Just saw my hearing aid professional yesterday about the new Audeo sphere hearing aids. Phonak told him that the active vent receivers “should be replaced” every 6 months. I did see this in some of Phonak’s documentation. Has anyone who has had this feature for awhile had to replace theirs? He was also told that the Audeo sphere requires an ear mold. All the demos I see on YouTube are using a dome. Anyone have one that can confirm or deny?
I run mine until they start gumming up from ear wax. It prevents the valve from opening, typically. One ear usually goes longer than 6 months. One ear I feel pretty good if it makes it to 6 months.
I use titanium slimtips with my activevents. I started with the universal slimtips until I thought I wanted to stick with the activevents.
Need for a mold is in part depending on your loss and in part a balance between how occluded you’re willing to feel vs how much you want to be able to hear in noise. If you go with open domes, the noise will leak in and reduce the effectiveness of the sphere. The loud noise I expect the sphere will close the activevents (my p90s do) so noise can’t leak in.
WH
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Once you have a mold made to go with the active vents, if you opt to go back to a regular receiver, do you need a new mold?
The business end of the activevent is shaped differently from regular receivers. I don’t know how you could use the titanium slimtips with conventional receivers. I suppose there is a way. I don’t know it. There is a rubbery tube that goes between the activevent and the titanium slimtip. Maybe they have one for regular receivers? You’d be fully occluded. There’s no vent in the titanium slimtip besides activevent when it is open.
WH
What’s the deal with the replacement cost of those every 6 months or so?
Phonak just tested the active vent out to six months. If it last longer it lasts longer. It’s the active vent that requires the earmold not the sphere. The active vent receivers are a bit different in size/shape than the regular receivers, so the mold is not interchangeable.
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Thanks. I actually saw an interview with one of the developers who said that when it failed, it could normally be attributed to user error. The users weren’t changing the wax filters and cleaning the hearing aids as they were supposed to. Frankly, if it does what it boasts, $160 every 6 months would not be a deal breaker. It breaks down to less than $1 a day. I can think of a lot less important things to spend a dollar on.
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It’s twice the amount for the pair ($320) every 6 months. Over five years of usage, you’ll spend $3,200 on receivers alone.
My health care pays for them. I doubt they have tried to go back to phonak for warranty claims on anything like that.
WH