Delmar,
Thanks so much for that information. My audi also recommended just the 3 programs for now. Is the soft switching an option that just doesn’t tone when programs are switched?
Is there someplace where these are defined? I don’t understand what the difference would be in a Restaurant and Party program. I would think they both have the same loud background noise. What does a traffic mode do? And of course I don’t know why a person would want only one ear in directional rather than both.
Soft switching pertains to how the microphones work (switching polar patterns and Omni to directional) there is not a place I can think of where you can get this information. Other than registering to audiology online and taking Resound programming software classes. It’s really best to tell your audi what you’re expecting and they can build the appropriate program.*
The programs I listed are just a base to build off. Like restaurant has autoscope adaptive directional microphones with a minimal amount of frequencies in directional mode. Where party has fixed directional mode but can be set up exactly like restaurant with a high amount of frequencies in directional. There is no hard and fast rule to which is better, it’s really patient specific. The natural directional (one in Omni and one in directional) is like having Lasic surgery where one eye is nearsighted and when I is far (this is most likely your program number one now.*
If you want to send me a message I will respond with my personal e-mail and phone number and we can get more in depth. I have had patients get very in-depth about what does what in there hearing aid software and get in the way of a good fitting. Not to be rude but your audi has spent a lot of time learning this and works with the equipment 8 to 10 hours a day. It gets hard to explain every detail, there’s a lot to consider with every adjustment made and a lot of terms that will also need to be explained so you can start to have the conversation 
Delmar
Delmar,
Your explanations are really appreciated. Thank you so much and for the offer of additional assistance. I do trust that my Audi knows best. I am merely trying to learn about my new HA’s so I that I am more aware of their capabilities, so that I can communicate better with her. That way I can help her to help me.
I had no idea that one of my HA’s could be Omni while the other is directional. I will have to ask her so I know which ear to face toward conversation. thanks again
Mike-
You’re absolutely welcome, and really if you want to talk give me a call.
Delmar
Hello all,
I’m now the new owner of a pair of Futures, as of last week. However I have an issue similar to the ‘broken speaker phenomena’ described in this posting: showthread.php?t=8175; where whenever a sound gets high at all it sort of ‘rattles’ like a speaker with a blown cone, part of which is vibrating at a different rate than the speaker. Went back to Costco and it was adjusted by turning down the high frequency sounds, I think, and it made better, but the problem still exists. And I’m not convinced that this is the best solution, because then I loose some of the highs… (I wish I could program these myself and fiddle with the settings, but alas…)
Before this, I’ve only had a couple of songbird (digital) HAs and these didn’t exhibit this problem, but I’m a total n00b and totally lost.
Any advice on what the solution to this issue would be appreciated, esp with the Futures; I would think these would be tons better than the SBs, but at this point, I’m not sure they are. And anything I could tell the tech on my next visit might be helpful.
(Sorry if I’m violating protocol asking this specific question in this thread, but it seems to be Future-related).
-Lao
Can you post the results of your hearing test and also, what kind of dome or tip are you using (open dome, looks like a wagon wheel, tulip dome with two “petals”, or solid closed dome)?
Thanks for the response…
solid closed dome (I think); tech tried open dome; didn’t make any difference. I have heard this phenomena (blown speaker) described elsewhere as ‘buzzing’. That might be an apt description as well.
250 500 1K 2K 4K 8K
L 15 20 25 50 65 60
R 15 20 30 65 70 55
I ordered a pair of the Futures to trial. My hearing loss was a lot worse than I thought. Word discrimination was 48 left 60 right and 68 when tested together.
I may be off subject with this message & sound negative, but am needing new aids & having a bit of a problem with audi’s wanting to work with ReSound aids. Oticon & Phonax seem to be their priority aids. I’ve been wearing ReSound aids [3 different pair] for 15 yrs & been happy with them, like the sound/tone. Doing research, it seems ReSound has so many different aids & then Costco sells versions still different. What is with ReSound that audi’s hesitate to work with them? One audi told me that Oticon offers the best discounts & extends credit easier than other manufacturers. I’m getting the feeling I must study audiology to understand what aids are best for me as the dollar seems to interfere with my hearing well. I just want to hear at the best of my ability.
There are a lot of seemingly-random factors that go into which brands we work with. Business/financial reasons can come into play, but it’s not uncommon for providers to simply stick with the brands they know (and the reps they’ve developed relationships with). If you want to stick with ReSound you should call their toll-free number and ask them to point you to a local provider who carries their hearing aids. If you’re a provider’s first ReSound fit in several years they may not be in the best position to program your aids optimally. Going with someone who regularly fits ReSound aids will likely lead to better results.
I agree.
I would then call the professional to verify they sell that brand. When I went looking for Starkey aids, their site listed 2 local professionals. When I called them, neither one sold Starkey. Starkey’s toll-free number provided me with my current professional’s information.
Anyone have experience withnthe liberty aids from SAMs club…trying ric 64 and the audio that put me in them has left and new person doesnt seem to know the new product that well…came over from sears and they sell a different brand
Isn’t Liberty the only brand Sam’s sells? They should get up to speed quickly if that’s what they sell.
First I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I was getting frustrated with my new Futures and wondered if I should have ordered something else. After reading all the posts I am convinced these are the HAs for me. I want to continue with adjustment appts until I have them right.
Audiogram
Hz250……0500….1000….2000….3000.…4000….6000….8000
R…35………35………40………45………50………50………50.……55
L…50………40………45………40………45………45………60.……55
Speech Discrimination
R: 100% at 80db
L: 100% at 85db
History: 1987 Starkey analogue, 1995 Widex Sensos, 2003 Widex Divas, 3/2012 Resound Futures
The programs I currently have are
-Natural Directional
Directional mix R: very low, L: n/a
-Restaurant
Directional mix R: very low, L: very low
-Music
Directional mix R: very low, L: very low n/a
-Basic + soft switching
-Phone now
-Streamers
-Phone clip
Questions:
I had trouble getting the adjustments right. At first I would put my fingers into my ears and I hear much better. So my audi changed the domes from the ones with holes to solid ones. That didn’t improve things so I wonder if I should go back to the original domes. What is the difference acoustically?
I kept thinking the microphones are pointing backward, probably when I was in program 1, as I had trouble hearing the judge in a courtroom, the person sitting next to me whispering to me on the left, my partner calling cards softly at the bridge table 3 feet in front of me, people with soft voices in group settings. When I get into my car and start the engine I think I forgot to put on my hearing aids as the engine sound is so low.
Last appt I had my audi increase the volumne 3 or so steps in the 1000 – 3000h range and it has helped. I also asked my audi a lot of questions based on things I have learned on this discussion thread. Many of these questions my audi didn’t know and it was too late (here on the west coast) for her to call the technical assistance. So we made notes of all the questions to ask at my next appointment.
Would any of you be able to shed light on the following:
Noise Tracker II is set: per environment. Should I try another setting? What would I expect from: mild, moderate, considerable, strong?
What is the directional mix? Mine are all very low. What do the other settings do? My audi didn’t know and was reluctant to change this.
What is the DFS Ultra? What do the different settings do?
What is Expansion? What do the different settings do?
Are there any settings you would suggest I try out?
I would appreciate any input you may have.
Thanks,
Paula
Plugging your ears with your fingers has several effects: it reduces the canal volume, changes the canal resonance and impedance. If you want a visual example of this, imagine the difference in the air pressure variation in a sea cave full of water with an opening to the outside and one where there is no opening with the same wave action. That analogy a step further, the relative difference in dome is going to be like a further constriction to the flow, albeit one that stops the wave going out rather than in.
Noise-tracker has multiple trade off’s for noise vs speech, the more aggressively it is set, the more the aid tries to eliminate noise: if it is set too high, speech can start to sound clipped.
The Directional mix is the balance between the ‘focus ear’ and the omni ear, it’s basically deciding how much forward bias is directed to either side. This technology is a bit wooly IMHO.
DFS Ultra is the feedback manager - for somebody in your boat (an experienced wearer), if you’re having difficulty with entrainment (overhang) from certain sounds, you might be better to use a more closed dome/custom tip and turn it off.
Expansion is a technique that literally ‘expands’ the speech element of the signal, relative to the rest of the sound using a bit of weird compression maths that kicks in over certain levels. Setting this too high will make the speech sound very artificial.
Input? Try a new Widex Clear for comparison. It’s a bit of a chalk and cheese difference.
I’ve fitted several Alera 5-7-9 to a few customers, the extras are excellent, they have great user acceptance for some people, not so great for others.
We changed my Noise Tracker II to Considerable (from per environment). Can’t tell you why we did that but it was during a session with the Resound rep on the speakerphone.
I think my Natural Directionality II mix is low or whatever the next setting is, and works great!
The DFS Ultra default is “mild”. DFS Ultra is the feedback removal processing, a way to eliminate feedback without lowing gain (fantastic!). I have a copy of the main program, on program 4 and the only difference is we set DFS Ultra to the next setting (moderate?) and also gave me a very little bit of low end gain (just to try), because I got the remote and if I want to monkey with the volume I do it with program 4. But, I don’t have feedback on either program no matter what I do. Keep it “mild” unless you have feedback.
I would suggest getting all your questions together, specific questions or complaints, and have a session where your pro calls their Resound rep and let the resound rep talk you guys through some things to try. We did that and made great progress quickly. But, think through what’s going on now so you can be as specific as possible. For example, instead of “it’s not clear sometimes” tell them exactly when it’s not clear, like “when playing cards and there are other tables around with noise, I can’t understand my partner across the table”.
I have had mine for a year now and very happy with them.
I thought the expansion setting had to do with sounds below the 50db level, and was basically the opposite of compression. My understanding was that turning on expansion kept lower level background types of sounds from being “pulled up” as much - causing background sounds to be less noticable? I have expansion set to moderate for that purpose and am now wondering if that is off base.
thanks,
dat
If you consider that quiet speech inputs are going to be be around 55dB, both explanations hold - expansion causes a greater range of loudness growth for moderate inputs. It’s the inverse of compression, but operated over a narrowish input band - essentially the slots either side of the desired band are compressed significantly more, which is what I was driving at above.
The unnaturalness comes from the ‘all or nothing’ delivery that it seems to give: a bit like speech break-through on a two way radio.
If you are ok with it though, leave it as it is.
Thanks Um bongo,
I see what you mean now. I asked to have it set at the moderate setting in an attempt to reduce the sounds of typing at a keyboard - which I do for most of my workday. I had hoped it would help with paper and plastic bag crumpling sounds as well but it seems those are at greater than 50db levels so it did nothing for them. I am not sure if it really helps much with the typing sounds or not.
Now that you mentioned the speech break-through, I have noticed that occasionally (like when the TV gets set below a certain volume level, or someone is talking quietly while not being close to me, etc.) the aids do not seem to be as effective - so I guess that is due to the expansion. Maybe I should get it set to the lower setting for my normal program and leave it at medium for my noisier environment program.
Thanks,
dat
THanks everyone for your input. I have an appt tomorrow at costco with my audi and the Resound rep will be there. I have compiled a list of questions and descriptions of what I am not hearing that I would like to hear etc.
Thanks,
Paula