I have been trialling Phonak Sphere Hearing aids and one of the main problems is the dreadful metallic sound. Today I had a clinical appointment and the metallic sound was almost unbearable and I am wondering whether it is worth persevering with these aids. I do have a number of programmes on my phone set up by my audiologist; despite many tweaks there doesn’t seem to be any improvement. I know that the brain takes time to get used to hearing high frequences that it hasn’t heard for some time, but this is starting make me feel irritable. Any suggestions would be very welcome
Are you new to wearing hearing aids? I’ve got I90s and the sound that I get from mine is not metallic. Could be a setup issue too. How severe is your hearing loss?
Sounds to me like the person who setup the hearing aids didn’t know what they were doing. I really bugs me when I hear this because it turns people off of a product which could really make a difference in their lives. My theory is that some audiologist choose to just do a “quickie” kinda setup for those patients who are doing a trial because they don’t want to waste their time properly setting up a product that they think the person isn’t going to purchase. So dumb given my audiologist does the opposite.
No hearing aid should sound metallic. Basically means they were setup wrong. Go back and tell them to try again or find a new audiologist.
I am wondering whether it is worth persevering with these aids. I do have a number of programmes on my phone set up by my audiologist; despite many tweaks there doesn’t seem to be any improvement.
As Jordan says it is probably a set up issue. Maybe incorrect domes or molds or it could be the receivers. If the issue can not be resolved by your audiologist, she/he could return them to Phonak and get a new pair. Sometimes new hearing aids can have internal problems. If your audiologist doesn’t resolve the issue one way or another, I would seek out a new audiologist. I would not give up on these hearing aids.
I have moderate hearing loss and have been wearing aids for quite a while. I’ve been told that the brain needs time to adjust and it may also be that I haven’t fully got to grips with the Phonak programmes that have been put onto my phone. I see my audiologist quite regularly and she does a few tweaks, and she has done the Real Ear Measurement test.
I did wonder about this. I have another appointment on 30 June so will mention this again. I’ve been thinking about your theory about the ‘quickie kind of set up’, she disappears and is then back again within a few minutes. I really can’t tell the difference once she has tweaked and have indicated this. I had an appointment last week with a different audiologist who also tweaked, but I think he was nervous about doing this and perhaps made things worse.
Thanks raylock1 for your advice. The metallic sound and the distortion is not great but I will wait until Monday to see my usual audiologist, I don’t think I want to see the one I saw while she was on leave, as I’m not convinced that he was Ok with making some tweaks. I do have an older pair of Phonak aids which I think I will go back to and see if there is any difference. It may be as some have suggested that there is a fault with the hearing aids themselves.
Do you know if your audiologist programmed your hearing aids using the fitting formula? This seems to be the default formula most audiologists use, however I have found that the two Phonak proprietary formulas, Adaptive Phonak Digital and Adaptive Phonak Digital Contrast provided a more quality sound.
I am wearing Lumity 90s with Phonak cshells and waiting for my Phonak Sphere Infinios.
Overall, I don’t think hearing aids will ever produce the same quality as a set of Bose headphones, so I’ve gotten past that.
This!!! Thank you for saying this. I had the same issues/concerns and also lack of speech clarity with my Sphere’s. I just returned them and ordered the new Vivia’s.
You’re most welcome PastorDale, I am very tempted to return my Spheres and start all over again. I’m sorry to hear that you had similar issues with the Sphere’s and I hope that the new Vivia’s are much better. So far this is completely ruining my quality of life.
No idea at all about this, I am not a scientific person and wouldn’t know what to ask. It’s so irritating that every time there is a tweak there is no improvement. I do hope you have a better time with the Spheres when you get them.
I agree, that hearing aids will never ‘produce the same quality as a set of Bose headphones…’ but surely it isn’t too much to ask for clarity of speech etc.
I agree with the others that said “This is a setup…” but I wouldn’t say necessarily say it is an issue because, it maybe a feature.
From what I’ve seen, metallic sound usually means that the high frequencies were programmed “high”. This doesn’t mean they were programmed wrong, it may take some time to get used to the new sound. The Phonak fitting software has a setting that takes care of this (in the fitting assistant section).
So let’s test my theory: Go to your Phonak app, select Automatic and then click on “Adjust”. In that menu, select the equalizer button and move the treble slider to the bottom. Also, move the mid slider halfway between the center and the bottom (or you can move it to the bottom too). No need to save the setting, just leave the screen as it is and test the sound. If this works, you can play with the settings (you can select the comfort setting for example and create a new program) until you see your audiologist. This is why I think Phonak has the best app of the hearing aids I’ve tried, its very flexible.
If you have your old Phonak then yes, it would be a good idea to take them with you. They can look at the deltas at high frequencies and see if the difference is large.
Would you mind posting your ? That info is helpful in this situation.
@Judi_L It would be helpful if you would post your , so maybe someone might have more informed ideas. To do that: click on your J icon at the upper right, then click on the profile icon (little person at the bottom) then click on the profile again and then My Audiogram. You can then enter the numbers from your audiogram.
Did he/she had long-term hearing loss in high frequencies? If so, his/her brain connection are rearranged so ťhey could perceive proper fitting as awful, terribly and tinny. Meanwhile, he/she should wear those HAs to rearrange brain connections and acquire the ability to analyze high notes, which he/she has not done for a long time.
Depending of patient, The process of getting used to it takes from a few weeks to a few months.
You should wear hearing aids as much as you can to get used to them. If this fails, ask the audiologist to lower the gain of high frequencies, for example, to 80-90% od full target gains.
Thanks Ocram for the above suggestion. Will try this out later on. That’s what the audiologist was saying about the brain needed to adjust. So as well as this I have a problem with my jaw which is causing a sensation of pressure, so it all feels a bit much!
Thanks Oram for this. The audiologist is doing gradual tweaks and she has said that the brain takes time to adjust to the new sounds. I tried out your theory and it did seem to damp down the sound for a bit. I didn’t try the conmfort setting and will do next time. But the ear pressure that I have which the TMJ consultant is really irritating in that there is no let up. I have an appt with TMJ consultant in a couple of weeks but what with this, the occlusion effect and the metallic sound, I’m not the happiest.
@Judi_L, regarding physical pressure in the ear canal and TMJ problem - put your fingertips deeply into entrances of ear canals and open fully and slowly for a few times. Try to feel do your ear canals become narrower or (more ofter) wider with mouth full open.
Probably you need to have made silicone impressions with mouth closed and then with 2.5 cm open mouth with bite block during the injection of silicone to its curation.
Yes I have and as you say the ‘proper fitting is awful, terribly and tinny’ Am wearing my aids for around 10 hours each day and it is getting used to high notes after a long time. I think it will take several months for my brain to get used to them/ Am trialling Phonak Sphere, but not sure how good they are for me, but perhaps it is still early days.
Thank you Bimoda_user. This very interesting and I will try this out. Can you say a bit more about silicone impressions? The TMJ consultant has suggested that a course of Botox injections, which I have to say I am not too keen on, and has also said something about Eustachian Tube Dysfunction.
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