I wonder whether there is something unintentionally misleading about presenting the initial fit sound clips this way. They were measured with a relatively ideal physical fit in an average sized kemar ear, no? But it is often the individual ear acoustics/venting that makes an initial fit inappropriate, and which might dramatically increase the differences between an initial fit and a tuned fit.
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Although Iād generally agree that picking a āBest ofā anything is likely pointless, I think it does make sense if one is picking specific characteristics which I think is what Abrams is doing. IF one wants a rechargeable hearing aid and wants the longest battery life, Resound is best (along with comparable Beltone and Jabras). If one wants near universal BT connectivity without an ancillary device NOW, regardless of battery life, Phonak is best. These are pretty objective. The question of which hearing aid is best for me (or you) is a whole different ballgame.
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One thing that stands out to me comparing initial fit to fitted is that the initial fit always has a better feedback score suggesting that initial fit is underfit.
Yes, I thought the same.
Iām not sure how useful the own voice measure is. I can see that they are trying to capture something about, say, Signiaās OVP or the occlusion inherent to using AirPods as OTC hearing aids, but itās just such a variable issue.
Please read the white paper for our logic on decisionsā¦
Itās short and interesting imho.
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@AbramBaileyAuD: Can you please provide a link, Abram.
HA_Whitepaper010623 (1).pdf (471.7 KB)
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Thanks for the support @MDB ! I thought that made the most sense tooā¦
Also, we of course included a section about individual differences.
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to early to say ā¦
Oticon just released a new instrument
Starkey is coming with something new 27th febā¦
Other will follow for sureā¦ this could be interesting year
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even the best hearing aid will sound like crap if it is fitted by a wrong fitter.
FIND a good place and try several choices.
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I have been trying for 20 years. Today I drive 2 hours to Duke University to get More 1. If i decide to return them within 60 days it costs me $400. A couple of months ago I trialed Resound One 9 from the absolute worst hearing professional I have ever experienced.
The past 10 years I have tried the 3 closest Costco locations. Today I am paying more than there with unbundled services, hoping this is not an expensive mistake.
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Universities are great places to find hearing health care the two main things are generally busy - they are generally booked, have very limited time. The good news is that they follow best practices tend to have very high standard
Speaking of which my colleague was a patient got sick of not finding a suitable Audi and he decided to go to school and become one 
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When youāre comparing hearing aids from the traditional manfs this is true (the fitter means more than the product), but when you expand to products outside of the big 5 you start to see significant differences between products. Also some big 5 products do perform better than others when fitted well. These are some of the findings from the lab.
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Thanks all. I am now driving home with my new Oticon More 1 aids. @SpudGunner would be proud. So far, some high sounds are especially sharp but overall better than my Rexton aids.
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I would agreeā¦ I must say they are products that are easier to fit like widex. I always like their sound processing since the Senso. They where so comfy and sturdy ā¦
I donāt know if Iāve missed it, but it could be useful to see what tip the manufacturer recommended/used for initial fit, and which tip was used for the tuned fit. Some brands seem to market themselves as having great feedback management, but when trying to validate the fitting for 55 dB it requires something much different. Itās a great resource and one of the best efforts at an honest evaluation that Iāve seen. The marketing by the manufacturers finds new ways to say the same thing for each new release and is fairly useless.
@prodigyplace: Youāll need to buy a grease pencil and print āJust Oticonedā on the rear of your vehicle.
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I donāt know if Iāve missed it, but it could be useful to see what tip the manufacturer recommended/used for initial fit, and which tip was used for the tuned fit.
We actually have all this data. Will ask for it.
BTW, you can now listen to audio samples for a number of hearing aids on our comparison pages. Just look for the little speakers that indicate which comparison pages include audio samples for one or both products.
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The sound comparison clips were really interesting in that you get to hear how each of the manufacturers deal with noise, speak in quiet, music, etc. The samples actually confirmed my complaints about music on some of these hearing aids. I compared Lumity to Oticon More and was surprised how aweful music sounded on Oticon. Zero bass and very tinny, etc.
All good info.
Jordan
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