Widex Dream 440

Hearing Aids
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#87

More channels do not help the hearing aid sound more natural. Nothing helps the hearing aid sound more natural except turning it off or wearing it more. Remember, what YOU think of as natural reflects a 50-70 dB hearing loss. That is NOT natural. If you want it to sound the same way you heard before, then you’re not going to hear any better than before.

For the Squeakychu… The tinniness is WHAT makes the clarity better. It is a result of amplifying high frequencies. It will become less bothersome the longer you wear your devices. The feedback squeaks that you are getting are a result of the fitting being too open. You need to occlude your ear more by reducing the vent size or using a more closed dome. You will feel slightly more plugged up for a while, but that too will pass and then you will be happier.

As for understanding soft voices, there is a setting in Widex’ fitting software where soft speech can be turned up to maximum audibility. That should help.

You should post your audiogram and word recognition score and I can maybe give more insight.

#88

Regarding the phone (assuming deskphone) I use my speakerphone and a headset I just purchased that has a t-coil built in. I sit the headphones right near my ha’s and I hear the sound directly thru my ha’s. When the headphones hit the right spot the t-coil setting on my ha’s automatically turns on. It’s great! I’ve tried just moving a phone handset to where my ha’s are and it doesn’t work at all. My mobile phone it has a hearing aid setting built in and I can hear perfectly with it.

#89

I got a couple of little round stick-on magnets from a Costco hearing aid center and stuck one on the phone handset at work so it would trigger the aids to kick in the telecoil. I stuck it inside the earpiece so it didn’t block the speaker opening.

#90

I tried the stick on magnets. They didn’t do anything.

#91

What kind of phone? Mine is an Avaya VoIP desk phone.

#92

None of the Widex hearing aids have an ‘autophone’ feature, so the stick on magnets will not automatically engage the telecoil setting in any Widex product. To engage the Telecoil setting, it must be done manually, either using the program button on the hearing aid or alternatively a remote control if you have one - and of course a telecoil program must have been set up by the clinician.

#93

I am using a Panasonic KX-TGA652 Dect 6 phone. I like it because it’s one of the few phones that has an actual headphone jack.

#94

A cordless phone definitely won’t do it without a magnet. Strange that it didn’t work for you. I placed a magnet I had extra up to my aid and kicked in the telecoil.

#95

I just tried the same thing and the telecoil kicked in. Not sure why it didn’t work before. I just had to figure out where to stick the magnet. I now have it right above the earpiece. Seems to be working well. I still like having the headset in addition to the magnets though if I want to use it. Being a teleworker on conference calls all day the headset is a godsend.

#96

Always nice to have options. Glad it worked for you.

#97

Thank you for your help! :slight_smile:

#98

I’m 100% happy with my hearing aids now. This is how I resolved the issues mentioned above:

  1. Tinniness - My HAs were reprogrammed several times during the fitting period. I now have no tinniness, but I do have excellent clarity.
  2. Feedback squeaks - These were completely eliminated after I changed to using ear molds instead of domes.
  3. “Plugged up feeling” - My ear molds never cause this “occlusion effect” because they are vented.
  4. Soft voices - I increase the volume of such voices rarely, but do so when needed by using a remote volume control.

Caveat: It took 14 months of getting to this level of satisfaction with many, many visits to my patient-as-a-saint audie.

#99

Glad you are having good success.

Just a thought… If you have been working with them for 14 months, you would probably have reached this level of satisfaction even without all the adjustments. Your brain would have adapted. The feedback and occlusion sound like you got the ear molds just right. Awesome!

Soft voices are the hardest ones. In a lot of cases, someone with normal hearing may not even hear those if you are only adjusting for them rarely. Sounds like you’ve got things worked out!

#100

These were my third pair of hearing aids in my lifetime. I started with Resound, then Oticon, and now Widex. I started wearing HAs at age 49. I’m now 67. I had the longest, most difficult and most frustrating adjustment time with these Widex. “Your brain would have adapted.” I would never have stopped complaining about the squeaks or the painful sounds…primarily because I paid $7,000 for these Widex after I just lost my job and was forced into retirement. I was extremely upset about those two problems. With those problems, I took out my hearing aids because I simply could not tolerate those sounds. Fortunately, those problems were completely resolved. My heart goes out to all hearing aid users, especially those new to HAs or those who have to buy a new pair. sigh

#101

I know know this is an old thread but I just recently purchased the Widex Dream Passion 440’s reason being I got them for half price. My concern with them is that I always get an ear ache with them. I have tried the domes and ear molds and still get ear ache. I do not have a problem with ear wax or ear infections. Any idea what is causing the ear aches?

#102

When I tried widex, the open domes had a very sharp edge, they itched like hell.

My audi gave me the old widex-domes as a replacement, they were much better!

Do you feel that the domes have a sharp edge?

#103

No I never noticed that they did. I can barely feel them in my ear. They don’t itch. But I do get ear ache after wearing them a few hours. My Audi has no idea what is causing this. You replied to my post on CIC’s being good for my hearing loss and I thank you. I am now wearing custom ear molds but am having feedback in the left aid and I have a problem with wind noise. Widex are sending me the CIC’s to try them. I don’t have any problems with ear wax. I love the sound of these hearing aids but I hate having ear ache all the time.

#104

There are a couple of oils for ear itch. One is Eargene. A bit of zinc oxide ointment could be used. Its the old treatment for diaper rash.

#105

No problem with ear itch just ear ache.

#106

I use the large tulip domes. Very comfortable. Nothing sharp about them. Domes changed you know. They went from clear to dark grey. I can’t say if the older domes from Widex were worse on comfort.