The Signia Pure NX7 hearing aids I’ve use for more than 5 years need to be replaced/updated. So I am wondering about comments and/or recommendations by participants on this forum in that regard.
I am currently considering the Phonak Audeo Sphere I90 or the ReSound Vivia 9 microREI. I have been using the Signia Cennexx 8 fitting software for the past five years, and also have a copy of Phonak Target 8. But if I went with ReSound, I am hoping someone could message me a link where I could download Smart Fit 2.0. Please?
The two aspects of hearing aids that matter most to me are an exceptionally natural & undistorted sound when listening to music (including very load music), and speech intelligibility in noisy environments.
I fully expect the new DDN technology will address noisy environment performance much better than my older Signia aids do. As far as music is concerned, I had to order much more powerful Receivers (on eBay) to get rid of the distortion of loud music, and also redo the programming of my music profile to obtain a natural directional ambient sound.
You’ll need to trial both to know which is the ones for you, as you do DIY projects I’m sure you’ll be able to set them up pretty much how you like things to sound, yeah NX are a pretty old platform now, still nothing from Signia on their AI models yet, can’t be far away now hopefully.
I’ve anxiously followed Oticon and now ReSound announcements and news. My last two pair of Phonak have been disappointing.
I hope to solve those problems and would easily switch to get better.
I’ve been considering diy for some time, but have never done so.
Fantastic, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the outcome, as for the Noahlink most people just use eBay or Amazon, so Costco is something to keep in mind, unfortunately they haven’t released the ReSound Vivia rebranded as a Jabra as yet.
I’m grateful. however, I have a workman’s compensation claim. They dictate what I can buy, when, and the cost they will pay. I asked: may I upgrade to a better model of hearing aid? Answer is NO.
My dispensing audi did something very well. He applied, and I got hearing aids early. And they provided top model Paradise P90Rs. The year I got them they would only provide hearing aids from 3 manufacturers. Phonak was one; I had had 2 pairs of Phonak.
If I buy hearing aids from Costco I pay the whole shot, and they will not pay to maintain them.
Oh okay, yeah that makes a difference, Costco does include 3 year warranty and service, you can actually go to any Costco store for this as well, not stuck at just the one clinic, with the insurance there’s always the fine print that doesn’t seem to benefit the customer
Update: I decided to go with the Resound Vivia 9’s…
I was not sure what receivers to go with, so decided to go with two sets - the MM (M&RIE) and the HP (High Power). The performance does differ between the receiver models.
The M&RIE receivers were absolutely amazing as far as sounding very natural, and surprisingly good at letting me know the precise location of sounds. When sitting at a round table discussion, even with my eyes closed I could tell exactly where the person who was speaking was sitting. Even sounds behind me clearly sounded like they were behind me.
The disadvantage of the M&RIE receivers was that they struggled occassionally in a music environment. On rare situations in certain circumstances, there would be noticeable distortion of quiet mid-rage musical instruments. They also did not lend themselves to being turned up real loud, presumably because they do not have a lot of gain before feedback with the mic being located only a small fraction of an inch from where the sound exits the receiver.
I currently am trying the HP receivers. If I hadn’t tried the M&RIE receivers first, I would describe them as excellent. However, without a mic inside the ear canal, their ability to accurately pinpoint the sound source isn’t quite as good. I am sure they are as good or better than the competition, but their sound localization abilities is not as perfect as the M&RIEs.
The amount of gain and volume available with the HP receivers is very good. They don’t distort in loud music environments, and with the volume turned way up in the app, you can hear a pin drop in the next room. They also sound far more natural, and perform considerably better, than my prior Signia NX7 hearing aids.
