Hi Chris, it was not my AuD that told me about the loss of the rating, that came off a spec sheet from their pro site. I’ll see if I can find the link. And I know it’s too early for any conclusions. And I won’t be moving to Z Power. Too much time on the road.
Here is the link to the M receiver spec sheet. Where it says IP 68 rating it notes non-rechargeable solutions only.
Thanks, Mark. I appreciate your attaching the spec sheet. It made sense to me that the rechargeable might have a lower rating. I’m disappointed that Widex tech support gave me an incorrect answer even after spending time on the phone to verify with their internal team.
To me, the IP68 rating is important, so thank you again for sharing that info.
Chris
Funny but this an age of specialization. The Widex rep did the first part of my fitting and knew the software like the back of her hand. But she knew less about the operation of the app than I did. And toward the end of the initial part of the fitting I could see my doc getting impatient. When that part was over she said “you told me you had a meeting you needed to attend so if you need to go I’ll finish up.” And she did. Then I had to ask so why was she here? I was told she had not fit an Evoke and wanted to make sure there was nothing in the software she might miss. Once that was done she wasn’t happy with where she was going and wanted to take care of it herself. She didn’t actually say that, it’s an assumption I made based on facial expressions and tone of voice.
i do not remember link but i readed that problem is not in housing but when it opened it lose its ip68 rating. and do not try water or snow more time on that batttery compartment. rather sealed rechargable is real ip 68.
Stopped in at the clinic yesterday morning to pick up a pack of domes for each ear. The rep had brought only a single pack of each and the AuD wanted to keep those at the clinic so she ordered some more. I had told @Neville that the left ear was a single vent double dome but it is actually closed.
I asked if she could improve speech in noise so she took the time to boost the gain for me. I noticed that the software limited the amount of boost she could give on the right ear and I asked why. Feedback with the vented dome was her answer. More boost would require a more closed dome.
I have just got some custom evokes 440 and can honestly say they are amazing. I have never heard so well. It is incredibly natural, the programming is seamless and it seems to have added a new dimension to my hearing. I have realised if these don’t feel right it’s the audiologist as with this fitting I can hear incredibly well straight away, yet other audiologists have not been able to do a correct set up. I have bought many pairs of Widex aids & would never consider anything else now as they just wouldn’t compare.
I’m looking forward to adding in the programs and playing with the app. The app has so far been flawless.
@anon70092419 @cnicklo Went to the clinic day before yesterday for my 2 week adjustment of the new Evokes. I had already emailed my audiologist about the additions I wanted to make so after a brief discussion we got right down to making the changes. I added three programs to play with. (1) Impact (2) Social and (3) Party. On the Universal program and the three just mentioned I had them adjusted to maximum speech audibility. I had the RE/IT speech enhancer add to the three and added high frequency boost to the music program. Thanks to @anon70092419 for the recommendations!
We then did a quicksin on each of the programs starting with Universal and ending with Impact. The addition of the speech enhancer and adjustment to max speech audibility made a slight improvement over the initial fitting. Both the Party and Social programs were identical showing only a slight improvement with Social. But the Impact program showed a significant improvement over the other three and elicited a Wow! from the AuD at the difference. She did say that impressive as it was it might not be the case out in the real world since other aspects of the programs might come into play.
Spent the remainder of the day at my son’s house with three grand kids ranging from 10 to 3. The aids were great and it didn’t matter which program I was in. Especially happy with being able to hear the 3 year old girl who speaks soft and fast. I am pleased.
Last night my wife and I headed to Texas Road House in Ann Arbor with friends to test the speech in noise performance. Friday nights at the Road House are a challenge for folks with normal hearing and last night was no different. But the Evokes were splendid. I was expecting the party program to come into its own in this environment, but I noticed little difference between it and universal. A bit more quieting of all the ambient noise but not much in the area of speech improvement. Social, which is supposed to be for smaller, less volatile gatherings, was noticeably better for speech than the party program. But it was the Impact program that made a significant difference. I have not been able to enjoy dinner out in a loud environment in a long time but last night was different. The Impact program actually pulled speech out above all the noise and it was very impressive. I could hear the waiter when some others at the table were having trouble. The only person had I trouble with was my wife who is soft spoken and was looking away from me most of the time. But I was not alone. Everyone was asking her to speak up. I pulled out the decibel meter and the steady ambient noise floated from 78-84 dB with many spikes up into the high 90s and occasional 100s. I hate the place but it was a good test. I am very happy so far.
There are problems but it has nothing to do with the Evokes explicitly. Speech recognition in my left ear is only 44%. Things in that ear sound muffled, garbled and distorted and with the new aids set where they are supposed to be this is irritatingly noticeable. I had to turn down the volume on that side or pull the closed dome out a bit to vent it in order to minimize it. I shut it off but I hear better with both aids on as long as I control the volume. It’s a problem. Don’t know what will happen if that gets worse. Is there a Cros in my future?
Thanks so much, Mark, for the very detailed report out. Very helpful! I’m definitely going to try adding the Impact program but will need to delete Party, Social or Telecoil to do so. I currently have Universal, Music, Party, Social, Telecoil and the Zen series (which I use for meditation vs. needing it for tinnitus management). Universal works quite well for me, but I like having the options available in difficult situations to try the different programs out (or use SoundSense learn to “dial in” the sound exactly to my liking).
Telecoil has never been used but I’m constantly looking for an opportunity to try it out. There just aren’t that many looped facilities that I frequent to get the benefit from. . .
I have another appt this coming Thurs and I’m going to drop the party program as I find both Impact and Social to be superior. I see you have 5 programs plus Universal. I had assumed that Universal was included in the 5 allowable. Neat. I’ll have one more appt after the next at the end of the trial period to make any changes and decide if I am going to keep them. If I do, and right now I think I will, and if nothing else changes, I’ll drop Social as well and add 2 more
perhaps Quiet and Comfort or Transport. We’ll see.
Hooray! I am glad that audibility along with Impact and to a lesser degree Social has helped out! 
@cnicklo dropping Party for Impact would seem a good trade to me, your experience may vary though! If it helps I have MT for telecoil (mic+coil) as it’s relatively quick to disable mic if I need to in the app. Don’t always use it frequently but it has saved my sanity in various places (London cabs etc, some cinemas, booking windows/booths) where loops exist!
I have Urban and like it a little more than Social. I also had transport and didn’t particularly care for it, it seemed (to me) to mute my LH too far- what seemed as if it turned it off- For the most part I am in either Music or Universal.
Interesting. Is transport used mostly driving in the car? I wonder if it is sensing the wind and road noise from the window next to your ear in the drivers seat? You find Urban better at speech than Social? I might try that as Impact is better (for me) at speech in noise than both Social and Party. If Evoke is going to offer that many programs they ought to make room for all of them. 
I too am in Universal or Music most of the time. I think I’ll be using impact a lot though.
Yes transport in the vehicle where I used it, never tried it away from driving. I’m thinking the same- road noise/ wind, it actually bothered me because it made the radio seem “mono” and bland. Speech in Urban…I have only a little “experience” with, although I use it at work. I am a Field Service Mechanic and use it when having to talk to the operator with a machine running. I usually do not have to talk to operators, but when I do Urban gives me more clarity over Universal. I do shy away from social since it seems to give me what sounds like hissing/ static in quiet moments whereas Urban does not. If any of this makes sense… I AGREE on why not have all available programs on the HAs. Let ME choose and go from there, then I can compare EACH side by side. Instead of “Hey let me try this or that”
It does make sense. Haven’t noticed the noise in Social but then I was using it in an environment that was obnoxiously loud.
Hi, Mark. You asked if there is a CROS in your future. I’m dealing with a situation similar to yours, with low WRS and distortion in my left ear due to an acoustic neuroma.
I trialed a Widex Bi-CROS system a few months ago and I thought my speech comprehension was better with it. But my audi was reluctant to replace my Oticon Opn’s with the bi-CROS because he said my bad ear needed to be stimulated or my brain would stop processing sounds from that ear and I would effectively lose my remaining hearing in that ear.
So I started a thread here asking about the possibility of using a Bi-CROS system IN ADDITION to a regular HA in my bad ear. Yes that would mean two RIC HA’s behind my left ear. The respondents to that thread seemed to think that was a nutty idea. As someone with a situation similar to mine, what do you think? Thanks.
Hi ziploc,
Right now I found that I can control the distortion by (a) dialing down the volume or (b) venting the dome a bit. The second seemed to work better. I also shut it off to see how that would be but found I definitely could hear much better with the aid turned on. Also I was not having trouble with it (that is it was there but not disconcerting) until the other night in an extremely loud environment. It magnified the distortion and the lower frequencies are worse. My close friend who sat across the table from me has a very, very deep bass voice and it was driving me crazy. Since we can’t listen through each others ears I don’t know if my condition is as bad as yours. I don’t think I’m missing anything on the left side right now and it doesn’t seem to be an issue in day to day affairs. Only in noise, but there it was almost intolerable until I pulled the closed dome out just enough to vent. Maybe that would work for you as well? Since I’ve only been in these two weeks and since I have an appt this coming Thurs I am going to bring this up to the AuD and see what can be done. Complicating things is that my dome on the left side doesn’t want to stay put and I need to go to a mold. It wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t have to talk and eat but that doesn’t seem to be an option. If it weren’t for that I could just pull the closed dome out to vent when I was in complex environments.
Never thought about wearing two aids behind one ear. Would rather not.
Wouldn’t that mean two receivers in your ear? Or would the CROS aid not have a receiver? If so, what would hold it in place?
You should include a link to your other thread.
BlueCrab, I’m not sure how I would do the two HA’s on the same side. I was thinking about maybe putting some strong adhesive on the sides of the two HA’s behind my left (bad) ear to hold them together side-by-side.
With the Bi-CROS system the HA on the bad side just receives the sound on that side and then sends the sound to the good side. Then the Bi-CROS HA on the good side receives the sound from the HA on the bad side and then combines it with the aided sound on the good side. Then all the neurological processing of the combined sound is done by the auditory nerve system on the good side.
So I wouldn’t have to have a wire going into my bad ear from the Bi-CROS HA. I would just have a wire going into my bad ear from the non-Bi-CROS HA. Then, by my theory, I could have the non-Bi-CROS HA on the bad side provide just enough sound to my bad ear to keep the auditory processing system on that side from atrophying. My audi says he’s willing to give it a try. So maybe I’ll try it next year.
This pretty much sums up the info on the original thread.
I wonder if you could find someone with a 3D printer to fashion some sort of clip that would hold the two aids together without blocking any microphones. I’d be fascinated to see this in action.