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Just picked up Phonak Audeo Spheric I90

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You can make a custom program yourself if you find a place where the noise is loud enough to activate spheric mode. There are instructions in many places on how to do that.

WH

Is there any way to see within the App that the hearing aids are in “Spheric Speech in Loud Noise” when they are in this setting through the automatic program?

Attended a Glow in the Dark Pickleball event in an indoor club where the noise level must have been over 110 db, at a minimum. They had a live DJ, with speakers standing over 6 feet tall playing the most obnoxious music with loud bass and drum beats that could destroy anyone’s normal hearing! Additionally, there was the incredibly loud noise made by the bouncing of Pickleballs against paddles from the 40 players on ten courts, all reverberating against sheetrock walls, concrete floors and open metal ceilings! Surprisingly, out of the 100 plus people attending, I was probably the only person who could hear conversations without asking everyone “what” over and over. I could hear the scores being called out from opponents standing more than 60 feet on the opposite side of the Pickleball court and never asked any of my partners to repeat what they had said, while they kept asking me to repeat myself constantly. What an ironic change of events, where the almost deaf person is able to block out much of the extraneous background noise with his newly purchased Phonak Sphere I90 hearing aids, while all the normal hearing people can’t decipher speech at all! What a life altering purchase these hearing aids have turned out to be. They definitely proved their worth to me on an evening that couldn’t have tested them any better than what I just experienced.

Edited

In reply to @d.marks48

@d.marks48 said:

Is there any way to see within the App that the hearing aids are in “Spheric Speech in Loud Noise” when they are in this setting through the automatic program?

To check what automatic program is active tap on the Automatic

IMG_20250629_091628

Tap on Adjust

IMG_20250629_091912

Inside the red elypse circle you see the current activ automatic program. in this picture the automatic has chosen the calm situation program ( Ruhige Umgebung )

IMG_20250629_091746

I’ve been testing Sphere’s for about 2 weeks now as I have to replace my Paradise ones. I haven’t seen a Speech in Car program. Is that a special program that was made up by your tech/audi? Everyone’s hearing, needs, likes and dislikes are different, but so far I cannot see paying the cost of the Sphere’s as justifiable. But I’m hesitant to try another manufacturer and had a really bad experience with Oticon’s.

Do you have Sphere 90? I have no problem with achieving Speech in Car in AutoSense program. Your Audiologist can make another, manual Speech in Car program if yoy want to.

I recommend to have manual Spheric Speech in Noise program.

@anon22361496 said:

but so far I cannot see paying the cost of the Sphere’s as justifiable.

What acoustic coupling do you have? If domes, especially open - you have the answer to your “not impressed” feeling.

Did you have Real-Ear Measurement ()?

Yes, they are the 90’s. I do have a Speech in Noise program but the noise was worse than Automatic. I hear tire noise / the fan / wind and just bits of speech and radio.
I’m using closed, not open or power domes.
And yes a was done.
I have a long list of complaints that will be brought to his attention tomorrow, but I feel I have to try something else.

@anon22361496 said:

Speech in Noise

Speech in Noise is completely different program than Spheric Speech in Noise program.

The former uses the traditional ways to manage speech in noise: traditional digital noise cancelling and directionality. The Spheric involves denoising and possibly directionality depending on Target and myPhonak app settings.

In Spheric there can be 2-5 improvement compared to traditional Speech in Noise, which is huge difference.

@anon22361496 said:

I’m using closed, not open or power domes.

I think it’s worth to try more occluded coupling - first power domes and finally - SlimTips/cShells/earmolds deeply placed in ear canal with proper vent diameter.

There is thread about MUCH improvement after getting customsl couplings, in this case - SlimTips:

Custom SlimTip Ear Molds - first impression
After nearly 15 years wearing hearing aids, and only ever having had the rubber domes, starting with open domes and finally power domes, I recently had a set of Phonak SlimTips fitted to my Lumity L90-RLs. As many posters on this forum have stated it transforms the quality of sound one hears. Everything is just that much clearer, sharper and more crisp. Streamed music is definitely way better with full rich sound. I wish I had gotten them years ago. Only one year ago an Audiologist I went to …

In reply to @anon22361496

@anon22361496 said:

I haven’t seen a Speech in Car program.

If you are in automatic, the app will show that, but reveal what program has been selected if you go to the “adjust” screen by clicking the spot at the bottom, as demonstrated before in the question about spheric speech in noise.

WH

In reply to @JordanK

Add me to the list of people who did not notice any improvement with the Spheres. I trialed them for almost 3 months, and could never hear clearly in a noisy environment. Now, I know you are going to say that the audi did not know how to set them up, which is possible, since she normally sells Oticon, but since she is the only audiologist around that accepts my insurance, it is a multiple choice of one. So, I returned the Spheres and I am wearing Intents now.

I’m so glad you’re having such a positive experience. My Phonak spheres have helped me a lot. But there’s one situation where they really leave me feeling as isolated as I ever did before I got them. That is a group of people round a table with lots of people talking at once- not in a restaurant just a house setting. In that situation I can’t hear with the spheric speech in loud noise or any other program. People talk about the audiologist failing to do a good job. Might that be the case? And if that is is how do I find another audiologist? Do other audiologists see you if you didn’t buy your hearing aids from them? Thanks

@HS1 Great question. I’ve had a very positive experience with my Spheres (since mid May) but I also had this same experience at a dinner party/house setting. Interested to see what people suggest. I’m not really sure how we’re supposed to distinguish the good audi’s from the not so good. After connecting with an audi and getting , how does one shop around?

The Sphere’s are really good a letting you hear clearly in very noisy environments. I will say that it’s still a challenge (even with the Sphere’s) when you have many people all talking at the same time at the same table. What you can do it go into the Sphere program and narrow the microphone focus so that the hearing aids focus on who you are looking at. I don’t really do this but some have said this helps. Bear in the mind that this listening scenario is one of the most challenging for hearing aid users…and for people with good hearing too.

With respect to your second question…it can be a challenge to figure out if a particular audiologist knows what they are doing. Couple of red flags to look out for include:

  • Doesn’t do testing and fine tuning.
  • Only offers a very short trial period.
  • Always in a rush and doesn’t take the time to listen to your concerns or to find out about your hearing challenges.
  • You want to try the Sphere’s and the audiologist keeps trying to push you to try something else. Basically means they don’t typically sell Phonak and aren’t too familiar with the Sphere’s.
  • Rarely fits the type of hearing aid you want to try.

Maybe everyone can add a few others to my list.

Jordan

@JordanK said:

Doesn’t do REM testing and fine tuning.

I don’t consider this a red flag. In the US approximately two thirds of audiologists do not use . Some of the best audiologists do not use REM (which is only one tool) and a couple of the worst I have used do use REM. Your milage may vary.

My dispensing Audi used for 7 hearing tests.
I couldn’t hear.
Last was a first fit with Target. No REM.

I went to someone else.

I just picked up my new Infinio Sphere I90s from the a couple of weeks ago. Just yesterday I had the audiologist add the manual program Spheric Speech in Loud noise. I’m hoping they will still automatically switch to the Spheric program when AutoSense 6.0 determaines the need…

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