Just wondering what peoples first time experience were like.
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Wow these things are loud, and what are all those sounds that i am hearing that I couldnāt remember ever hearing.
Also, a word of advice be patience, it can take from a few weeks to several months to get use to wearing aids. Donāt give up, donāt be afraid to ask to try multiple different hearing aids, donāt be shy about saying that you are experiencing problems with the aids. Go back as much as you need to get them adjusted correctly for you.
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I thought everything sounded āwrongā because they didnāt sound the way I thought they should. I did try a different pair which sounded a bit more ānaturalā to me, but in the end it just took time for me to get used to them. My brain had to adjust and they no longer sound wrong. In fact if I go without them things sound wrong! This took a few months though, so be patient. Itās worth it!
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This, from this thread: New Phonak Lumity hearing issues - #14 by 1Bluejay
sums up my experience.
ā¦ I also could not understand anyone talking in just about any setting. Itās like the higher freqs were emphasized and sound was thin and harsh. Almost every word spoken, Iād cringe from the knuckle-wrap explosion in my ear.
Have tried Philips, Resound, Phonak, Oticon, Jabra and now Phonak again; they all sound the same.
Philips, Resound & Jabra from Costco; Oticon and Phonak from Kaiser. Had my hearing retested (similar results) and the current Phonakās independently reprogrammed and the results are hard to distinguish from all the other perceptions. They all lack fidelity on any level.
My best hearing help is from cheap infrared amplifiers (headphones) that I use while watching TV - without the aids. Good fidelity and rarely a loss of any word.
My hearing is described as moderate to severe with the right ear being slightly better than the left.
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PCGuy, Donāt give up hope on better sound quality from your Phonaks. It is TRUE that there will never be true ānormal hearingā fidelity, dynamic range or speech comprehension. We have to teach our brains how to comprehend and enjoy the sounds weāre exposed to through our aids: spoken speech, noisy places, concerts/music, home theatre, acoustically-challenged locations - Iāve grimaced and griped my way through all these.
The biggest issue for me is finding an audi whoās PATIENT and COMPETENT enough to get the results Iām aiming for. Itās like baking a cake in a black sack, where you feel around for a *pInCh!" of salt, baking powder, flour, etc., and hope the final product tastes good. Cuz not being a DIYer like MANY folks here, I get my aids tuned in a tin can environment at the audiās. Then I leave, step outside, and often want to run screaminā right back in for more adjustments. But I donāt want to be a āhigh maintenanceā customer either, so I just get in a Zen state of mind and do the best I can till the follow-up appāt 2-3 weeks out.
Before you know it, youāve burned through the trial period, and then ā¦ youāre at the mercy of any hearing clinic to work patiently with you over time to continue to improve your hearing experience.
If you can articulate the issue: thin, harsh, booming, compressed, distorted, etc., the audi can sometimes work out whether you need MPO/gain adjustment, or a boost in low, mid or high freqs. Iāve worn aids for 35 yrs, and never once had a pair handed over to me fresh from the initial fitting ready to go. Each and every time, I blanch, my heart sinks, and I mentally steel myself for several more follow-ons, during which Iāll be given looks of SHOCK and disbelief as I work the audi closer and closer to my ideal hearing world.
There is no scientific reason why this happens, but I chalk it up to the brain/ear connection that is so unique to every one of us. Hearing is not like vision. There is no magic prescription that WILL work for everyone with a particular audiogram.
You are lucky to have found success with the infrared amplifiers you use for TV. Iāve spent a fortune on the old TV Connector and the new Roger mics, and still conclude that THE BEST quality streaming is right off the BT on my Android phone.
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Hearing the turn signels in my truck, and the first time when I peed with them on had no clue it was that loud.
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At 80, Iāve resisted aids bc itās just another daily hurdle (or three); never thought it would be this hard though. As bad as my Audiogram looks I have been able to get by, except for my bossā (aka wife) voice. I would have continued to resist if I wasnāt constantly saying āwhatā; but thatā another story.
Iāve considered what you suggested about how this all eventually falls together, but I maintain a perception of what sounds should sound like and thatās a problem. The four audis that have had a hand in this donāt appear to be totally interested in a resolution, whether thatās bc it canāt be done or thereās no time for foolishness??? Broken promises and allā¦
One highly suspect trait in the Phonaks Iām now stuck with for the foreseeable future is the the batteries discharge at a much faster rate than the others I tried. Havenāt correlated that to the idea that later in the day is when the sounds seem more distorted.
Am considering finding a pair of analog amplifiers to see if the fidelity is any better.
Thanks for the response, Nick
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Hey Grandpaw, Exactlyā¦
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First time was 2007. I got one for the right. it was a Sonic Ion mini open fit. In the classroom, I was a high school Spanish teacher that year. I often could not understand a girl who was soft spoken and seated on the right rear side of the room. Previously, I had to ask her repeat herself multiple times and sometimes other students would repeat what she said for me. I loved my new hearing aid, and the students were so happy for me.
I remember hearing more birds, hearing more sounds more easily. Some sounds would be faint off in the distance, but they were now easier to hear. I remember the first time I flushed the toilet in a public bathroom it was really shockingly loud. The beeps from the cash registers at the supermarket were louder. Music percussion sounded clearer, and there was more of it. These were all sounds that were audible all the time in my normal hearing left ear, but missing in my right, so I guess my brain just chose to ignore some of them. Now, I was really noticing them.
However, when summer came, I didnāt use it. I left that school as it was only a one year job.
That pattern continued for many years. I would start every school year without it, at some point go back to using it, and then ditch it in the summer. When the COVID shut down came, I stopped using aids completely.
Over the years, I have also used an America Hears aid, and an Oticon Nera Pro 2. I have tried the Signia Silk IIC, which was okay but not truly āinvisibleā, Starkey Picasso, which I used for a while but didnāt stick with it, and Oticon Own, which I donāt think was adjusted right, feels too plugged up, and will be returned soon.
Now, my hearing has dropped a little bit since 2007. I still donāt use an aid full time in many situations, but I am looking for something more. Not sure if the right solution is to aid the left as well, or simply get a better aid for the right, or maybe both. Understanding in noise is more challenging, and understanding in large rooms with bad acoustics is also hard. I can do it, but with a lot of work and strain, and I know it doesnāt have to be that way. I donāt enjoy talking on the phone as much, although I can do it with no apparent problem. It just seems to be taking more work. Itās not āeffortlessā. Iām hoping the right fit will correct this.
This morning I tried to work with no hearing aid but I didnāt last more than 30 minutes like that. I have gotten used to hearing out of two ears, so using one in a busy noisy environment doesnāt work well anymore. My bad ear sounds like it has cotton or glue in it and just doesnāt work well. This is in noisy environments. In quiet, Iām fine without it.
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Have you tried an analog aid? Do any vendors still make these other than Lyric?
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Not yet, but you gave me a hint with Lyricā¦ Thx
It was miserable. Everything was loud and scary. The aid I was given, while good and probably the āright one,ā just didnāt work well for me. And I was warned my ski slope loss would be very hard to fit.
But when you fast forward, I now have aids I use! They benefit me and Iām glad I persevered.
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Yeah @cohenā¦ Totally underwhelmed, after being extremely hopeful, might be deemed as the correct term? Hit by an all encompassing wall of sound, and yes I could hear, but it was everything else I didnāt want to hear! Analogue aids, gave you sound, and lots of itā¦Trying to decipher words from the bewilderment of everyday noise was extremely challenging, and very tiring, it probably took me 4 to 6 months, before I had built up enough listening stamina to last the whole day with my aids in, I recall being told as much by the NHS Audiologist, on my initial first fit, and me ignorantly dismissing this under my breath, he said an hour or 2 at most, then build up gradually every dayā¦ It was initially fine in his office, till I hit the street, then Wham, Aberdeen in winter suddenly became very, very loud, snow underfoot, was crunch, crunch, crunchā¦ Seagulls screeching overhead, buses and traffic noise where overwhelming, I donāt think I lasted 30 minutes, before overload kicked in, and I had to remove my aidsā¦ Living in Shetland at the time, I had no one to confide in, no internet whatsoever back then, to seek advice or reassurance, I was on my lonesome, and boy was it a steep learning curveā¦ Be thankful folks, that you all have this forum, to help guide you, and also help you seek a better listening experience, it is a wonderful resource of informationā¦ Cheers Kev 
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Fortunately I was on this forum ahead of time and had some idea of what to expect. I was excited to hear more sounds and delighted when they came flooding in. I was warned that it could take a month or more before things calmed down and I did not need to wear them all day at first. I ended up wearing them from the time I got up till going to sleep, except for showering. I felt accustomed to them in a week, maybe two. I went back to my HCP after four weeks to get my REM and initial adjustments. I asked him to turn my HAs up to 100% and he showed me on the screen that it was already at max. He preferred to let people have the full experience up front and let them turn the volume down. I never lowered them, I just settled into them well. I wanted to hear better so bad that I laped up the new sounds!
I heard a wall of sounds across the spectrum except for bass. I teared up when I first streamed music and heard all those missing highs. It was thrilling to hear my feet on the carpet, doors open or shut, water running, peoples voices more clearly and, not the dog barking or my grandson screeching! Ouch. Overload, hearing aids shutting down for a moment fortunately. 
I can still hear these sounds now, fortunately, but they are not so pronounced. They are still a reminder of my initial excitement and delight. I love my hearing aids!
When I first went back for the initial adjustment I came with a list, from what I read on this forum, with things I could do to get my music program and my streaming function adjusted including getting closed domes. It all greatly improved my music streaming, along with the Poweramp Equalizer (10 bands tunable for each ear), In a direct comparison the HAs sounded better then my earbuds because there were so many more highs. That and the bass response had been much improved on the HAs. I would not mind more bass below 150hz or above 10khz from the HAs but I now stream music more then I ever did with my earbuds. What a delight! Music sounds so much crisper!
Kev, you did better than me for the first time wearing aids. I didnāt last 10 min alone in the house while my husband was not yet home from work. Every noise terrified me, I thought the building we live in was going to (fill in verb here). I would fill in with: explode, blow up, be attacked by very noisy space aliens in an incredibly loud spacecraft, etc. It was quite a learning curve, understanding ānormalā sounds. But I did manage to get there, without ever actually experiencing any explosions, blow ups or alien abductions.
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Yeah Barb, I canāt say that I ever truthfully liked analogue aids, they amplified everything! Although in truth, some folks loved them, but I never really adapted to analogue, everything was way too loudā¦It wasnāt until later in my hearing aid journey, that I realized, I had recruitment, a set of Super Powered BTE analogue hearing aids, with a SSNHL, in the severe/profound threshold, in conjunction with recruitment, wasnāt a good mix, I became quite reclusive, anywhere with loud noise, I would go out of my way to avoid, places like busy pubs were painful, I would occasionally go, but I wouldnāt stay longā¦ Over the years things have gradually improved with digital aids, none more so than in the last 5 years or so, with the advent of Bluetooth connectivity, and Roger ALDās, I function fairly well nowadays, given my level of loss, and I am ultimately very content, and now at ease and totally relaxed, in any hostile listening environments, it is a world away from those early years, and my listening experience has probably turned full circleā¦ Cheers Kev 
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The conundrum that streaming presents is that it always sounds ārightā, like what I think itās supposed to sound like and they are unlike the sounds that are manipulated, for the lack of a better word.
The question is, why is that? Iām sure itās a technological issue, but that answer is confounding when you consider the following:
In one of my most recent communications/last visit with my audi, I asked if she could provide me with a mode option that was only amplification and without modification. She said in no uncertain terms that the Music mode was just that. It turns out that even that mode produces sounds (a lot less modified) unlike the streaming of phone calls/notifications, which seem real to me.
So whatās going on here?
TIA, Nick