Perhaps Siemens should know about that then as she works for HearX which IS a Siemens company. And she pushes the Siemens … but she did much better adjusting the Phonaks which she doesn’t sell nearly as many of. I found the volume control to be quite lacking in the Tek … but so did my boss who dealt with another audi in another city … who also happens to be a Siemens dealer. That’s OK, I’m very happy with my YES IX’s.
The nearest Costco I think is about 45 mins away from where I live. IMHO I generally like to stay with top brands to get the most for my money. Especially since my hearing is in the moderate to severe range. If I had a slight loss I would have definetely went for the Lyrics lol.
I agree with you and I’m kinda expecting to tell me she can’t help me with Siemens. I’ll just search for a local Audi and see who will service my needs and I can just pay them for those services.
I would wager that anyone that is able to program Phonak effecively can certainly program Siemens as Phonak is the more technical of the two software packages IMHO. I have worked extensively with both and you can delve deeper with Phonak than Siemens. You might take a bit longer without familiarity with the sofware, but you will cope particularly if you verify the changes you make using real ear measures.
If you want Siemens you might re-consider Costco. One of the brands that they sell is Rexton Cobalt 16 which is the same as Ciemens Pure 700.
And you might save a Kilobuck
I just visited the Costco website and you are correct, they seem like the exact same thing (although they look slightly different) and who knows, maybe it’s Siemens lower brand that’s quietly sold at Costco. I wonder if they include the same chips which will deliver similar performance, features, and technology?
Regardless, two of those aids from Costco will run you $2800 not including taxes or accessories. I’m paying $3100 for an entire brand new Siemens Kit which comes with the charger, TEK, you name it. So I think in my situation it makes more sense to go with the Siemens.
Wow… $ 3100 for two of Siemens…
When release just a year ago in Dec 2009, they were selling for $ 3100 EACH plus another $ 300 for the TEK. I thought I was getting a good deal at $ 6,000 for all.
Sooo… It would apear that Siements has a PROBLEM selling their product.
Econ 101 “price elaticity” if it’s not in demand and not selling… and has less value;
you’d better “lower the price”. Does not bode will for Siemens.
ps: Were did you get the price of $ 3100 for the entire brand new Siemens kit.???
Siemens has a very loose distribution policy meaning anyone can sell them. Audiologist, online retailers, anyone. This means that you will most likely find online retailers trying to extremely competitively price them and make a smaller profit than local audiologist.
Your assessment may be very right don’t get me wrong. In fact I believe that may be partially the main reason why they are probably cheap today with a few local online audiologists on eBay. But check out other websites like Amazon, PreciseHearing, and many other online retailers, they still have each Pure 700 at about $2300 each.
Confused? So am I lol. But it doesn’t mean it’s not worth it to give it a shot at least. I’m wearing my new Audeo Smart IX’s right now (which I’m about to take off since they TOTALLY need to be adjusted). They sound extremely tinny. Take a tin metal bowl and speak into it, that’s how I’m hearing right now. My wife couldn’t understand what I was trying to describe to her until she put them into her own ears and heard exactly what I meant. She has perfect hearing and said the HA’s sound extremely tinny and very echoey.
Oh well…
Hi ABerri
I find myself facing the same dilemma as you did and and wonder how it’s all worked out for you? Did you take the plunge with the online seller and Pure 700s, or did you end up getting the Smart IXs adjusted to correct the tinny sound? I’ve asked pretty much the same questions in a thread I started recently (Hoping Siemens Pure 500/700 do the trick).
I did return the Smart IX’s since it turned out I would not be able to afford them. I’m currently trying out the Siemens Pure 700. The first time I received them, I had to send them back to have them adjusted since sounds were way too soft and wanted to reduce the hollowy tinny effect. Now I just got them back two days ago on Monday and I like them slightly a little better but I think they may need to be adjusted again.
Maybe or maybe not. I still need to wear them for a few more days to see how my head adjust to things. I’m having problems with my Tek Remote not being able to charge so I don’t know what’s up with that right now. I’ll figure that out later.
Other people have said when they didn’t like how the Siemens Pure sounded, they tried other brands such as Oticons and right out of the box, before any adjustments are made, they sounded much much better than the Pures. This means sound reproduction on Oticons must be much better and more accurate to reflect real hearing rather than like fake computer generated hearing as I’m feeling in the Pures right now.
I’ll be honest, I’m not happy with the way things sound right now. Everything is a slight bit echoey, tinny, and nothing natural about the sounds I’m hearing at all. It’s still too early for a true report so that’s why I’m gonna try these for a few more days.