I took hearing test at Costco on 4/24. There was a very slight decline in hearing from 2022. HCP said that either the Philips Hearlink 9040 or Jabra Enhance Pro were my best options. I tried both and liked the sound from the 9040 best. I have had 2 Resound HAs over the last 13 years, so he thought that would be best.
I said that if I am not satisfied, can I return the HAs? He said yes, but suggested I try each type for 2 weeks and then decide. He gave me a loaner Jabra. I hear much better with these HAs. I have had 2 meetings with groups of people the past 2 days and went to the grocery store today. I would have to set my previous HAs on restaurant with max volume, and even then would struggle in each of these settings. Most of the time, my Jabras were on All Around at 8 or 9 and I heard most everything. This was a huge improvement.
I had a lot of feedback in my right ear, so I went back to Costco the next day. The HCP said the HAs were not all the way in my ears. He put slightly longer stems to the receivers and told me to use my pinky to push in the receiver if this recurs. There is no feedback as long as the receiver is all the way in end. The receiver tends to work its way out and I just push it in when that happens. It is manageable for the trial but a better solution is needed long term. Louder voices had an edge to them. He did an adjustment and I have not noticed that since.
It is still early but I am happy so far. I also look forward to trying the 9040. The HCP said that some of my hearing issues may be better resolved by the Jabra but the 2 trials should tell the tale.
Are you trialing the Jabra Enhance Pro 10s? The Costco Jabra model with the “10” at the end is supposed to be roughly equivalent to ReSound’s latest model HA the “Omnia.” In contrast, the Costco Jabra model without the “10” is ~equivalent to the ReSound One, the previous premium ReSound RIC HA. With the Omnia (and presumably the Enhance Pro 10), you get better forward-focus speech in noise (Front Focus program in Omnia vs. UltraFocus in One) and supposedly faster sound processing and automatic program switching according to your sound environment (i.e., changes in the exact settings used with the All-Around program). I’d ask your HCP to make sure that you’re getting the “10s.”
Don’t know whether your Costco HCP would recommend the M&RIE receivers, but I like them with my Omnias. If you decide you like the Jabras better than the Phillips, you might ask your HCP about M&RIE receivers. I like custom molds, which also might be appropriate for your hearing loss. Mine are silicone made by ReSound, and I think any molds obtained through Costco would also be done by ReSound. The molds stay in my ear canals very well and help avoid any feedback from the M&RIE receivers. I got Select-A-Vent for the molds to be able to experiment with vent size but decided to go with a completely occlusive fit for best noise controlled and have completely plugged the vents.
Keep us posted on how the Jabras work for you vs. the 9040s. I presume from your audiogram that you are an experienced HA wearer, and your Costco HCP has set you up with settings for the experienced wearer rather than a new user. With my Omnias, I use the Experienced User, Nonlinear settings, and I also prefer the NAL-NL2 fitting algorithm to ReSound’s default Audiogram+ algorithm. So, once you decide which brand you like best, your exact fitting settings might be something further to play around with if your HCP is willing to entertain such requests. The ReSound Audiogram+ algorithm is in part designed for “comfort” and doesn’t emphasize high frequencies as much as NAL-NL2 or DSL5-Adult. I like hearing high-pitched tones better, e.g., my home security alarm keypad alerts, cricket and bird chirps, etc., but some folks may find those sounds way too grating. YMMV, but I find it fun to play around with the world of sound.
It is 10. I asked about M&RIE but he said that was not right for my HL. I also asked about custom molds. He did not think I needed those. I am having trouble keeping right aid in my ear canal. I do not know the solution but it is not satisfactory as is.
When I came back after feedback episode, I told him some voices had a harsh edge to them. He adjusted the program and it is better now.
I have 4 programs setup. I may change the programs but I am not interested in tinkering with them. I just want them to work for me. However, the Jabra app does allow some adjusting.
I am hearing sounds I have not heard before. We have had rain the last 2 days and I can hear the dripping of water off of gutter onto flower bed tarp from my study. Also, my toothbrush charger makes a beep beep sound when toothbrush is placed on it. Never heard that before.
I think I waited too long before upgrading my HAs.
On wearing the M&RIE receivers, if you wear a very occlusive mold, you might fall into the camp of those folks with moderate to severe gently sloping loss that ReSound tags as suitable. The other camp are those folks with mild to moderate gently sloping loss.
Here are some figures I posted from a ReSound Audiology Online course I took in September 2021. See the third set of fits with the “Good Fit Candidate” in the graph on the right. That is approximately your loss. The other rule (last set of figures in the referenced link) is that your prescribed gain cannot intrude more than 10 dB into the feedback regions (the ballooning pink regions descending from the upper part of the graph).
If you look at my fit, by the ReSound course graphs, I should not be able to wear the M&RIE receivers successfully. I have a very mild loss at low frequencies that quickly becomes moderately severe at high frequencies. Yet my molds fit so well that very little sound produced by the receivers escapes my ears, and even with far more high-frequency amplification than the ReSound Audiogram+ fitting algorithm would prescribe, my prescribed NAL-NL2 gains do not intrude at all into the minimal feedback regions I have with my molds. Costco may have a more economy-minded fitting policy. My audi was willing to let me try M&RIE receivers with her loaners (I did pay her to have custom molds made), and since the custom molds worked for me, I got the M&RIE receivers with the Omnias I purchased. When I didn’t like the length of the wires, she let me switch out the receivers to a longer length wire at no charge.
It’s best to go with what you and your HCP are most comfortable with and like best. But custom molds at Costco are relatively inexpensive. It might only cost you $100 for a set of molds at Costco if your HCP had a loaner set of M&RIE receivers to let you try. On Dr. Cliff, AUD’s YouTube channel, he’s said that most of his patients who’ve tried the M&RIE receivers prefer them over standard receivers. A number of users on this forum who’ve tried the M&RIE receivers have reported feedback issues, but that may be in part a function of how well the impressions were taken and how well the molds were made.
I think the most important thing is to decide whether the Phillips 9040s or the Enhance Pro 10s are more to your liking with the loaners Costco is providing. If the 9040s work better for you, the M&RIE receivers are a moot question. But if you decide you like the Enhance Pro 10s the most and don’t mind possibly wasting ~$100 on custom molds, you might try relating the info in the graphs to your HCP and see if he is willing to let you give them a try. Sorry if I seem to be overselling the M&RIE receivers. I really like mine and I’m glad I took the gamble to try them.
Good info Jim. Thanks for sharing so much info. I will ask HCP at Costco about this. If I decide to go with the Jabra 10, I may give the M&RIE a try if he has a loaner. I have no problem trying custom molds. I am not sure why he said I was not a candidate.
I think he is probably considering the simplest path with the fewest problems. Sometimes it is worth a little extra effort if there is a realistic chance of success.
I bought my Pro 10s before the 9040 was available. I liked the Jabras better the 9030s. We were pressed for time during the purchase, so I ordered the standard receivers. After receiving the aids, I tried the M&RIEs and didn’t like them, though one or both M&RIE receiver might have been defective.
When I bought the Pro 10s, I was charged for the aids, a pair of molds, a TV streamer, and the Multi-mic. There was no additional charge for the M&RIEs and the molds for them. I have a bit over 3 months to get a refund on the whole purchase or any part of it. IOW, I’ve been told I can get a refund on the molds even if I keep the aids.
I don’t like the color I chose. I’ve been told they’d be happy to send the aids to ReSound to get a different color at no charge to me. I can happily live with the color, though … I only haveto look at it for the few seconds it takes to transfer the aids between my ears and the charger.
My right ear needs a custom mold with a power receiver. My left ear doesn’t, but I got one anyway. My audi knows that as a musician, I aim for good quality sound (and have compression turned off on my musician program, which might play into this…? I don’t know). I have the vent blocked in my right and that boosts bass sound especially. I have the vent open on my left. I like having the mold for my left ear, even tho it isn’t indicated as per usual. I think it works better and has less hassle than rubbed domes.
by the way,when I had feedback issues on my right aid, my audi was able to shape the mold with a beveling machine in his office rather than me taking another impression and sending it off. Who knows if the new one would have been better? especially since surgery has changed the shape of my canal. Easy peasy!
Sounds seemed to be better-defined with the Jabras than with the 9030s.
The multi-mic has been useful in groups and with Zoom and other streaming from my computer. Placed horizontally, the multi-mic is omni-directional, so I can place it on the table between members of a live group and hear a lot more than without it. It comes with a cable (2 3.5mm connectors) that connects to my PC so I can hear pretty much as clearly as possible in PC meetings.
I also got a cable that I hoped would help with landline calls (3.5 mm - 2.5 mm), but it doesn’t. I thought I’d be able to listen via the cable and multi-mic while my wife listened via the phone, but the cable cuts of sound to all phones in the system.
You mean as in ks11 or such? No. It’s marketed as jabra. They split with phonak pretty suddenly and there doesn’t seem to be word of the next Kirkland branded device.
I turned in the Jabra pro 10 loaner to Costco yesterday. Overall, they worked well. I heard things I have not heard in years and fared well in most situations. Biggest problem was feedback in right ear and getting proper fitting dome for that ear which eliminated the feedback.
My biggest criticism is that sometimes voices seem to have a harsh edge to them. I now have Philips 9030/9040? for tryout. I will do a separate post for that.
Suggest getting one on ebay. I have purchased a few, all from the same seller, for less than $35 and they still work fine over 18 months later. Same with any accessories. My TV Streamer was less than $100. FYI, Resound accessories work with Jabra aids
