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Negative experience with Phonak infinio sphere i90

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Hi all,

I am 30 years old and was diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss in Febuary. I was issues a pair of phonak bolero m-70s by the NHS here in the UK initially. These were mostly really helpful but not that great in loud settings. I decided to try a private vendor and trial the Phonak infinio sphere i90s, which I have had for just over a week, but I am not impressed with them at all. Speech is difficult to understand even in calm environments sometimes with these, which I didn’t experience with my NHS issued pair. I have also found that I have to turn them up to around 8/9 (out of 10) for them to sound a similar volume to my old pair, whereas I usually just kept the boleros on 5 out of 10.

I have also noticed that my right one seems to sound a bit quieter than my left, although it is difficult to tell sometimes, I’m not sure if I’m imagining it.

My left ear has been fitted with an open dome and my right ear a closed one, but I am aware that the sphere mode can’t noise cancel as effectively with open domes (or so I have read), however I did expect that with these hearing aids being a few generations ahead of my previous ones, they would be better in other situations. I expected a bit more from them, especially because I’ve heard many people rave about them.

Has anyone experienced similar, or have any advice to share on things I should discuss with my audi?

Thanks :slight_smile:

13 people in this conversation10 min readJump to latest

OK, you’ve got a couple things going on that I’ll comment on JUST from my own experience. I’m no audi, but, yes, I’ve walked in your shoes.

Maybe the Sphere is overkill? Look at my snake belly . I do A-OK with a fabulous, zany-colored pair of Phonak Lumity Life 312s. They deliver on speech clarity and do pretty decent in noisy places.

I get that your RIGHT ear has less hearing than the LEFT one, so perhaps that’s why the closed vs open domes? Again, overkill? I have soft silicone power domes on my speakers and except for them never staying seated in my ear canal, they do FINE. Well, maybe I’m different than you being deaf as a cinderblock in BOTH ears.

Don’t give up. #1 priority is to find a competent audi or person to fine-tune your Spheres. It’s a journey! I actually had my audi copy/paste the settings from an OLD pair of Phonak Marvel aids into my new Lumity Life profiles. That got me 95% to a perfect world. Then I went in for several more sessions to tweak this or change that or add a program or feature. Consider these aids an investment in time and money with the goal being QUALITY of life. Be persistent, cuz YOU are the one living in these aids.

My audis are always astounded at how HORRIBLE I say the aids are when I get them right from the factory with the fitted settings. But hearing is nuanced. I’m either used to a different kind of world or these tools used don’t work for me.

Also! I have definitely noticed that my RIGHT aid is very quiet compared to the left one. If I pop in just the right aid, I can’t hear much at all! But if I put in just the LEFT one, I could probably get by with some issues. When BOTH aids are in … WOW! It’s a beautiful world. Phonak aids seem to deliver a rich, full, natural sound to me - whether that’s speech, my own voice or music. I was wondering if this is due to the “master” aid being perhaps my LEFT one? No idea, but I think with any pair of aids, one is designated the “master” even tho you can control volume and programs by pressing a switch on either aid. Perhaps someone else here can chime in?

Don’t give up, but you are in for a ride now with the new Spheres. Hey, what if you tried out the 312s (one generation older)? You never know. They are slim, small, light, COLORFUL (yeah, that’s important to me!) and very very good. GOOD LUCK - keep us posted.

@kieranlikesjiujitsu Welcome to the forum and I hope you will find here what you are looking for.

That seem strange that the Bolero could help you but not the state of the art Sphere Infinio, there seem to be sum ting wong in your setup.

I suggest you write down your observations and feed them back to your audiologist.
Those pair are one of the best on market at the moment, you will be hard pressed to find better, especially that you already used to Phonak’s sounds.

Have you done at your private audiologist?

Good luck

@kieranlikesjiujitsu said:

These were mostly really helpful but not that great in loud settings.

This is the holy grail for us hard of hearing. Welcome to the club.

I suspect you are dealing with improperly programmed aids. Your point about open acoustics is what I have read as well. Maybe your hearing loss doesn’t need the Sphere technology at this point. Or try closed doors in both ears. Get them properly programed with verification.
Good luck

Hi,
My isn’t dissimilar to yours, certainly around the high frequencies. Although I don’t possess Infinio, I do have Marvel, Paradise and Lumity aids. I self programme now after a similar journey as yours via NHS and private.

With your private journey, I’m frankly not surprised that you’re struggling with speech. From around 3k upwards you’re into the severe loss area, and huge chunks of the high frequency gain will be being eaten up by Phonak’s aggressive feedback management, mainly because you’ve been fitted with open and .

I went private, as the NHS suggested closed domes for me (2022, Marvel M70), even though I had moulds since 2009. I insisted on moulds, but they were still poorly programmed, as speech recognition was no better, with the addition that the new moulds gave me bad occlusion (hearing my own voice really loud). I gave in and bought a pair of Audeo Paradise P90. I already had an Audiogram from the new private Audiologist, so they were sent to me with closed domes. They were no better!! However, my Audiologist wanted to fit me with C.Shells, to help deal with the effects of sound leakage, and feedback. We comprimised, and he fitted me with vented custom Slimtips. It was the 90 minute session on fitting me with the slimtips that made all the difference. Speech recognition and clarity was restored. I get no occlusion with slimtips, and clarity is certainly more attainable. I’m certain the private audiologist would have made improvements with Marvels too.

Did you have the same dome combination with your NHS aids?

A point to bear in mind with your Spheres: They work best when they can isolate your ear canals from the outside world. Open/closed domes won’t be ideal.

I suggest you ask about a custom fitting. I now use a deep custom mould with a 3mm vent. I got occlusion at 2mm, so I drilled them out to 3mm (3 pairs). I allow overprogramming above the suggested feedback level, and get the high frequency gain I need.

Sadly, I’ve never had done, as I can’t find anyone in my area of the UK that does it. There are, however, tools in the Target software that can help match your aids to the sound entering your canals.

Sadly, I fear your Infinios have been poorly programmed, like my NHS ones. If I fit a pair of Marvels with thin tubes and closed domes, I “can” get a decent fit, but everyone can hear themselves from my head, and narrow corridors cause whistling. If you cup your ear, they should whistle, as long as that whistle stops when you remove your hand. It’s all a huge battle between: Occlusion, Clarity and feedback.

Good luck, those Infinios should be really good for you.

Hi. It does sound like you have aids that need reprogramming or the wrong domes fitted. I’m not sure where you wwent private or if you have the option to return them and try somewhere else, but I recommend harley street hearing in London. They are a little pricy but will give you huge amounts of time in getting the sound right for you and you get a 30 day trial period. They are honestly all lovely people and I have dealt with them for years. I have no eyesight and they have taken particular care of me. People on these forums will tell you I’m one of the fussiest hearing aid users out there so it has taken a lot to win my trust :slight_smile: failing that, I would go back to your audiologist and get them to try and fix the issues you are experiencing. Assuming you are in a trial period, remember, you do not have to keep these and you do not have to stay with your audiologist.
I will say having tried many many hearing aids, the Spheres are fantastic and should in theory be better than whatever you had from the NHS, so I suspect it is just a case of tweaking them. That being said, every one of us is different, you may just prefer what you had before Either way, lots to explore for you I think :slight_smile:

@kieranlikesjiujitsu said:

My left ear has been fitted with an open dome and my right ear a closed one, but I am aware that the sphere mode can’t noise cancel as effectively with open domes (or so I have read), however I did expect that with these hearing aids being a few generations ahead of my previous ones, they would be better in other situations. I expected a bit more from them, especially because I’ve heard many people rave about them.

This is the crux of it: if you were used to wearing a more occluded fitting, they should have repeated the same. There’s several stories on these pages about poor Sphere fittings with milder losses and more . The Spheric system doesn’t appear to work well with sloping losses too.

Edited

A long answer, but there is no simple answer to your post.

Or if you prefer the short version, Fit beats features

I use the same, 6m now, similar as yours, been through all the generations of Phonak aids except lumity.
What you describe is not fundamental to the Infinio, but a fitting issue. Barring the “sphere” component, these are an incremental advance on the Lumity (as is always the case generation to generation).
The sphere function is only for speech in loud noise and has no function in regular use.
You are now fitted with an aid (Audeo) where as your previous aides were thin tube (Bolero).
RIC’s whilst usually a better option than thin tube for many, but not every one.
The infinio range is not available as a thin tube variant.
You haven’t given the technology number for the Infinio, I70 or I90, nor what domes you are using.
My bottom line for you:

  1. Back to the audiologist, walk away if you do not get the result you want. You may also just prefer the “sound” of the Bolero to Audeo so try it.
  2. Consider carefully if you need the Sphere function. There are numerous threads here on that function, and a very wide spectrum of satisfaction/benefit. Occupation, Social life etc.
  3. Seriously consider returning to NHS audio with your issue.
  4. Expectation: You should derive a benefit from a newer generation aid, but don’t expect a revelation compared to the M70’s.

I am wearing a somewhat different Phonak model than you (Phonak Audéo P), but I confirm that the initial, out-of-the-box fitting with and Target by my audiologist was just godawful. Only when I got the hard- and software myself and tinker my graphs to my liking on a PC did I end up with the best I ever had.

I have severe hearing loss. I have the Phonak Audeo Infinio 90 Sphere for about 18 months and I am not pleased at all with them. Sometimes I can barely understand what people are saying even when they are very close to me, so clarity for me is not good. I have had several remote regramming and still not good. I am going to try the Oticon Intent miniRITE.

I too have a very negative experience with Phonak I90s. Have had them for a year and never got them right where sounds actually sounded correct. Speech is distorted and can not understand anything unless the person is directly in front of me. I have been through 4 audiologist and 1 Phonak factory rep to no avail. Have done numerous times to make it worse. Been trying to get molds to fit for 6 months with no success yet from Phonak. Wanted titanium ear molds but they said would not work for me. Then wanted slim tips and said the same. Sent me shells which have rubbed my left ear raw after 3 fittings. Even with the ear molds speech and sound quality is very poor.

I have gone back to my base model Resounds Key 362 which sound a whole lot better. I am out a ton of money with the Phonaks and a bunch of frustration as well.

I90 Sphere is a high end aid so it is likely a fit issue. It also could be not much better for you combined with a fit issue.

Was done for both fittings? Are they using the same fitting formula?

My audiologist has had many patients return Sphere because it was not much better than the older Phonak aids they had.

As you have other aids, if this pair is not great just return and start again especially now that the newer Eon Sphere is out.

In reply to @mlkary

@mlkary said:

I have gone back to my base model Resounds Key 362 which sound a whole lot better.

  1. Why them didn't check that with and translate it?
  2. Attaching your in your profile settings would help to provide more accurate advices.
  3. What in quiet do you have in each ear separately and binaurally?
  4. What's diameter of vents in your cShells?
@mlkary said:

Speech is distorted

  1. What receiver power do you have in older Resounds Key and in Spheres? I got M receiver, because that was suggested by fitting software and that was bullshit - Sphere was worse than old Paradise. Changing to P receiver was life-changing.

You can check that reading printing on cShells along numer about wire length.

@mlkary said:

can not understand anything unless the person is directly in front of me.

  1. What was wire length? 3? 2?
  2. I had and will have titanium cShells, but that is not "cure for anything" without solving another issues.

In reply to @mlkary

@mlkary said:

Wanted titanium ear molds but they said would not work for me. Then wanted slim tips and said the same. Sent me shells which have rubbed my left ear raw after 3 fittings.

Slimtips give poorer fittings in general than cShell. In cShells receiver outlet is directed more optimally. Why do you think they should have been better? How did you justify it?

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