So I tried on a Starkey hearing aid today (S Series 11), and there was a constant sound - kind of like white noise. The audiologist said it was ‘machine noise’ and there was nothing she could do about it. I was under the impression that Starkey products were the top of the range, but how can anyone live with that constant sound in your ear?
In comparison, the hearing aid I’m using now (Unitron Passport Moxi 13) has no machine noise at all. The sound quality from Starkey was slightly better though - it was clearer and more natural sounding. So, are there any Starkey products without that horrible noise, or are all Starkey products like that?
I’ve never personally used Starkey but have friends who do and I’d say it is probably time for you to question your choice of audiologists and find another. The answer you were given was very unsatisfactory.
That’s about as lame of a reply as I’ve seen or heard when it comes to hearing aid sounds. Your audi or aid salesperson, which ever she is doesn’t know what she is doing…education and knowledge doesn’t translate to ability.
i had a similar experience with Phonak Solana MicroP BTE. The audiologist initially ignored me and finally tried to reduce the constant white noise. I finally gave up on those aids and that audiologist.
I currently have the Micro Tech equivalent model of the S Series iQ 11 CIC aids. The aids have been reasonably silent since the start. So far, my hearing professional has used the automated wizard settings in the software. The only other thing he adjusted was overall volume levels.
It appears that you may need to find a different hearing professional. It appears that the professional is more important than the brand of aids.
I wish my current professional was more knowledgeable, but at least he listens to my concerns and tries to adjust the aids to compensate.
I may have used the wrong words here. She did try to reduce the noise, but it was still there, and so there was nothing more she could do about it. She did seem to be rather inexperienced though. There’s definitely better audiologists out there.
Prodigyplace, could you elaborate on what you meant by ‘reasonably quiet’? Does that mean that there was no machine noise at all? And how is the sound quality of your aids? I want to find a hearing aid with a more natural sound than the one I’m using now. Starkey was supposed to be the most natural sounding, but the noise really makes it terrible to listen to.
I thought all hearing aids have a “noise floor”. If you notice the fitting range of various aids, only a few go to zero. Some power aids start the fitting range at 30-40 Db.
It might be harder to find hearing aids without any noise since your low hearing is so good.
Well that sucks :(. I was really looking forward to getting a Starkey aid, because of everything I read about them - how they can fit even the mildest loss and produce the most natural sound. In your signature you mention that you use a Starkey CIC in your left ear. Does that produce any machine noise?
When started with the Phonak aids, the white noise (circuit noise) was very obvious to me as soon as I first wore the aids.
The Starkey aids have none of that circuit noise, but, by default, you can hear soft background sounds quite well. There are other program modes that generally reduce these valid background sounds.
Some aids filter out soft background sounds, by default. My aids are not currently programmed that way. That is what I meant by “reasonably quiet”.
The sound quality of the Starkey aids is very good. The Phonak aids, many times, sounded echoey to me. With the Starkey CIC aids, I have better sound direction and less wind noise too. The natural ear shape provides the sound direction quite well.
The Phonak aids have worked for many people, but did not work for me. I think a large part of the issue was the audiologist, but I am not sure. I am just happy to be trying a solution that suits me better.
Actually Starkey recently showed some research that their hearing aids reduce listening effort via a lack of circuit noise than any other hearing aids in their class. I have near perfect hearing and I can’t even hear any circuit noise from them.
If you are hearing white noise from a Starkey hearing system, something is very wrong, starting with the ignorance of your hearing professional. I mean, common sense would tell you that you are not going to become the biggest hearing aid company in America, and export hearing aids to over 100 countries, if they all make some stupid white noise all the time!
Another good point. You might be hearing air conditioning, a fan, or some actual noise in the room. Try wearing them outside and in other situations. That aid you tried also has a quiet room setting where the aid automatically turns itself down in a quiet room to further eliminate circuit or mic noise. That can be set from 0 to 4 where 0 is off and 4 is max.
You have a very good point there :P. Thanks for the info. I’ll try to get another hearing aid supplier. Although there really aren’t many good ones here in my country. So far, I’ve only found one center that distributes Starkey hearing aids, which was where I had my experience with them.
I tried them outside, and the white noise was still there. I now believe it was a problem with the audiologist, not the product. What Starkey aids are best suited, then, for a mild loss like mine? I don’t really know how to tell the ‘noise floor’ of aids.
Starkey owns several brands that have different professionals. All their brands have equivalent models.
When I was looking for a Starkey profesional in my area, Starkey’s website only listed two. I called the profesionals and found out neither one handles Starkey aids.
I then called Starkey and was referred to a Micro Tech professional in my area.
Micro Tech, Audibel, and NuEar are all Starkey brands. Some brands (Audibel & NuEar, I believe) are locked to only those brand professionals can program them. I have been told my Micro Tech aids are unlocked.
Yeah, I’d say it was an issue with your hearing ‘professional’ for sure. Like I said before I have listened to dozens of Starkey aids including the S series, IQ, and Wi and none of them have an issue with circuit noise. In fact I listened to a lecture by one of their scientists who showed his evidence that in fact their current circuit is by far the quietest on the market today, and thus best suited to someone with a very mild loss like yourself.
It is this very reason that they are legally allowed to claim that their hearing aids ‘reduce listening effort’ by ensuring extraneous and artificial noise is minimized (feedback, mic noise, circuit noise, computer noise, interference, entrainment, etc).
Any of their latest stuff should sound great to you provided it is the lowest power and open fit, and not fitted by a moron.
I find Dipshitt’s posted loss very interesting. Why do you even need aids…your loss is tiny? With your loss circuit noise is not surprising if the gain is cranked up. Something is wrong here and I notice posts touting a particular brand…??? What gives? Are we being kidded? Also I am surprised at the name “Dipshitts” Is this real?
Maybe it is a set up to promote a particular brand of aid (which one?) but I usually find ZCT’s posts very informative and there are times he comes very close to being objectionable regarding competing brands. I do like to read what he posts. And while I’m handing out accolades, Don you do a fine job with you bits of information.
Why would i waste my time promoting a brand that I have no affiliation with? And what brand exactly would I be promoting? And you may say my loss is tiny, but other people here know that even a mild loss can have a huge effect on your life. The world seems so distant now and I have trouble listening in noisy environments, even when my family and I are at the same table. The difference between normal hearing and what I have now is like night and day. I took an online hearing test here: http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/your-hearing/look-after-your-hearing/check-your-hearing/take-the-check.aspx, and it showed that I do have hearing loss.
So please do not question my authenticity, because I would be overjoyed if I had normal hearing and was just here to promote a particular brand.
An article published here: Hearing Loss says “anything below 20 db is significantly worse than normal”. So again, how is my loss tiny? 30 db from the norm is definitely not ‘tiny’. If I have trouble listening, does that not warrant hearing aids? I struggle to hear anything a couple feet away from me, when previously I could hear everything without any problems. And let me ask you again, what brand am I promoting? I have not touted any brand so far. In fact, I’ve been complaining about them. Unitrons are too electronic, Starkeys have too much white noise. Do reply with logical answers next time.
