Usually Starkey make the moulds in UK, but sometimes Phonak make there own, but in most instances, Phonak subcontracts this out to Starkey…I am getting a hard acrylic set of C/Shells Moulds, made by Phonak just now, (takes approximately 10 days turnaround) they make them via 3D printer, I did ask specifically if it was Starkey or Phonak themselves making the Moulds, she said these would be Phonak, I was having problems with the soft acrylic Moulds… Cheers Kev 
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Thanks. I may consider silicone molds rather than hard acrylic. I was used to soft molds way back when wearing analog BTEs. I think these were made by pediatric audiologists back then, but I’m not sure.
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Yes, sorry, I meant headroom.
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I am allergic to Silicone, so unfortunately it isn’t an option… I did ask recently, if they still hand made Moulds, my A.uD said, she doesn’t believe so, it’s apparently all 3D printing nowadays, I believe they run the 3D printers overnight, and they are ready the next morning…Cheers Kev
I think with respect to music, I have had a bit more success than Kev. I have posted quite a bit about music, if you want to search posts from the last few months. The upshot is that with the RIC and to a certain extent with the BTE, I needed a lot more gain in the mids for music to sound very good - even awesome (with the BTEs). For years I believed that the problem was digital hearing aids, as compared to the analogues of the past. Recently I’ve come to realise that the gain/output of the aids were the issue and the fitting formula.
When I was fitted with the Naida Lumity SP, the fitting formula was Phonaks new (at the time) APD 2.0. Music sounded awesome - I mean, it brought tears to my eyes - it was that good. But I had problems with that fitting formula in noise, so I had to switch to NAL-NL2. When I switched to NAL-NL2 music did not not sound very good, so for a while I was a bit resigned to the fact that although I could hear in noise a lot better, I would have to forego music. However, fortunately enough, I own NHS aids as well (these are Oticon Dynamo SP 8) hearing aids - and I discovered that music was awesome with them, and they were programmed with NAL-NL2. So I was puzzled, why were these Oticon aids so good with music and they had the same fitting formula? Finally, it dawned upon me, with the Oticon aids I had asked for the gain on the lows and mids to be put up really high. So, because I do a little bit of self programming, I did the same with the Phonaks - hey presto, the music sounded awesome as well.
So I think it’s basically down to programming. A lot of people will say you can make use of the dedicated music program. Usually there is one on any make of aid. This is one way, but I think music should sound good on a normal program. The problem with Phonak is that with Autosense, when it detects music, and not much else going on, it kicks in the music programme. This can be great if that’s what you want, but if the difference in loudness between music and your normal calm situation is very high, this can be a problem. I find with the new Autosense 5, they have reduced this difference (by default), but if you have a dedicated program and you really increase the volume, it may be a problem.
So, to recap, I’ve had a lot of luck, but it has taken a bit of programming. I don’t know in general how Phonak aids compares with the musicians out there, i.e. to those that can really discern music. Some say Widex is very good. But I’ve also heard praise for Phonaks.
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It certainly doesn’t seem like much, but the fitting chart seems to point to more of a difference in the lower frequencies, which may be a problem for me.
This statement is incorrect.
If your audiogram fits in the particular hearing aid’s fitting guide they should work for you.
Age and cookie bite hearing losses have nothing to do with it.
Hearing aids can be properly fit for great music. If you still hear most frequencies well the aids should enable great music. If you are deaf in many frequencies they can not be helped hearing aids.
I wore Nadia SP and UP aids in the past. I got a couple weeks with the UP aids and over a week with the SP aids. Both sounded very similar to me with my hearing loss but we are all different. It’s difficult to tell you exactly how things will be.
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Thank you @glucas, your words are encouraging me to perhaps, attempt to listen to music again… In some 10 years of having Target, I have never ever attempted to program any aids for music, in my minds eye, I had always dismissed this, as not possible… It seems you have had great success, thank you again… Cheers Kev
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Yes, and I said as much at the end of that post, that if there is enough headroom in all frequencies, then it doesn’t sound like it will be a problem for me regardless. But that is an if - I’m just mindful that I may, like glucas, find I want more bass than the typical user, and that I may have further loss down the road - both of these may put the headroom in peril with SPs on the left half of audiogram. The higher frequencies don’t appear to be a problem in this regard with the SP vs UP.
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Very interesting, and thank you for sharing! It sounds like we have similar backgrounds and preferences in how music should sound, so this gives me hope.
I had Phonaks way back when digitals were still in their infancy, and music sounded horrible. We tried increasing the bass and midrange on those, but the bass couldn’t be lifted high enough and even when attempted sounded garbled if too high. But there wasn’t enough power so maybe indeed that is all it is.
That being said, with the current Oticon Nera2 Pros that I have, they are only 90 dB but they sound fantastic with music and the bass is naturally deep - so very little programming was needed. So what gives? Maybe that’s rare. It seems that I haven’t had the same luck with every digital I’ve had or tried before and since then.
So hopefully with BTEs things will be different, as it was for you.
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After reading Ricks post, it appears that might not be possible, for me at least… @glucas? As I have Dead Spots, no residual hearing above 6kHz on the right, and no residual hearing above 2kHz on the left, according too my pure tone Audiogram, there was no response above these frequencies… Cheers Kev
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During the years that I had 2012 Phonaks, when music sounded terrible, I found that memory served me well in helping me still be able to listen to music that I was already familiar with and enjoy it. But I couldn’t listen to new music that I was unfamiliar with. I had a lot of catching up to do when I got the 2017 Oticon aides that sounded good in music. 
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I hate to say this Kev, but it may be down to the limits of your residual hearing. I just don’t know. Certainly - I felt with the default NAL-NL2, music was not good. You can always tinker I guess.
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Yeah @glucas, it’s a bummer, but I agree with your assumptions, it’s probably a nonstarter in my case… Yeah @Member361 thank you, like you, when I rarely listen to music, it’s always old stuff, I still have thousands of tracks inside my head, so I still hear music… But, new stuff is totally alien… Cheers Kev
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New stuff typically is alien for older folks even without a hearing loss.
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With my high frequency hearing loss I remember the first time the aids were set up with frequency lowering. After years of not hearing those upper frequencies music flat sounded great. It was one of those moments a person does not forget.
The OP has a pretty straight forward hearing loss that any aids with enough power should do him well. That’s if the right fitter is doing it, so very important.
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Thank you Rick, I suppose it’s worth a try at some point… Cheers Kev
Do the Lumity Naida SP and UPs come with H11 ear hooks or H11 680 ear hooks by default? There is a difference in gain on the two.
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See “Product info” here:
https://www.phonak.com/en-us/hearing-devices/hearing-aids/naida-l/for-professionals
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