Problem with feedback when using headphones over the hearing aids

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

My audiologist and I are having a problem with my new hearing aids Phonak P90.

When I put headphones over them, to watch YouTube or do a video conference, I get feedback. No matter what position I offset them over my ears, I will get feedback. (I know this model has bluetooth and I do use it sometimes, but it really eats the batteries. There are other scenarios, like laying my head on a pillow).

We’ve compared the settings to me previous hearing aids (Phonak Q90) and they are already configured lower. We trialled turning down 4000Hz+ range further but it made no effect. My audiologist doesn’t want to turn the high frequency down for me any further. We also tried doing the feedback test with the headphones in place, but it really crushed the whole curve and my audiologist didn’t want to keep that setting.
The only thing we have left to try is to make a new plug (the 4th one) and hope it seals a bit better.

I’ve never had such problems with a new set of hearing aids.

Do you self-fitting people have any advice?

#2

I’m surprised your audiologist was trying to get this issue sorted by trying to make adjustments only, the main reason for feedback is caused by incorrectly fitted mold, sound is leaking out past the mold, so it needs to be a tighter fit, another thing is the size of the vent, in your case needs to be small, you could also try an occlusive fitting (still the mold needs to be made correctly) are they the hard acrylic or soft silicone? Soft silicone works pretty good for severe/profound losses
Have you tried “on ear” headphones instead, these don’t fit completely over the ear, so you won’t get feedback with these.
Another thing is you could have a separate program set up just for your headphone use.

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#3

It’s partially my fault; I was a bit frustrated to have to make a 4th mold for this ear (acrylic mold) but this was after we tried to make the adjustments. I’ve never had to make more than 1 extra set of molds for a new hearing aid. It’s been an abnormally long process this time, but it’s a new company in a new country for me. Only the supplier (Phonak) is the same for me.

The separate program is a great idea and I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner!

I think I will accept her offer of making the new plug too; it’s the best long-term option.

Thanks for your help again!

#4

I feed the audio straight into my Phonak Nadia P90 UP’s via Bluetooth, before I got all my Roger mic stuff. Now I connect my Roger mic to my laptop and go that way.

I have silicon molds and don’t get feedback, but I can’t get the volume I need to hear, so I can’t use headphones.

#5

Do you get any feedback or scratching from your laptop’s bluetooth? I find the sound quality very stable to my phone (Android), but from my laptop to my hearing aids it can be a bit scratchy sometimes (sounds like a vinyl record jumping).

#6

I haven’t tried it for a while. But my old Roger Select does it sometimes on one of my other laptops.

I now use a Roger On iN mic plugged into my USB-C port with no Bluetooth, via it’s charging cradle (also charges the mic when not in use).
I need good audio for Video production and editing, and Zoom/ MS Teams meetings.

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#7

Thanks for your reply Barry. After your comment I did some more testing switching them between the bluetooth modes. I found that the a2dp mode was far superior in quality. I was mainly getting the feedback when I was using them in headset mode.
But I couldn’t connect my computer in a2dp mode, if it was connected to by my Android phone. so I have to juggle them on and off to get them in the right mode.
I don’t know if that’s any help to you, but your comment spurred me to experiment with the settings more!