pages : Publications | Plural Publishing
Music and Hearing Aids: A Clinical Approach is written for hearing health care professionals working with hard-of-hearing musicians and music lovers. This highly relevant book breaks down the research for how music can, and should, be processed through modern hearing aids and offers the busy audiologist clinically based strategies to optimize the sound of amplified music for hard-of-hearing people.
With an easy-to-read style, this text meets audiologists where they are by providing a primer on wavelength acoustics, as well as walking the reader through the basics of music needed to understand the research available. in addition, this professional resource highlights gaps in the research and technology, offering a clear picture of the room for growth available in the field.
