I have recently got a pair of Widex Moment 440’s and I am still coming to terms with them.
One thing I have noticed is that my car hardly seems to be much noisier than without hearing aids. This is because the noise reduction software identifies the road noise etc as unwanted noise and minimizes it.
If I change from the standard “Universal” program to “Music” in the car, then I get deafened!
I am not saying that I think the Widex are better than your Phonak. I am saying, like in earlier replies, that a particular “quality” of noise can be greatly reduced by a competent audi.
THanks for the tip on Comfort in Echo…we have a cathedral ceiling and hard floors, so the echo is noticeable. Didn’t think about a hearing aid adjustment to compensate:)
I’m very sorry to hear that you are not happy with your HAs.
I wasn’t online yesterday so I missed all of this.
Good decision to go DIY. It’s definitely worth a try, and I’m sure you’ll get all the help you need here on the forum.
Just in case you haven’t ordered yet: I bought my Noahlink wireles online from RevEAR akkustik in Germany. No problem with shipping and customs. Price is now higher at 265€.
Let’s wait until you are ready and then discuss the options to start with.
@wiclifmcc - Thanks for your comment. I also have a noise reduction program and it works well suppressing road noise as well. I can take my Nordic walks and have no problem with footstep sounds or other ambient sounds that I might encounter. But, the cracking sounds of floorboards is of a totally different quality. I take a step, and the sound of a footstep sounds normal, take another step on a creaky board and it sounds like a whip cracking next to my ear. Road noise is a softer background sound much like people talking in a restaurant. These can be controlled.
I believe my audiologist to be competent. He has in the past deadened the cracking sound but it comes at the expense of understanding conversations. I am going to try doing DIY which will allow me to experiment more. I can make the changes more quickly than the every two week sessions with the audi.
@paulpuente My issue is with cupboard doors closing or stacking crockery.
I can only suggest that you have 2 separate programs. One for speech and one for “normal” use as, in my experience, you are not generally walking while you are talking as it makes hearing more difficult.
Perhaps not ideal, but better than not being able to hear.
I see that you have had the hearing aids for some time, but are you wearing them all day? This makes a difference too in getting used to them
Echoing “Don’t give up!” I hope you’re able to get them adjusted satisfactorily with DYI. But if you’re not – just throwing this out there – is it possible the HAs themselves are defective?
Good luck!
For cupboard doors closing and stacking crockery, I recommend getting your audiologist to install the Comfort program as one of the program options in your Widex Moments.
It also works well for noisy toddlers.
Thanks @paul.cleary.nz for your suggestion which I will pursue at my next appointment
Is this similar to the Pure Sound program in effect? I have this one, but it is too low volume and cannot be adjusted as I am outside the parameters for this program. It did sound more mellow though
Funny, I’ve had my Rexton BiCores for about 3 weeks now and don’t really see how the tech can ever solve some of the issues I am having. Tried tulip domes and back to open domes now. So many artifacts along with no perceivable noise reduction and what I call distortion is driving me crazy. Do all HA snap crackle and pop all day long with various movement like, talking, eating, smiling, scratching your chin or just because they want to pop, lol? Voices sound distorted and it’s sort of like what someone mentioned in another post a comb filter. I imagine I’m hearing one sound from the HA and one sound from outside the hearing aid coming thru the open dome slightly out of phase with the first (which is why I tried tulip domes…didn’t fix this). My first HA but had some experience with my Apple Ipod Pros and they don’t really seem to have this exact issue and artifacts like my BiCores (which are turned down in volume for my initial acclimation period). Of course they have other issue like short battery life and uncomfortable ear buds which don’t make them a good HA substitute. I have not given up but my expectations have been very dramatically lowered from my initial excitement about finally getting HA.
Oh hey! I had earlier posted a suggestion that you find a new audi … but when I told my husband of your post here, he said, “Ask if he’ll just give them to YOU!”
Looks like you’ll be getting the Phonak software to DIY instead. Dang. Blast. I bet you’ll master the software and hopefully get these aids tuned to how you want your world to sound soon enough. Good for you! Be sure to keep us informed - you give me courage to explore that option myself!
I can TOTALLY relate to your description of sound here! After I picked up my new Phonak Life aids with CUSTOM MOLDED silicone tips on them the sound was almost comically HORRIFIC. Even the audi was surprised at how I described the flat, sharp, completely public-address quality sound of the aids as they were programmed PER my audiogram!
It was like every single word uttered started with a harsh KNUCKLE-RAP on a piece of metal - almost enough to make me JUMP at every word. I could barely understand any speech cus it sounded like someone talking over crispy vellum or something very flat, thin and crackly.
I just can’t figure out how my audiogram would even prompt such a horrific setting. But the good news is that my audi is SUPER accommodating, very patient & persistent and totally accommodates the suggestions I give: “MORE bass. Even MORE BASS! Turn down the high freqs!” I’ll have her do things that defy my audiogram I guess. But she DOES it.
So now - after 3 follow-ups (and a 4th one in a week) I have my Life aids sounding the way I want my world to sound.
Wow, glad it worked out. You do have a lot of low frequency loss and I do have some in my left ear too. I’m starting over on my own with the volume and now have things at low volume of 3 with 8 the default. Some sounds still break up at that level but mostly OK. All my snap crackle and pop is movement of the HA relative to the side of my head and ear. I just don’t see how this can ever go away unless it is being caused by the wire from the HA to the dome being too tight and short maybe. Noise reduction doesn’t address this kind of noise and it’s similar to what you get when you touch the HA with your finger. At times it will just be a pop out of nowhere when I didn’t really move, talk, yawn, smile, squint, belch, scratch, etc…all things that drive the snap crackle and pop sounds. It just did it now while I was typing so I must have moved my face or ear, lol. Opps, another one just now again. So two separate issues for me with speech being something I’m told I’ll get used to but we’ll see. Tomorrow I might try volume at 4 after two days at 3 or maybe I’ll let it go at 3 for a few more days.
We have our TV Room (small lounge) carpeted and main room with a rug in the middle. Both work. In contrast I go to council meetings in a large room. The only ‘soft’ furnishings in the room are the councillors. Sound is brittle with reflection of all the walls.
You really need to look at your furnishings as well as floor coverings.
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “hearing” but if you mean an audiologist tuning your HAs remotely then I have had that experience. What do you want to know?
Yes, that is what I meant. I feel comfortable when she visits and uses various bits of kit to give me a thorough hearing check, including checking for wax.
Perhaps it is a bit of an age thing but my first check, which was hands on, was after 2 years and I expect the next might be a remote session in 2 years time should I still be around then.
How satisfied were you with the experience?
I think the process works well. You schedule a date and time, open the app, myPhonak in my case, select “remote support” and wait for the audiologist to connect. You can see the audiologist in the app as well as the Target software settings he is changing in a second window. The sessions lasted about 20 to 30 minutes each time and I had about 10 sessions. Since I bought the HAs online not everything can be done remotely. Obviously you have to change your own wax filters and domes yourself, but that is not such a big deal. If I need to have wax removed from my ears (rarely) I go to my ENT to have it done. All in all a positive experience.
