Hello, my current hearing aids are over 6 years old. I had planned to get new ones in July but ended up holding off after hearing about Phonak’s new Audeo line on this forum and then I contracted Covid which affected my hearing for several months. My July vs. October hearing tests also show some sight changes for the worse, likely due to the infection.
I went to a new Audiologist recently and had very comprehensive hearing test compared to past exams. It was suggested that I try the Audeo Sphere Infinio rather than the plain Infinio which is what I had planned on thinking the Sphere might be overkill for my lifestyle. I was told that if I wanted the regular Infinio I could save money by getting the Lumity as there’s not much difference between the two, although in my way of thinking the updated Bluetooth would be worth the upgrade from Lumity. Anyway, I decided to try the Sphere’s and I’m actually excited to try them out.
One of the things the audiologist said was that I should get ear molds rather than domes for my high frequency hearing loss, and also mentioned that the domes in my 6 year old hearing aids are entirely too small. I also have tinnitus if that makes any difference.
This forum has been an education and I’m still trying to learn. I have a few questions about the Sphere’s and how they work.
I understand that the mold closes up the ear more, what type of mold would I be looking at for my hearing loss? If I don’t like the ear mold can that be taken off and go back to a dome? Are there any pluses or minuses to different types of domes or the materials they are made of that would be recommended for these RIC hearing aids?
How does the bluetooth work when connected to my phone? For instance if I’m listening to a podcast or audiobook on my iPad and a phone call comes in. If I answer the call does it pause the audiobook and reconnect where it left off when the phone call ends? I’m not entirely understanding the ability of the Phonaks to be connected to multiple devices compared to other hearing aids that can only be connected to one device at a time and how that works.
Are there “canned” programs that come with the Sphere? My current hearing aids have “normal”, “outdoors”, “auditorium” and “crowd” programs that I activate by pressing the top of my hearing aid. These are not bluetooth hearing aids. If there are canned programs, how many can you have, what are they or are there various ones you can choose from? Can the audiologist add additional programs on top of any standard ones that come with the software? I’ve been reading about asking the audiologist to set up a separate “Spheric” in Noise" program, for instance, if I want to turn it on or off manually.
When I mentioned the TV connector or Roger device my audiologist said a cheaper solution would be to buy the microphone that could be set near the TV. Opinions on this? I would like to be able to watch movies on TV with my husband. Currently I really can’t understand much of the conversation in TV programs and have to keep closed captions on to get anything out of it.
Should I get any kind of UV drier for the hearing aids, especially if going with ear molds since I live in a hot and humid climate?
If anyone thinks there’s another brand/model of hearing aid that might be worth trialing, I’d be interested in that as well.
Lots of questions…any and all advice appreciated. I’m getting the trial Sphere hearing aids later this week!