Please Help, Phonak Audeo L-RL Trial

Hearing Aid Self-Fitting and Adjusting [DIY]
#1

Hello Friends,

My audiologist said I need hearing aids and I could not afford the 6k that they wanted so I purchased a pair of pre-owned that I thought were going to be good for me but when I received them they said “Trial”
on the sides and they did not show this in the pictures so now I don’t know what to do because they are not returnable so I was hoping that someone may be able to help me or at least look at what I have here and possibly give me some advice on what to do.

I also purchased new receivers for both hearing aids and my hearing aids are all charged up but I don’t know if these are even programable being “Trial” hearing aids, I don’t know if these were able to be sold but now I own them and I need some advice please.

I was looking into possibly programming them myself and it looks like I need a Noahlink and some software, does anyone know what kind of software I may need, I really need help because I really want to be able to hear better.

I want to thank you in advance for helping me with this, I greatly appreciate it very much.
Thank you,
JT

#2

the Label “Trial” on your Audeo L-RL means, that these Phonak L Trial devices are programmable as Lumity Hearing aids in each tech stage L30, L50, L70 and L90.
So these trial hearing aids could be programmed for each available feature levels.
It’s basically a loaner for people to try/demo and can be programmed in all versions of that particular hearing aid.
They working just as every other Lumity pair (same hardware) , with a different firmware (software).
They have a trial period setting which means , that they typically start beeping at 6-, 8-, 10-, 12- weeks (depends on the initial programm setting) - maximum is 12 weeks (since release of Target 9) in the past Target versions it were 6 or 8 weeks.

The trial period can be reset by the fitting software “Target”. It can easy be done if you self program.
For programming you need the fitting software “Phonak Target” and “Noahlink Wireless” programming device + Windows Laptop

Phonak provides clinics with trial devices they can use for patients wanting to do a test drive before purchase. These aids are different than those for general sale in that they can easily be programmed to run at the desired technology level (i.e. they can be set to 90, 70 or 50 - features).
After the initialy set trial time begins , if the trial period runs up, the devices begin randomly beeping to ensure that they are brought back to the provider.

The Trials can be set to each feature levels. So you can set yours to L90 (best level) and as trail period can be choosen a timeframe between 6 to 12 weeks. I would set it to max = 12 weeks.
Other than this flexibility, the sound should be exactly the same as those ultimately sold to to patients. If your willing to self program a trial pair then you need to connect the aids every 12 weeks to Target to reset the Trial period to avoid the beeping issue. The reset can be done in 5 minutes.

Phonak Trial devices are available only in silver colour , have imprinted “Trial” on case. You need to connect them to Target every 6-12 weeks when trial is run up to reset the trial period. Just connect to target and save again. During saving you can set the length of the trial period by choosing the time frame of 6 to 12 weeks from a selecton.

See also here, here , here and here

4 Likes
#3

Thank you so much for your help Firenzel, I greatly appreciate it my friend, I was really worried when I purchased these and they said trial on the sides but now I feel so much better know that I will actually be able to program them and use them, I was really worried.

I am so glad that I found you guys on here, this is an incredible forum and I never knew there was anything like this, now I can actually talk to everyone and learn as I go.

I am going to take all your advice and do exactly as you said, set them for 12 weeks and set them to L90, OMG this is so awesome, I can’t wait to order a Noahlink.

I do have one question for you, do I have to have a windows laptop?
I have a Mac desktop and a apple laptop but if I need a windows laptop then I will get one, no problem at all, I’m just happy to be learning about this.

Thank you my friend and have a great week!

JT

#4

The Target software only available for Windows.
So for running Phonak Target fitting software you need Windows.
You can download Windows for free from Microsoft and install/use it as trial on a Mac.

It is possible to install and run Windows on Mac (desktop/laptop) via emulator/virtualisation software like vmware or parallels,virtualbox or bootcamp. Search the internet for more info how to emulate Windows on Mac

But you need Mac hardware with Intel processor for accessing the Noahlink Wireless programming adapter. The driver for Noahlink Wireless is only available for Intel procesors. No Noahlink driver available to support Apple M silicons (ARM based chips).

You can use the search function of the forum to find more help.

See also here and here

#5

It’s not just Mac,you can’t use windows ARM based as well.

#6

Thank you very much to both of you for taking the time to answer my questions, I greatly appreciate you both and I am very happy to meet you on this fantastic forum.
I hope you both have a wonderful and safe summer and I will talk to you soon as I have more questions that I need help with.

1 Like
#7

Welcome to the club @JT11 . Many helpful friends over here as I experienced myself too.

Apart from the information given by firenzel and tenkan which is totally correct, could you please do me a favor and have a look if you could also programm them as NOT beeing a trial?
Point is that I once also owned a pair of trials and at that time had the impression that I was able to get them off trial!…

About the 12 weeks I forgot if the firmware was set as counting for days or hours, meaning more than 12 weeks if you use them less a day. Just curious.

Anyhow enjoy your cheap solution for high quality HA’s and this great forum.

#8

I have a pair of trials as a backup. I have not seen a way to get them off trial. Just have to remember to connect them to Target.

#9

@raylock1 that’s your experience to my question 1. Maybe you could also give an answer to my second question?…

#10

Yeah there’s definitely not a way within target to remove the limitation of the trial, as for hours or days is a good question, I’ve never timed mine but it must be a set hour and only when turned on?