Hello all, I am yet another person who is struggling with the fact there are no analog hearing aids on the market. I’ve had hearing loss all my life and have worn hearing aids since I was 3 years old, in 1986. Right now, I am trying to get new hearing aids since my Siemens Intuis SP Dir is now almost 9 years old.
I am having enormous difficulty with finding a new hearing aid. My audiologist, who is very nice and patient, has been trying to work with me in helping me become satisfied with my hearing. The problem with digital for me is everything sounds soft, muffled, and too low. I have a hard time in simple conversation. And outside sounds just sound weird. Closing my car door sounds too soft and my children’s voices are hard to hear.
My audiologist initially recommended the Oticon Xceed. Now, we are trying the Oticon Sumo DM. He has been trying to make it sound as linear as possible, but it’s still not sounding right. Are there any suggestions I can make to my audiologist in terms of trying to make the hearing aids sound more linear?
I understand why there’s a segment that say digital is better and that I have to get used to it, etc. My brain is programmed to hear a certain way for 35 years now. My role in my job and as a father necessitates that I am able to hear as I do with my Siemens. I do not need the bells and whistles that digital offers. I am not fancy like that. I just need to hear and function as I’ve always done.
Some help and advice would really be appreciated. I have an audiologist appointment on Wednesday, so if you guys have some tips or advice I could bring to him in terms of the programming, maybe it’s a new idea he hasn’t already tried…
Welcome to the forum…… Given the 2 aids selected by your Au.D, I am assuming you are in the severe/profound threshold, in the absence of any Audiogram @richard.hochroth? Both the Exceed, and Sumo are rather aged technologically, I might be inclined to choose Phonak Naida M70 or M90 SP or Naida P90 UP, using NAL NL2, & REM, the NAL NL2 algorithm, being more aggressive, and sounding fairly loud, perhaps even linear, may help you to adapt, I have both M70’s and P90’s, and I can say without fear or favor, both work extremely well with that algorithm, but REM is imperative…… Good Luck, cheers Kev
Yes, I have severe to profound hearing loss. As I understand it, the Oticon Xceed is a newer hearing on the market. The Sumo DM is an older hearing aid, yes, which my audiologist felt would make me happier and be easier to make more like an analog.
I can suggest the Phonak Naida to my audiologist and see what he says, but he may feel that it’s not enough power for me. That’s why he liked the Xceed, because it’s one of the most powerful hearing aids on the market.
2019 for the Xceed, the Sumo is much older, so both are dated! Take a look at my loss in my Profile, just click on my picture, my left ear is fairly bad, no response above 3kHz on the left, and no response above 6kHz on the right, Target software, has a clear permanent warning displaying 132db output, I asked the Au.D’s about that, and they both said it was fine…… Both these aids are excellent for profound loss, Naida M70 is a SP (Super Power) as you are probably aware, and the P90 is an UP (Ultra Power) Naida Paradise 90’s are obviously more refined, with simultaneous multiple Bluetooth connections, and if anything I feel the M70’s are indeed louder….Both are extremely powerful aids. Don’t believe all the hype manufacturers put out, Xceed may well be the loudest out there, but being the loudest does not always equate to clarity, if it is too loud you will get distortion! Good Luck in your quest for better hearing, hopefully you will have a successful outcome, the transition from analogue to digital, can be quite daunting, and perhaps even apprehensive, but once you adapt, and acclimatize, you will be fine…. Try as many aids as is feasible, I hated NAL NL2 at first, it was way too loud for my liking, reminding me of my old analog aids from the previous millennium, but after 3 or 4 weeks I loved the clarity, and the loudness gradually abated, so much so, I now love that sound…. Take care, cheers Kev
Did you current provider fit your prior set? If they have a test box, they could measure the output of the prior aids and match the response of the new aids to that. Or they could perform real ear measures with the old aids, and record the response, and then perform real ear measures with the new aids to see the difference. Also, if you’ve been fit for so long then you may have been fit to dsl for children and your current aids may be fit to nal-nl2 which would likely be softer.
In the past, I have found many of the power users were happier with DSL-IO than with NAL-NL2. It has always been difficult to get an old analog power junkie to accept the digital output, but stick to it.
When you say stick with it, in what way do you mean? I literally cannot hear well with the digital hearing aid and it gives me a headache when wearing it for prolonged periods of time.
I too found it difficult to change from analog to digital hearing aids. I suspect that your hearing is a bit worse than mine if you are using the Oticon Xceed.
Signia makes a super power aid that has 60+ hours per charge. You can find info about it here:
Before my dad passed away about 4 years ago, he was pro analog and didn’t want to upgrade to digital. He had the same complaints. Our loss is very similar. I let him use my aids for about 10 days. At first he didn’t like them. After 10 days, he didn’t want to give them back.
Wondering if your brain just needs time to adjust and adapt to the new sounds you are now hearing. Once my dad changed over, he admitted his digital aids were leaps and bounds better than analog. Some adapt quickly, some slowly, some don’t. Wishing you the best in finding the right aid and technology for you.
