ReSound Preza: Speech Focus feature in Smart 3D app

I just received my Costco Resound Preza aids and was looking forward to the “Speech Focus” feature that was on the app demo. It apparently is not available in this aid. Which Resound aid will I have to buy to get this feature and is it worthwhile?

You do not have to buy anything. The Speech Focus is part of the special programs in the ReSound Smart 3D app. They must be enabled in the fitting software by your HIS first, and then can be tuned by your HIS at Costco. Likely that was not done if these being new hearing aids for you. There is an adaption phase with first time hearing aids.

Are these your first ever hearing aids? Do you have a follow up appointment set for fine tuning after you wear them a few weeks? Did your HIS discuss these programs with you? They show in demo mode, but now you have what is actually enabled by the fitting software in the hearing aids, that is why the app has changes.

I have had the Costco ReSound Forte 8 for about 16 month now, and I had 8-10 follow up visits after first fitting until all programs and features were fully enabled and working.

Welcome to the forum! This is a wonderful resource with many experienced hearing aids users and professionals will to share their knowledge and experience. Enjoy!

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This is my third set of hearing aids and so far the most successful. I had some recent bad experiences with a couple of “providers” for a company that my advantage plan health insurance works with. While the aids (made by Signia) may have been very good, the testing, fitting and feature education was terrible.I returned them. I went back to Costco (where I bought my first two sets, my dog ate the second set). I was amazed (by comparison) at the sophistication of testing an attention to detail of fitting provided by Costco.
I really appreciate your feedback regarding the Speech Focus feature. In the future I’ll try to be as helpful to others on this site as you have been to me (if I’m able). Again, Thanks

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Nice plan to pay it forward. This site has a wonderful culture of assisting each other. When I got my first aids 16 months ago, it was difficult to know what / where / why to seen in a clinic. I had some road bumps and blocks. Thank goodness I found Hearing Tracker, and the knowledge share by others made my experience so much better, I committed to do the same, stick around, read and learn, help others where I can as I learn.

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I just posted about that feature. It is useful to me, but not a WOW feature. The default setting is probably very-good for most situations, and the AutoSense program does manage it according to what it hears. (It can internally listen both directionally and omni and ‘decide’ which is more useful.)

If you are experienced at knowing what you want to hear, you DO want SP enabled, but it can wait for your next meeting.

Post: Speech Focus is directionality.

I looked at your post, it is about Phonak hearing aids. This posting is about ReSound hearing aids, When I began my hearing aid quest 16 months back I downloaded and installed every hearing aid manufacturer fitting software I can find on a spare windows laptop.

It is not clear to me how your mention of the Phonak AutoSense program is relevant to the ReSound iPhone app and the Speech Focus that one has manual control over, once it is enabled in the ReSound fitting software by the Audiologist / HIS.

ReSound has a similar feature to the Phonak AutoSense function in adapting to current environmental sounds, however the user has no direct control over that. The Speech Focus in the ReSound phone app is purely a directionality override for the hearing aids microphones.

I wear ReSound Quattro’s, which are similar to the Preza’s. I find the speech focus feature useful in noisy places like supermarkets, not to mention restaurants, where noise is coming from all around. Just using a narrow forward focus reduces the noise considerably to stuff coming from that direction. If you also adjust Noise Control to “Considerable” or less (not “Strong” unless you really need it as that is desigend for loud noisy environments without speech as it’s so aggressive it begins to take out speech, too). Also, opting for the Speech Clarity option (reduces bass sound, increases midtone and trebles) can help out, too, at the cost of making sounds a little more “tinny.” When things are really out of hand in the noise department, a remote microphone can help even more (but something extra to deal with). Costco offers a decent price on the ReSound Multi Mic but all warranty service has to be through Costco.