I am about to receive a pair of Siemens Pure 500 with ‘Tek’ that will replace my Naida V which proved not to be suitable for me and somewhat unreliable. Can anyone tell me of their experiences with the Siemens and how they faired and any problems if any they found with them. Len
There are plenty of Siemens bashers here so, expect some negative feedback. However, I have Siemens Pure 500s and I love them.
My programs are:
- Universal
- Bluetooth (Phone or Bluetooth from the laptop)
- Noisy environments (I am in\out of data centers often and I use this program then)
- Music (Bluetooth transmitter or cabled, virtually any device that has a headphone jack will connect to the TEK)
- Outdoor\Sports (I use this program in the car with the top down to reduce wind noise)
I recommend programming the mics off for the Bluetooth and Music programs, which eliminates ambient sounds. Programming the mics off was the only way I could use the TEK and the phone in a data center. I wear the TEK on the lanyard and use it as a hands-free device with out any problems. I can control the volume, programs, and turn the aids off\on from the TEK…
I think the Pures are fantastic devices. They feel great, aren’t bothered by my eye or sun glasses and I can hear very well. To me they sound natural and my own voice sounds natural.
I haven’t had any problems with the aids, although I did have a minor problem with the TEK. The port on the TEK for the 2.5MM cable had a bad connection and I had to wiggle the cable to eliminate the static and to hear both L&R channels. My audi loaned me a TEK, sent mine back to Siemens for repair and Siemens replaced my TEK.
Siemens is a huge engineering and manufacturing company with ample funds for R&D and tooling. If anyone bashes Siemens you need to examine their motivation.
Some professionals don’t like Siemens’ sales policy of wholesaling to any qualified dealer…even to cut price Ebay dealers. And these pro’s that refuse to handle their products sometimes denigrate them.
IMO Siemens makes good stuff, right up with the very best. Ed
Well, I wouldn’t call it bashing so much as being honest. And I have no ulterior motive, no pay from one or the other, no benefit of any kind. I just found the Pure’s to be extremely tinny sounding compared to the richer sound of the YES IX’s. And I went into the Pure 500’s with the notion that I was going to totally love them after hearing how great they were from the president of my company. They were disappointing and I moved on to better, the Phonak Audeo YES. That is my personal humble opinion, not bashing.
Thank you all for your comments, I would appreciate any more from you Siemens and Tek users out there. My Naida’s kept losing sound quality and clarity (maybe I was just unlucky) and were not as good as my old NHS aids so I was very disappointed with them. My audio tells me that the Siemens Pure with the optional Tek will be a great improvement, I will wait and see.
Couple of Things:
-
I did an exhastive review of the TEK on the BLUETOOTH Forum several months ago. Check it out.
-
I purchased and use the Siemans Motions 700s.
They are very similar to the Pures, except they have on Aid Controls for volume and Programs. Handy since I don’t have to carry the TEK if I don’t need it.
On selection:
If you really need the Bluetooth… I would think Siemens.
However, In my opinion the Widex Mind 440 offers better sound quality and speech recognition. They don’t handle noisey environments as well as the Siemens. They don’t do as much filter etc. So the Widex Mind can become a bit tiring since your brain has to do that. I trialed both at the same time. and maybe given more time I would have adjusted to the Widex.
In retrospect, since I don’t much use/need the Bluetooth; I would be able to hear better and more naturally with the Widex Mind.
All I can say at this point is:
o Trial Different Audis… many( not all) have incentives to lock in on one brand.
o Trial different Brands / Models… Your hearing is important. Your are going to be spending alot of money.
When a person says something sounds tinny they usually mean that they perceive the ratio of high tones to low tones favors the higher tones (frequencies).
The fact that other brands sound balanced tells me that the problem is in the aid or fitting, not the patient’s hearing apparatus.
The Pure series specs show reasonably good low frequency response. So I wonder what’s going on? Usually poor low response is caused by over venting or poorly fitting molds and or mis-adjustment of the fitting parameters.
I think it advisable to seek another professional rather than concluding that all Siemens Pure aids sound tinny. They don’t. I tried them, myself, a couple of months ago at a friendly Audiologist’s office. Ed
I have the Pure 500’s and TEK…they did sound “tinny” when using them in bluetooth…the reason is simple but most don’t figure it out…
The aids are reproducing sound sent to them by the TEK. So the problem is in the programming of the aids. In the phone mode you need to have the mic’s turned off and then you need the whole sound spectrum to be boosted or have the db’s turned up. The reason is simple let say you have mostly high frequency loss…well then the only sound that is boosted would be the highs…So I had my audi increase all the frequencies and then I adjust the volume and highs with my TEK!
Another thing about the Pure’s in my opinion is they need to be set so that you can use the TEK to control the highs and volume. Once I had my audi increase the db a little in all frequencies things sounded much better. I can control the highs on my TEK. Most of the time in my normal mode I have the Highs turned down to about half and my volume is about 3/4’s…
Another patient at my audi’s off was complaining about the Pure’s. The audi adjusted the settings like I had done and now she love’s them…
When talking with my audi she prefers other brands because they are “easier” for her to setup. I tried all she had and the Pure’s were the one’s that ended up doing what I wanted.
My favorite about the Pures is watching TV late at night. My wife is in bed next to me and I have the sound in my ears!!..
I have had the Pure 500’s since August, and I really like them. They sound very natural and are so comfortable that, for the most part, I am not even aware that I am wearing them. One thing I have learned, though, is that keeping the tips absolutely clean is critical. Even the smallest amount of wax resting on the membrane portion of the tip is enough to affect the high-frequency response. I inspect them with a magnifying glass each morning before inserting them into my ears.
I have had occasional but infrequent feedback, but this is usually a result of the stems of my eyeglasses interfering with the aids. A quick adjustment to make sure that the stem is between the aids and my head is enough to cure the problem.
Would I get these again if something happened to them? Absolutely!
My wife has finally convinced me to get HA. In December I trialed the Siemens Motions with the Tek. I was very disappointed and was ready to say no to HA. My audi suggested I try the Pure 500’s which in my opinion are quite different than the Motions. The Pure’s put the sound in my ears with the mini speakers and not to mention that they are almost 1/2 the size of the Motions making them much more comfortable and almost undetectable. At first they were very tinny sounding. I was persistent and made quite a few trips to the Audi for tweaking. I get the impression that the Pure’s are just very sophisticated instruments and are very difficult to zero in. I think that they could still be tuned a little better but all in all I am very satisfied. I also use the TEK when watching a movie and I think it is great, like head phones!
Just my .02 cents.