Just checking - $1500 for the pair? Or each?
My provider is close by, and any issues that I have with my aids are quickly addressed.So. thatās a huge advantage over Costco. Also, they have a long history with me, my needs (musician) etc. Plus I know theyāre very good at programming my aids. And for example, instantly recognize that I meed a custom mold and power receiver on my right ear, at least.
However:
I used to have to go into my provider for bi-monthly wax cleanings. (yeah i produce a lot of wax). No more, as I bought a HA wax vacuum that works great!! So that service is now DIY on my end.
New hearing aids require follow up, maintenance and a response to sudden failures. If you live nearby a costco, the initial savings may well be worth it. How long does it take to get an appt.? How competent are the HA specialists there? etc. This seems to vary from Costco to Costco. Plus staff moves around a lot. donāt expect a lot of continuity, or familiarity.
but the price at Costco!!! fantasatic!! part of that is based on not hiring real audiologists, in order to reduce cost at the provider end. Still, many here swear by Costco. I completely understand.
I think of buying new aids as being a long term proposition. There will be adjustments, cleanings, servicing, familiarity with my hearing profile and needs and desires all to consider. and more. And so, Iāve shelled out more money up front to take advantage of being able to be seen quickly and professionally over the years.
For the pair, plus you can do DIY projects.
You will probably save that in the first few months on other products once you become a member
As @tenkan says, that is per pair. Plus Costco gives you six months to decide whether you want to keep them or not.
Just to confirm, the 7IX is the Rexton Reach at Costco (just rebranded under a different name) or, of course, you could get the same aid at Miracle Ear for $7000, but it would be locked so nobody else could adjust it. As noted, Costco offers a three year warranty and unlimited support at no additional charge including hearing tests.
If you donāt want to join Costco, check out ZipHearing which has the same aid (and many more) for around $4,700 including fitting and adjustments for one year by a local audi, plus a 3 year warranty and damage/loss insurance.
Iād give you 12 more THUMBS-UP for that very observant observation, tenkan! The Signia headlines above actually made me burst out laughing at yet ANOTHER claim to have delivered the Holy Grail to us: speech comprehension in LOUD places.
Thing is, Iād be an excellent candidate to try ALL these make/models: gimme the Intent, followed by the Sphere, now Signiaās magic bullet! Iād be able to report back in one day FLAT if these are all claims of BS. Yeah, Iām getting jaded even as I appreciate the baby steps of improvement.
Sigh. If only this statement from one of the press realeases was true:
Signia Integrated Xperience is introducing the worldās first hearing aid that identifies and locks on to the voice of every person in a conversation, enhancing their speech and reducing background noise.
To be a bug⦠EVERY person in a conversation? Iām assuming Iād have to at the minimum turn my head to face them. But would the aids be able to distinguish if Iām trying to hear ONE of these people even when several are talking over each other?
And here:
In a study investigating speech performance in a group conversation scenario, Signia Integrated Xperience provided a significant improvement in speech understanding for the hearing aid wearer. 95%[1] of the participants showed better performance with Integrated Xperience RealTime Conversation Enhancement than without.
Links to a white paper that is not itself linked to, so I canāt understand the statistics or validity of this claim. Not to sound like a BUG, but what does it mean that 95% of participants did better with the Signia aid than without." Like, do they mean without ANY aid? What were the participants wearing?
Ah⦠I just want it to be TRUE. But Iām frustrated that in 35 years of wearing aids with MY kinda audiogram, Iāve NEVER been approached by ANY company to put it to the test. Believe me, Iād be able to give an honest answer. But no. Iād have to BUY them first. How does one get to be a participant testing out aids? Dāya have to work at the company? What are the demographics of these participants and what is their average hearing loss even?
We need details to be able to determine if the Signia aid is worth asking our audis about.
Whole lot of bad information in your post.
???
I was talking about my experience in response to a memberās question.
Yes, but baby steps add up over the years.
Hereās an analogy. The Apple Conference used to generate huge excitement. What new marvelous and unimagined device will they come up with next? Now, the āinnovationsā are pretty much tweaks on existing devices. Incremental change. This is how it works. You canāt revolutionize the world every year. Frankly for my needs, a stripped down iphone is preferable to one that does a million things. Same with my hearing aids. I sometimes suspect that older Widex models, that were simpler, might have been better for my needs as a musician, over newer models that are playing catch up by adding more features that I donāt need.
sometimes simpler is better.
Iād rather use the limited space inside of a HA body to provide higher quality sound and forgo the various features that I rarely or never use.
But manyāmaybe mostāHA users need or like those same features I can do without.
Beltoneās devices look a lot like ReSoundās but cost more. The ReSound branded Multi-Mic+ is, I believe, $300.
Auracast is a standard that aims to allow Auracast devices to interconnect no matter what brand. My understanding is that an Auracast device from ReSound should work with Signia aids (is the firmware fix out yet?), but there are no guarantees. If you buy a Multi-Mic+ to work with aids outside the ReSound family of brands, my reco is to make sure you can get your money back if it doesnāt work for you.
I love the multi-Mic, and I expect the + version to be at least as good. Itās what made me choose Jabra over Philips, even though I liked the Philips sound better.
I just wonāt bet a lot on BT LE Audio or Auracast keeping their promises just yet.
They are are exactly the same in all but name, yeah strange they actually cost more tho!