Widex Dream 440

Hearing Aids
,
#1

I have tested the Widex Dream 440 for two weeks. I am going to my audie today for my two weeks adjustment. I had one previous adjustment and asked for time to better trial these before returning.

I still would like to hear from other users of this hearing aid. Your experience will teach me how to best have my audie tweak my aids to give me their best performance. Please let me know your likes and dislikes. They were so expensive that I just have to make them work well for me! Thank you.

Here is the list of issues I am asking my audie to address today.

  1. Biggest and MOST ANOYING issue – Random feedback squeals during the day in either hearing aid either with a certain frequency (mouse click, putting a spoon on the counter) or at random (worse!). This has not happened with any other hearing aid I’ve had.
  1. The hearing aid picks up some basic hum in quiet (i.e. I’m in the laundry room and all I hear is a background hum).
  1. I am still asking my husband to repeat words and he is getting angry (although he says he is only getting “frustrated”.
  1. Although the clarity of the words is better with this hearing aid that with the Oticon, the background noise in restaurants is still too high and it makes trying to hear very strenuous.
  1. The volume on the cell phone is now too low even if I trun the volume on the phone all the way up.
  1. In quiet environments, I still cannot clearly hear well people with soft voices.
  1. The sounds of people’s voices is “tinny”. I can live with this if it helps clarity, which seems better than with the Oticon, but it sounds abnormal.
  1. The music program is a disappointment. It is better than the Oticon without the program, but, in my car for example (even with no air conditioning and the windows closed), there is a background “whooshing” noise which drowns out the music unless I turn the music up very loud.
  1. The music program accentuates the high frequencies and “bass boom” and seems to miss other low frequencies. I can only listen to music in the “master” program due to the “whooshing” of the music program.
  1. I can understand speech on the television, but I have to be right in front of the TV screen to hear it so that the volume is comfortable for my husband.

Pros:

  1. Clarity of speech is improved both in person and on TV over my old Oticons.
  2. I can hear others speaking at a larger table.
  3. Enjoying music seems as if it might be a possibility again with tweaking.
  4. The phone program works very well. I did not need much captioning on my land line.
#2

My feedback inline below, as best I can. Really we need to see your audiogram (as per my signature), to make better judgement.

  1. Biggest and MOST ANOYING issue – Random feedback squeals during the day in either hearing aid either with a certain frequency (mouse click, putting a spoon on the counter) or at random (worse!). This has not happened with any other hearing aid I’ve had.

Yes, I have this. This can be ameliorated by closing the vent and having the audiologist redo the feedback test. Also cap the max volume (I don’t know the technical term for this on Widex)

  1. The hearing aid picks up some basic hum in quiet (i.e. I’m in the laundry room and all I hear is a background hum).

Yes. Get used to it, your mind will learn to ignore it. You can also do like I did and ask them to take down the low frequency amplification a notch and cap how much the HA brings up very low sounds.

  1. I am still asking my husband to repeat words and he is getting angry (although he says he is only getting “frustrated”.

Me too, with my wife, although she’s never testy about it. Welcome to the life of an HA user.

  1. Although the clarity of the words is better with this hearing aid that with the Oticon, the background noise in restaurants is still too high and it makes trying to hear very strenuous.

This is one area Widex can excel in, your technician should be able to make vast improvements in that. Bear in mind, mine was so good at that, it was killing background noise I wanted to hear. Ambiance, the band, the crickets, the birds… I had them back off, because hearing people sans ambiance is not ideal to me.

  1. The volume on the cell phone is now too low even if I trun the volume on the phone all the way up.

Widex doesn’t like phones, I continue to have this issue with my cell phone as well. What I have done is learned the ideal positioning of my phone speaker in relation to my HA. Hard up against it is not good, the HA will compensate for what it thinks is too loud of a source and further reduce volume. Pull the phone away a bit and experiment with angle. Also have them ease up on the compression setting a bit.

  1. In quiet environments, I still cannot clearly hear well people with soft voices.

Me neither. All I have to say here is continue to work with your audiologist. This is one place where seeing your audiogram would help.

  1. The sounds of people’s voices is “tinny”. I can live with this if it helps clarity, which seems better than with the Oticon, but it sounds abnormal.

Widex should not sound tinny, see answer to prior question.

  1. The music program is a disappointment. It is better than the Oticon without the program, but, in my car for example (even with no air conditioning and the windows closed), there is a background “whooshing” noise which drowns out the music unless I turn the music up very loud.

Yes. Widex music program isn’t great. I have no suggestions here. This is where old analog hearing aids did MUCH MUCH MUCH better.

  1. The music program accentuates the high frequencies and “bass boom” and seems to miss other low frequencies. I can only listen to music in the “master” program due to the “whooshing” of the music program.

Limitation of the HA, I believe. It cannot amp frequencies below 1200 Hz I believe it is (or 1000…) and sometimes the lower notes mask the middle notes - you may benefit from having less amplification in lower frequencies (as with the hum in the house)

  1. I can understand speech on the television, but I have to be right in front of the TV screen to hear it so that the volume is comfortable for my husband.

This sounds like you need more basic amplification to me…

#3

Thanks for your Feedback.

Here’s what I think my audiogram shows:
…250…500…1000…2000…4000…8000
L:50…60…60…55…55…80
R:55…60…60…55…55…80

My feedback inline below, as best I can. Really we need to see your audiogram (as per my signature), to make better judgement.

1.Biggest and MOST ANOYING issue – Random feedback squeals during the day in either hearing aid either with a certain frequency (mouse click, putting a spoon on the counter) or at random (worse!). This has not happened with any other hearing aid I’ve had.

Yes, I have this. This can be ameliorated by closing the vent and having the audiologist redo the feedback test. Also cap the max volume (I don’t know the technical term for this on Widex)

I forwarded your response to my audie and I hope she can fix this because it’s just terrible.

1.The hearing aid picks up some basic hum in quiet (i.e. I’m in the laundry room and all I hear is a background hum).

Yes. Get used to it, your mind will learn to ignore it. You can also do like I did and ask them to take down the low frequency amplification a notch and cap how much the HA brings up very low sounds.

My audie said to ignore it as well. i don’t want to take away sound so I’ll try to live with it.

1.I am still asking my husband to repeat words and he is getting angry (although he says he is only getting “frustrated”.

Me too, with my wife, although she’s never testy about it. Welcome to the life of an HA user.

After the HA adjustment this week, I did not need to ask my husband to repeat anything. He did agree to go with me to the audie’s office for a “counseling” session! :slight_smile:

1.Although the clarity of the words is better with this hearing aid that with the Oticon, the background noise in restaurants is still too high and it makes trying to hear very strenuous.

This is one area Widex can excel in, your technician should be able to make vast improvements in that. Bear in mind, mine was so good at that, it was killing background noise I wanted to hear. Ambiance, the band, the crickets, the birds… I had them back off, because hearing people sans ambiance is not ideal to me.

I think I’ll hold off on this as well. Again, I don’t want to take away any ability to hear sounds if I can help it.

1.The volume on the cell phone is now too low even if I turn the volume on the phone all the way up.

Widex doesn’t like phones, I continue to have this issue with my cell phone as well. What I have done is learned the ideal positioning of my phone speaker in relation to my HA. Hard up against it is not good, the HA will compensate for what it thinks is too loud of a source and further reduce volume. Pull the phone away a bit and experiment with angle. Also have them ease up on the compression setting a bit.

I haven’t tried the cell phone yet, but my audie gave me another program with no high or low frequency…just amplified speech. Call it Master 2. I’m going to try that with my cell phone. I also now have that contraption that can increase and decrease the volume of the HAs. I find it wonderful to listen to news on TV. Because the commentators speak so clearly, the volume increase button on that contraption is all I need to hear the news. I hate the rest of TV so I’ll be fine with what I have.

1.In quiet environments, I still cannot clearly hear well people with soft voices.

Me neither. All I have to say here is continue to work with your audiologist. This is one place where seeing your audiogram would help.

My new contraption (volume control button) should work! :slight_smile:

1.The sounds of people’s voices is “tinny”. I can live with this if it helps clarity, which seems better than with the Oticon, but it sounds abnormal.

Widex should not sound tinny, see answer to prior question.

My audie made some adjustment this past visit, and I’m not aware of “tinny” voices any more (or I’ve gotten used to them). :slight_smile:

1.The music program is a disappointment. It is better than the Oticon without the program, but, in my car for example (even with no air conditioning and the windows closed), there is a background “whooshing” noise which drowns out the music unless I turn the music up very loud.

Yes. Widex music program isn’t great. I have no suggestions here. This is where old analog hearing aids did MUCH MUCH MUCH better.

sigh

1.The music program accentuates the high frequencies and “bass boom” and seems to miss other low frequencies. I can only listen to music in the “master” program due to the “whooshing” of the music program.

Limitation of the HA, I believe. It cannot amp frequencies below 1200 Hz I believe it is (or 1000…) and sometimes the lower notes mask the middle notes - you may benefit from having less amplification in lower frequencies (as with the hum in the house)

I figured out with my audie’s help that the “whooshing” was road noise in the car. Using the master program instead of the music program while driving seems to help. I think I want to get used to the hering aid more before I try to fool with the music program. My audie told me not to change the bass or treble when I listen to music in the car. That will be the baseline from where we will start making changes. I’m sure I can have her work with that program to make it sound better. Mostly it sounds as if singer are singing an octave higher than I know they really are. It’s unpleasantly weird!

1.I can understand speech on the television, but I have to be right in front of the TV screen to hear it so that the volume is comfortable for my husband.

This sounds like you need more basic amplification to me…

Got it! I use my volume control contraption! That works.

Jeff, I thank you for taking the time to help me, item by item. I’m so scared that I’ve spent so much money and am not going to be happy with the hearing aids. I think I just need to forget about the cost and try to work with the hearing aids to make my hearing experience the best it can be. I tell others about this adjustment period, but I forget what that’s like from new hearing aid to new hearing aid. This is my third set.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

#4

Every time I get a new hearing aid, it’s a 3 month adjustment for me. Doesn’t matter if I’m just changing to a newer model of the same brand, I have to retrain my brain. So, I’ glad you got things sorted out, and just continue to give it time.

#5

Thanks, Jeff. I will. At this point the only thing that is making me berserk is the constant “impact” squeals. Other than that, I think I’ll do very well with these hearing aids.

#6

Those high frequency chirps will not go away. My audie made it better, but today my hearing aids changed channel by themselves in a drug store when a cashier punched numbers into a computerized cash register! The company is sending me out new hearing aids because they attribute my problems to electromagnetic interference which is not a normal problem for these hearing aids.

On the other hand, I love my improved ability to hear in all kinds of environments. I use my volume control button from time to time, but not too much. I want to defer problems with my phone and music programs for now and work on making the master program the best it can be. I also had my audie give me a mute program, which I promised not to use too often.

I definitely want to keep these HAs as long as the “chirp” problem is eliminated. I’ll keep you posted. I’d love to hear from others who use the same Widex Dream 440. I think they can do amazing things.

#7

One thing I HATE about “smart” digital hearing aids. My Widex also stifles incoming sound when the store clerk beeps the register. It’s the hearing aid being too smart for itself. Drives me nuts. It’s a dang beep, no need to react by muting everything for 30 seconds. I’d be really surprised if it was actually changing programs, though.

#8

Since I still have the “chirps” (I’ve had three of them today so far), I’m up for trying another set of hearing aids. The next time the “mute” happens, I’ll wait for 30 seconds to see if my hearing aids revert back to the master program. I knew nothing about a 30-second mute period. It was very weird to be in the middle of a conversation and all of a sudden not be able to hear a thing. I thought I was in my telecoil program (program #2).

I think my audie and I are both learning together about how these hearing aids work. I really appreciate your input as well. Thank you.

right hearing aid just chirped without a mouse click

#9

One thing I have noticed about wearing these Widex Dream 440s is that I’m not straining to hear any more. Incoming speech is definitely clearer from all sources and sound modulation of speech is very good …or at least to my preference. I’m at the point of going about my daily chores without even thinking about my hearing aids any more (except for the chirps…which have decreased).

#10

Dear all, thanks for this good discussion.

Quick introduction: I woke up six years ago with sudden hearing loss and it has since gotten worse (I have tried to demonstrate my audiogram below). I had a Widex Mind 440 which I never made friends with (I really had not made friends with the idea that my hearing had disappeared overnight.)

Anyway, fast forward six years, and I need to hear! I have also come to realize how difficult it is to have “mono” hearing. I have been trying a Dream 330 and find the sound tinny and blaring. I have just today told my Aud that I want to trade it in for the 440, which apparently has more channels. So my questions:

  1. Do you think more channels help the hearing sound more natural? I am pretty sure the Mind had 15 channels, and although I was not friends with it, it did sound good.

  2. Can someone simply describe what the Iphone hookup does?

  3. On the Mind, I liked and used “audibility extender” a lot, which I understand brings down some of the frequencies (good for my kind of hearing loss). On the 330 that I have been trying, I find that this feature causes almost an echo after each word, which is not helpful and actually distracting.

Sorry for a discombobulated post, I appreciate whatever info you might offer! Stacey

left ear: perfect!
right ear: 1000 2000 3000 4000 6000 8000
10 55 65 70 70 60

#11

Getting a Dream 440 when you’re only wearing one hearing aid is a waste of money because the extra features in the 440 are only active when two units are working together as a pair. The additional channels won’t make the sound more natural, but they may improve performance in noisy situations. However, it’s unlikely that you’ll notice any difference.

Your audi can reduce the gain in the high frequencies on your 330 to make the sound less tinny. And the Audibility Extender can also be reduced so the effect isn’t as strong, which will improve the sound quality. If you get the M-DEX or UNI-DEX accessories, they can connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth and stream the audio directly to your hearing aids.

#12

I agree about useless battery sucking features in the 440 but, in my case, the extra bands made a world of difference, especially when this thing decides some perfectly normal environmental sound is feedback, or something I shouldn’t hear. It noticeably limits the negative effects beyond what the 330 and going back further, the Senso, had.

— Updated —

I agree about useless battery sucking features in the 440 but, in my case, the extra bands made a world of difference, especially when this thing decides some perfectly normal environmental sound is feedback, or something I shouldn’t hear. It noticeably limits the negative effects beyond what the 330 and going back further, the Senso, had.

#13

Three of the five additional channels are located at the extreme ends of the audiogram. They’re at 125, 6K and 8K. Since there are few speech sounds in those areas, I would argue the extra channels don’t make a meaningful difference when it comes to speech intelligibility.

#14

Perhaps. My personal experience is this aid is much better at handling noise reduction than the older aids with fewer channels. Perhaps this is better programming as opposed to more channels, but I do notice I lose less sound with this aid when it arbitrarily decides I should not hear something.

Bigger issue is these digital aids need to continue to improve. I’d love to enjoy music again without the dmned thing deciding the sax, flute, cymbals, etc are things I don’t need to hear, or need to hear at a much lower volume. They also need to stop deciding crickets and frogs in the evening are sounds I need to do without.

— Updated —

Perhaps. My personal experience is this aid is much better at handling noise reduction than the older aids with fewer channels. Perhaps this is better programming as opposed to more channels, but I do notice I lose less sound with this aid when it arbitrarily decides I should not hear something.

Bigger issue is these digital aids need to continue to improve. I’d love to enjoy music again without the dmned thing deciding the sax, flute, cymbals, etc are things I don’t need to hear, or need to hear at a much lower volume. They also need to stop deciding crickets and frogs in the evening are sounds I need to do without.

#15

Thank you, everyone! I am a novice and learning a lot. I am working with a young and enthusiastic Audi and I have confidence that she will get me where I need to be. I am mostly thankful that I have given up fighting myself and trying to get the most out of my HA. I’ll let you know what I discover! Stacey

#16

I just want to say that I think the tinniness of voices actually helps me understand words more clearly. I did ask my audi to decrease the tinniness somewhat so now, if it still is happening, I am not aware of it.

My “chirps” are less (about 1 to 3 times a day), but today my hearing aid program again changed by itself, but this time when I was out walking in the woods with my sister-in-law. I’m waiting for a new set of Widex 440 Dream to arrive and will exchange my current set for another set.

Today I was babysitting for my 14-month-old grandson and was delighted to be able to hear and understand what he said (at least what was intelligible to my husband as well). The baby is learning words now. I have always had difficulty understanding children’s speech so this might be the one thing that might make me think that these hearing aids are worth every penny I’ve invested in them.

I also like that I can hear people behind me speaking. This is wonderful when I’m riding in the front seat of a car and people in the back seat are talking. To hear the people behind me is a new experience since I’ve begun to wear the Widex Dream 440.

I did notice today that I still could not follow the TV very well (nor did I really want to, though). People on sitcoms seem to talk very quickly. I have no problem understanding newscasters broadcasting the news. The news is all bad, though, so it’s better not to hear that. Anyway, newscasters talk so others can understand them.

Best of luck, Stacey. Things do improve with time and with a receptive audi. Continue to work together with your audi to tweak what needs improvement. I like to complain a lot, but I can see now that I’ve worn my hearing aids for a few weeks, I’m almost unaware of them. I’ll work on specialty programming (phone, music, noisy places) in order of priority. For day-to-day use, they currently seem fine.

#17

I got a new set of Widex Dream 440 today due to the frequent chirps and the program changing by itself (that happened three times with my first set). Now the chirps are back and even louder. They happen at random in both hearing aids in different locations and in response to nothing that I can hear. I get at least one an hour, and they are driving me crazy!!! :frowning: I sent an email to my audie and am going to wait to see what to do.

— Updated —

#18

Which type of dome do you have? If you’re not already using the double ear-tip, give that a try. It provides a better seal than the tulip ear-tip and should help reduce feedback.

#19

I have the tulip dome which the rep gave me. I have an apt with my audie this coming Wednesday and she will change the dome type.

Another question: Are there some people you cannot understand no matter what? I do much better at conversation with others, but there are one or two people whose speech I simply cannot understand. I find myself avoiding talking to these individuals.

On a good note, I was at a noisy restaurant tonight and could actually hear some soft music playing in the background…which sounded like music!

#20

I’m thoroughly disgusted at this point. I had the domes exchanged for a small double ear tip. I still heard chirping in my right ear and squealing when water was running. I removed the hearing aid, but now the dome is completely embedded into my ear canal and I cannot remove it. I have no one hear to help me with it so I have to leave it in until I can see my audi again. This stinks!

— Updated —

I would call this a Widex 440 Nightmare not a Widex 440 Dream.

— Updated —
I got it out with a straight clamp. I’m going to try the medium double ear tips tomorrow as I have a pair of them.

Is it true that I should not re-apply the same dome that just came off my hearing aid?