Pointed questions Lyric vs IIC

Hearing Aids
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#1

Some questions on Lyric vs IIC,

While I don’t have my audiogram with me, I have mainly high frequency loss. Ideally I am not a candidate for the lyric but they have served me very well. I am used to being in a tunnel now (lol),

My Audiologist suggested I try one of the IIC aids. I have tried both Phonak Audeo BTE and CICs. I could hear better without hearing aids than I could with the CICs. The BTE Audeos were tolerable. I have worn Lyrics for almost 2 years. While Lyrics have their downside-mainly in areas where music is loud and bass is high, they are by far the best I have had so far with respect to hearing quality, lack of feedback and lifestyle - I run, mountain bike and play tennis and really want to hear while performing these activities. I’m also vain and don’t want the aids to be noticed. Sorry I can’t help it.

Please feel free to answer any or all of the questions. Thank you in advance!

My CIC’s and BTE’s had so much feedback when anything got near the ear such a person giving me a hug or a phone. The lyric has no feedback. How will these IICs compare?

Also, my CIC’s never provided me with sound quality that was helpful. Simply amplification of noise. They were relatively useless to me likely due to the occlusion effect and my preserved low frequency hearing. I actually had to take them out at work in order to hear. Will the IICs be similar to the CIC’s?

The CIC and BTE also harshened sounds in a busy ER. Subtle sounds became annoying. Moderate sounds became unacceptably harsh despite the technology. The Lyrics don’t tend to harshen sounds. How will the IIC’s compare heere?

The lyrics tend to migrate slightly. I’m concerned that I will have a worse problem with these more rigid IICs

How is the low frequency sound quality of the IIC compared to the Lyric? The Lyric bass distortion has really killed my love for music and I was a classical pianist. Any music with bass is annoying now. Will bass be reduced to a mere crackle with the IIC?

What are the pros and cons of the various brands of IIC’s on the market now?

I’m hoping that the similarities to the Lyric such as proximity to the eardrum, need for lower amplification and natural channeling of sound will differentiate the IIC from the BTE and CIC aids.

I’m also hoping that the digital aids can be tailored more to my hearing loss.

Thoughts?

Thank you again in advance.

Roy

#2

Try an Oticon Intigia IIC, the processing is different from what you have used before, the speech preservation appears to be pretty good.

There’s a bit of a candidacy issue, but they have options with respect to the placement of the mic.

#3

Hi Roy,

The answers to your questions are below.

Good luck.

I could hear better without hearing aids than I could with the CICs.

Not surprizing, as most dispensers don’t provide any/enough low/mid frequency amplification when fitting high frequency hearing losses. This is all too common and makes the hearing aid sound pretty bad.:frowning:

music is loud and bass is high, they are by far the best I have had so far with respect to hearing quality, lack of feedback and lifestyle

The Lyric is an analog hearing amplifier (where I live, they are not allowed to call the Lyric a hearing aid). Analog amplifiers, while simple and primitive, sound AWESOME when tuned right.

My CIC’s and BTE’s had so much feedback when anything got near the ear such a person giving me a hug or a phone. The lyric has no feedback. How will these IICs compare?

This entirely depends on the shape of your ear canal and how much power you need in your ears.

Also, my CIC’s never provided me with sound quality that was helpful. Simply amplification of noise. They were relatively useless to me likely due to the occlusion effect and my preserved low frequency hearing. I actually had to take them out at work in order to hear. Will the IICs be similar to the CIC’s?

If they are programmed in the typical sense, then yes, they will be just as bad sounding as your CIC. If they are programmed right, they will be great sounding.

The CIC and BTE also harshened sounds in a busy ER. Subtle sounds became annoying. Moderate sounds became unacceptably harsh despite the technology. The Lyrics don’t tend to harshen sounds. How will the IIC’s compare heere?

Lyric sound is analog, and therefore does not filter the low frequencies out of the mix, which allows you to feel a certain naturalness of sound. Digital hearing aids on the other hand, typically do filter most of the low frequencies out of the mix, which tends to make the sound harsh and unpleasant. This is entirely a programming issue that can be resolved with a skilled and thoughtful dispenser.

The lyrics tend to migrate slightly. I’m concerned that I will have a worse problem with these more rigid IICs

This issue again is purely dependant on your ear canals. It is tough to say what will happen.

How is the low frequency sound quality of the IIC compared to the Lyric? The Lyric bass distortion has really killed my love for music and I was a classical pianist. Any music with bass is annoying now. Will bass be reduced to a mere crackle with the IIC?

Too much of anything is bad. The lyric seems to have had too much low frequency amplification. With a properly tuned hearing aid, you can love your music again.

What are the pros and cons of the various brands of IIC’s on the market now?

This is too broad a question to answer. However, my personal favorite at this time is the Oticon product lineup.

I’m also hoping that the digital aids can be tailored more to my hearing loss.

Definitely. The new hearing aids are capable of lots of things. You just need to make yourself heard by your dispenser. If things dont sound good, tell them.

#4

I would totally agree with HearingAidHelper, but I would add one thing.

It appears that perhaps your Phonak hearing professional did not know how to properly program their newer Spice chip aids. I had a similar issue last year where my 7 year old CIC aids sounded much better than new aids.

I ended up going to a different hearing professional. Although my current
HIS is does not have a AuD degree, he has been able to program my Starkey branded aids reasonably well.

The most important choice for hearing aids is a skilled professional who can program the aids for your loss. Generally, all the major rands should have aids that can work well. The only exception that I know of to this rule is if somebody is deaf on one side. Phonak seems to be the only major vendor with a good Cros / BiCros system.

#5

HIS, HID, AuD, or whatever… it only matters if they can get your ears hearing right at the end of the day.:smiley:

If we are talking about a wireless system, both Phonak and Unitron have a wireless CROS/BiCROS system that is reasonably good. Phonak’s system is smaller though. As for wired systems, most manufacturers have a wired capability for running a CROS/BiCROS system.