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Audiogram and Phonak Infinio Sphere's

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In reply to @maggie07

@maggie07 said:

How were you able to tell from her audiogram that she had distorted hearing?

All reproduction contains ‘some’ distortion. What I specifically meant was that SoundRecover effectively pulls incoming high pitch sounds and drops them in an octave or two down (say from 6Khz down to 3Khz). Which is all well and good if you don’t have (or very poor resolution) hearing at 6KHz. However the OP’s is only getting down to 60 odd in these areas.

Properly amplified, these will do well with conventional amplified sound where each channel is preserved in its original location. Adding frequency compression here, potentially corrupts the output in the otherwise good 3KHz channel.

There’s a second problem that the aids may not be able to properly compensate for the given degree of venting so you’d likely hear a combination of outside sounds, amplified sounds in the 3Khz channel, plus the 6Khz sound from SoundRecover at a slightly delayed phase from the original signal.

This is why I think there’s a risk of distortion and if you’re not wearing occlusive moulds, it’s easy to see how the fitting parameters can slide away from the perfect. Which I think is the basis of why some people love the Sphere’s and some find them a bit ‘meh’.

Thanks kindly for the detailed explanation. I plan to do more studying on the matter since my hearing is badly distorted.

Your is almost identical to mine. The Sphere i90s are the first ’s I can honestly say I like. Size is an issue for some.

Firstly, sorry for not going through all the comments so I may be repeating what others have already said !!

I have a mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears. I currently have Widex Evoke 440 which are about 7 years old and fitted with open vents (which is key to my point that I am about to detail !).

I trialled the Phonak Infinio Sphere 90’s back in Oct 24. I think I got an early production pair that were riddled with Bluetooth issues (I’m sure this has now been fixed by Phonak !!). However, I found that with the open vent on a Tulip ear piece (as recommended by my audiologist) that the ambient noise coming through the Tulip over powered the amplified and processed speech of the Sphere to the point where it made no difference whatsoever. I then tried the Active Vent (which opens and closes according to the situation). In the closed position I found I had the “occlusion effect” - and heard my own voice in my head. I couldn’t stand it and so I rejected the Spheres. I believe that they are probably best suited to people with a greater hearing loss than mild to moderate.

I then tried the Starkey Edge 24. The story was similar; the Edge+ mode made little difference. I rejected them as well. Everyone is going on about Deep Neural Networks and AI technology and I think I got pushed along with this technology. In hindsight I do think that these may be overrated!!

I am now trying the Widex Allure 440’s. It is early days, but I have to say, for me, they are better than the Phonak or Starkey hearing aids. They don’t have a but do enable me to hear better in noisy environments (they seem to reduce the ambient noise by about 5dB which is then enough to hear the conversation). So, you still hear the noise, but it is just not as loud. I find this is working well. They also sound extremely natural (a strength of Widex). Hope this helps and good luck with your hunt for suitable hearing aids. KR Andy B.

I don’t know the technical name as such - they are the standard open Tulips that Widex supply. These are the ones that my Audiologist recommended. They are fairly “flat” and circular in shape (a bit like a disc) with multiple openings in them to let the natural sound through. I hope this helps. KR Andy B

That sounds less like tulips to me, and more like ordinary open domes. To me, tulip domes look like a table-lamp’s lampshade, and open domes look like flying saucers. I am currently using tulip domes because they stay in place for me better than open or vented. Everyone has to find what works for them, and sometimes it’s quite a trial!

To give a bit more information regarding hearing in noisy environments. I have a favourite motorway / highway bridge that I use as my test. The motorway passes under the bridge and is always busy. I have a Sound Monitor app on my phone and it gives an average level of 75dB’s whenever I go across the bridge. With my Widex Evokes I have to say to my wife that there is no point talking to me whilst walking over the bridge as I cannot hear her. However, with the Allures in their Universal program I can hear her and hold a conversation with relative ease, even if she is not looking at me and I at her. The Allures are far better than my Evokes and I am confident that with my hearing loss they out perform both the Phonak Infinio Spheres and the Starkey Edge . This is only my opinion, but if anyone is struggling with hearing in noise with a mild to moderate age related (loss if high frequencies) hearing loss then I would personally recommend giving the Widex Allures a go - you may be pleasantly surprised !!

Wow, that seems like the place to test !
Successful conversation without supplemental lip-reading over traffic noise is quite the Widex Allure endorsement.

In reply to @Andy_B

@Andy_B said:

In the closed position I found I had the “occlusion effect” - and heard my own voice in my head.

Have you ever tried ‘in between’ solution such as earmold with properly diameter sized vent? If I understand your post correctly, you always had ‘all or nothing’, i. e. always only open acoustic coupling (open domes, tulips, or open state of ActiveVent) or completely closed ActiveVent.

Maybe earmold with e. g. 1,5 mm diameter vent, placed deeply in the ear canal (achieving its bony part to additional occlusion effect decrease) would be more optimal?

I haven’t to be honest. Towards the end of the Phonak trial I was so disillusioned with them (had significant problems with Bluetooth and then the sphere mode didn’t work for me and when I got the occlusion effect that was the last straw !!) I just wanted to return them which I did. At that stage I thought the Starkey Edge may solve my problems - they didn’t either. But the Widex Allures - now that a different story :blush::+1:. Goes to show it’s worth trying different manufacturers and don’t let yourself get hung up on technology !!

Edited

In reply to @Andy_B

That sounds more like a daisy than a Tulip :slight_smile:
Daisy = Open, Tulip = closed.
My story is a bit similar and, like you, I chose Widex.
All this push for devices, e.g. Spheres) by audiologists, who then put open domes on them … is just nuts (but profitable $$). There clinician=salesman combination has definitely some issues.

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