I only drive just over an hour to get to Costco, but the KS10s were worth it, and the fitter can do adjustments via the app which seems to work great. Local HA store quoted me 4x price.
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Well, let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about this company…
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Miracle-Ear, Inc. …The company is a subsidiary of Amplifon, the worldwide distributor of hearing aids based in Italy. …, and it is the best-known hearing aid brand in the U.S.
The second “hearing aidstop” I made was a ME shop, close and had a good time for me open. No high pressure but several little statements that gave me pause “…best price for a comparable product”, stands out. Pleasant though and the sound was good but I think it might be easy to set up a set of HA’s for a moderate hearing loss in one environment. When I started comparing features, I thought that they were high for what they offered but they seemed competant.
Best Known hearing aid? Hmmm, I don’tg know but I doubt it - until 4 weeks ago the only brand I knew was Beltone. and I bet that is pretty common.They used to advertise quite a bit.
I remember when I was a young lad, I used to see Miracle-Ear infomercials on the TV all the times. So at least they’ve been around for a very long time, I gotta give them that… Would have thought that they’re a dinosaur by now, but apparently they re-brand and try to keep up with the Jones… Or at least, license HAs from the Jones…
Now that the demographic of HA users is getting younger and younger, they should at least renovate their sales tactics to appeal to the younger crowd as well. At least realize that the younger crowd can see through it that the HA innovation is not really theirs to claim, at least not anymore. Look at Costco, they don’t claim that they have years of HA innovation behind them. They’re straight up and no nonsense about selling rebranded HAs from others for very affordable prices.
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If purchased at Costco,
are they setup there?
What if you need another adjustment?
Thanks & Yes these are the same but there is proprietary software by ME that supposedly gets the max out of the HEs.
Appreciate THAT info…I definitely have tinnitus…for over 20 years! Trying to ignore that and listen to someone while there is any other types of noises is almost impossible.
Totally agree…looking at most companies they don’t give much in way of specs. Seems most companies sell HEs that are made by big companies and they massage the software.
@crash1: No offense intended, but I think you’re “drinking the ME Kool-Aid!” All brands use their own proprietary software - it’s the equivalent of their “special sauce”.
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That’s why I came to you guys for the help! So glad that I found this forum…a lot of great info!.
I am pretty much a DIY person but when it comes to my ears…I think I want to leave it to the pros. The one thing I like about ME is that basically no matter where I may be there will be a ME store not to far away. Besides I don’t think I will be moving and this store is 1 mile away.
Don’t all Hearing Aids Softwares allow you to get the most out of a hearing aid that you choose?
The ME software won’t have advantages to others.
Sounds like you’re planning for frequent visits to the “ME store” (just this nomenclature suggests a strong focus on “selling”, to me). I prefer to only have to see my audiologist 2 or 3 times a year. This proximity of “stores” would not affect my choice of audiologist. Competency and empathy are my criteria - not proximity.
Of course, YMMV.
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Regarding Costco. Typical scenario. Schedule an appointment for eval. They test your hearing and likely try a hearing aid or two. If you decide to purchase, they order and you return for an appointment in about 2 weeks. Aids are fitted. I know at least some of their aids have the possibility of remote adjustments. I’ll leave it at that. Anything else is repeating myself.
You would schedule a hearing test at a Costco hearing center. During the test you would be test fit with demo aids. You’d buy and order the aids and schedule an appointment to return and get them fitted.
After that you would schedule a follow up, which would likely be in person. After that you could use remote services, presuming the aids you purchase support that.
Or what @MDB beat me to saying.
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I ran into this “locked” issue when I moved my father up to live by me. His Audigy hearing aids, which were rebranded Starkey’s, were locked with a pin code. The nearest Audigy dealer was 40 miles away, what a headache. I rather doubt they initially explain this “gotcha” to their customers and its something you have to be aware of especially if you move to a new location.
Not just you moving but what if the dealer isn’t doing well and decides to fold up or just move to a better location 100 miles away. Or sells his franchise to a jerk-oid that you don’t like or who is no good at adjustments. Just so much that can go wrong. Odds may not be against it but it is easily avoided altogether.
I wear Audibel.
No one talks about audibel on this site.
Audibel is a Starkey brand.
I’ve worn hearing aids for 3-1/2 years. They are the only brand I’ve worn.
Had no real choice it was an insurance thing at the time.
Are Oticon, Resound, Widex, whatever better, how do I know.
Mine seem to work for me.
To me that’s all that counts.
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If it does what you need.
If you are happy with it.
If you can understand speech.
Brand name doesn’t mean anything.
What works for you is the best hearing aid there is.
If it doesn’t serve you, it can be a big name expensive aid…and it is useless…junk!
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I think that those who have been around the block a few times have made it very clear how they feel about miracle ear. So you can either heed their advice or do as you please
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Probably would not work for a private individual, but when I was still in practice I had an Audibel (Starkey) patient move into my town. I tried to get the the key to unlock the aids but they would not give it to me. I was able to send them into Starkey and they rebranded them “Starkey” instead of Audibel and then I could program for the patient.
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I think it’s great that you went the extra mile and did that for your patient. Hats off!
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So this shows the manufacturer didn’t support the “locking out” that audibel was doing to all the clinics, that’s quite interesting.
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