Thank you all for your kind comments.
There is a lot of food for thought. My appt is later next month, so I am going to collect as much info as I can, so that I can tell her what features I want.
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I am glad I stumbled across this post before asking any of my own questions. I have the Paradise p90s and work some shifts on an ambulance from time to time and have been considering the Roger since I spend a lot of time seated behind the patient.
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sorry for asking, I didn’t understand when you would use a roger microphone? You said that you are always behind with the patient.
The patient is usually talking away from me and not in my general direction, so I figured that the Roger placed closer to them would help. Essentially the patient is on a stretcher with their back to me. Also, even with hearing aids, the ambient noise from the ventilation system and road noise makes things difficult.
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See if you can get a trial. Velcro it to the ceiling maybe, pointing down at patient?
WH
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maybe Roger won’t be as effective in an ambulance. Because the environment is noisy, because of the noise of engines and traffic. Try it out to see if it works for you. I think that it is still difficult to listen, especially when they are not the same person, some patients, when they come down injured, do not try to speak intelligibly. … If there is a possibility, maybe they will move you to another position in the hospital? Where would be a better environment for you? Where there is less interaction with patients and more work such as preparing medicines for patients, etc.
I heard they make an external mic that looks like a pen but can’t find it. Was I misinformed, or is the Roger On what they are talking about?
There is a Roger Pen. I’m including a link just for an example. There are different versions and one still needs to deal with the receiver issue. Don’t buy until you understand what you’re buying and KNOW it will work. PHONAK ROGER FM PEN 1.1 WIRELESS MICROPHONE | eBay
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Thanks MDB.
On further searching, I find the Roger Pen has been discontinued, so I won’t be looking for one.
Phonak has other remote mics, so I’ll choose one that my wife can easily have during noisy situations. Perhaps a clip-on.
I’m not sure of the difference between the Roger On and the Roger Clip on. The Phonak site doesn’t make it clear. I suspect they think the provider is the better choice for information, but I don’t know how much my Oticon preferring provider knows about Phonak gear. I’ll find out next month, but I want to be prepared to ask the right questions.
I plan to get everything from my Audi, so that will insure compatibility, if not, she won’t charge me for it. Plus, if I have a problem, going back to the Audi for service is easy.
In the rare instances in the past where my aids needed servicing, she always provided a loaner for me. With the Oticons, the only failures were the speaker attachment, resulting in a dead speaker.
I suspect the Phonaks will be at least that reliable.
My insurance will give me $2k off if I choose an in-system partner, and I checked, the Audi I have been using is in system. $2K will help a lot, as I’m not wealthy.
Bob
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Roger On can function in multiple ways. It can be used as a clip on mic. It can be used sitting on a table and will focus on whoever is speaking and it can be used as a pointer mic. If all you want is a clip on microphone, the Phonak PartnerMic is much less expensive and works very well. Roger devices purchased new are quite pricy.
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If you are considering the Roger On, I would wait. They are going to launch the Roger On 2 (I think that will be the name), and it has additional functionality. Although I love my Roger On, and it has proved to be incredibly valuable in complex hearing situations, I wish I would have hobbled along without it until the new one came out.
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Thanks. I didn’t know about the Partner Mic, and that might be a good solution.
I just sent back the Phonak Lumity 90Rs that I had been trialing since January (the VA gives a long trial period). I had a Roger On remote microphone that was the best thing about the Phonak system, in my opinion. It was nice to be able to be paired with multiple devices simultaneously. The Phonaks are the only HAs I’ve had that would pair directly to a PC laptop. There was a lot to like about them. I just did not like the sound quality that I got with them.
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This thread has gone into the remote mic direction but I wanted to say something about Phonak aids that was special for me.
Frequency lowering technology was the key for me. Phonak has questionable the best and I believe it goes to lower frequencies than other brands. For many of us that have high frequency hearing loss Phonak just might be the ticket to better hearing. They have also been very reliable in my experience with them.
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Hi Bob,
I have had my Phonak Brio 3 BT HAs from Costco (no longer sold there) for about 5 years. I chose them, after auditioning two other brands first, primarily for ONE reason: natural sound reproduction for MUSIC. Even though I am not much of a musician, music is a VERY important part of my life - almost every genre. As I write this, I am listening to Handel oratorio music. I had choice of maybe five programs when Costco set them up for me. In the end, I ONLY selected “MUSIC,” and - I think - something like road noise suppression (which, btw, interferes with full audio spectrum hearing while driving - my Subaru has a Harmon-Kardon sound system that is superb). Switching between programs is automatic, although it can take 20-30 seconds. E.G. when sitting in my car listening to music and I come to a long red light, I can easily hear when the MUSIC program cuts in! HUGE difference!
[IF you enjoy classical music - use “The Russian Sailor’s Dance,” from Gliere’s “Red Poppy” to test sound quality! This is my favorite classical (or romantic era) piece. It ranges from whisper soft to thundering loud; from deep base to tinkling chimes!]
At least THIS model of Phonak HA has one enormous DRAWBACK! The ANDROID APP SUCKS. Sorry for the language, but that is actually polite! It is SO useless that I’ve deleted it from my phone and tablet. The Apple app MAY be better, but I DESPISE anything Apple (with reason).
SUGGESTION: ONLY buy from a HA source that provides a LONG time for trial and return at NO COST to you. Try a FEW brands where you can listen to your favorite music and TRY to be objective. This is NOT EASY because each set of HAs must FIRST be customized for YOU. In MY experience, this goes FAR BEYOND setting the HAs to accommodate your audiogram!
In THIS respect, Costco cannot be beat, if they have brands that you think may be suitable for you. I forget their trial period, but it is much longer than anyone else’s!
I am not going to respond to your question about domes because I do NOT fully understand the difference in function. My current domes are closed.
I doubt that any modern hearing aid is going to be much different with respect to speech. I understand that Costco is currently selling a JABRA model that has microphones IN your ear, in addition to behind your ear. This is supposed to help with directionality. BUT, I understand there is a problem with audio feedback that may or may not have been remedied.
You mentioned Resound HAs. I started with those and was very pleased by the sound quality, but they crapped out very quickly.
One last PERSONAL thought - I would not mind replacing my current HAs, maybe with the Jabra if the feedback issue has been remedied. BUT, Costco, so far, is ONLY selling rechargeable HAs and I actually WANT to use batteries!
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aky13rx, thanks so much for your comments.
As a career musician, music is very important to me.
I love all kinds of music. For classical, I prefer Shostakovitch, Tchaikovsky, Gliere and the others, plus Dvorak, Smetana, oh and too may others to mention. I also like Muddy Waters, Celiz Cruz, Stan Getz, and music in just about any genre, although not everything from any style.
My Audi does carry Phonak, so I’m sure I’ll be OK with her. Plus I get $2,000 off because she is in my insurance’s preferred network.
I have decided to go all closed domes. It’s what I’m using now and is better for me than the open ones.
Thanks again,
Bob
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Hi Bob, I got them for the frequency lowering tech due to high frequency deafness. That, coupled with a Roger device and directional focus through beamforming, is very helpful to me. But depending on your audiogram the reasons for my choice of Phonak over Oticon may not be relevant to you.
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Thanks for that comment.
Can you elaborate on what you didn’t like about the sound quality? Have you had other hearing aids before?
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I’ve been wearing hearing aids for the past 25 years or so. I have worn Siemens (1), Phonak (3), Oticon (1), and Starkey (3) hearing aids. Currently I have Starkey Evolv AI RIC 2400 and Starkey Genesis AI 24 full shell ITE devices that I just got this past week. My hearing loss is moderate to severe, worse on the right with severe tinnitus, that I came home from Vietnam with. I thought the Phonak Lumity sound quality was tinny and harsh. The wind noise suppression was abysmal as well, partly, I’m sure because they were RIC devices. I always wear molded earmolds because domes just let too much sound escape. There are a few things about the Lumity devices that I will miss, such as being able to pair to up to eight devices, including my PC laptop, and the Roger On remote microphone, but they just weren’t a good fit for me. A lot of people love them and that’s great, but they just didn’t work well for me. I hope that was some help.
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Thanks again for all your thoughtful comments.
Bob