New to hearing aids, confused and over thinking

@Tony666 said:

5. Extra Features

While you might not think it’s important, Bluetooth connectivity is by far the most worthwhile extra feature. It allows you to listen to music, answer calls, listen to TV, and receive navigation instructions directly, greatly enhancing the convenience of daily life. Many people, once they start using these features, become addicted.

I can listen to music or podcasts? can others hear what I am listening to?

1. I have never noticed any delay, and I wear open bass domes with the Philips 9040 hearing aids. These are similar to the Oticon but not exactly the same.
2. I wear glasses with my hearing aids. The only person to ever comment was an individual who also was wearing hearing aids and wanted to know how I liked them.
3. If your out of pocket is more then what Costco charges, then Costco may be an option. However, the amount of time and the skill of the person adjusting your hearing aids can may all the difference. Note the Costco offers a money back refund for up to 180 days after purchase.
4. Not likely, but if you just have high frequency hearing loss, then take them out and put them in a carrying case. Do not put them in your pants pockets!!!
5. Read up on Auracast to see if you might benefit from it. I square dance and round dance, so having Auracast will be a game changer for me. I do stream podcasts while on my morning walks and phone calls are much better when listening through my hearing aids.

@user990 said:

I wear open bass domes

OpenBass work incredibly well for my hearing loss - I use them with my Widex & Phonaks.
Fully agree with the Costco recommendation. If OP gets the same problem he described, let the HIS know, that should be fixable with programming. I hope he doesn’t give up

@user990 said:

but if you just have high frequency hearing loss, then take them out

User990, not to hijack my own thread, but my audiologist indicated that fairly normal hearing on low frequencies then a sharp drop off on the high frequencies can happen with loud noise exposure. I see your audiogram shows that. Any theories on what caused your hearing loss?

listen to podcasts and music, yes. and taking calls is great.

Others might be able to hear a bit of what you are listening to, if the fit of your receiver domes is so open that some sound leaks back out of your ears.
Otherwise, it’s very private.

Well loud noise exposure would certainly explain some if not all of my high frequency loss. I’ve attended a couple of rock concerts without hearing protection, shot a shotgun without hearing protection, mowed lawns without hearing protection, used power tools without hearing protection, and of course there is just plain old age.

On top of that, I’ve had a couple bouts with Meniere, allergies, and childhood diseases that have affected my hearing over the years.

I also thought streaming phone call & music was something I didn’t need. But, since getting BT capable hearing aids I wouldn’t want to be without BT.

My daily Hearing Aids (Jabra Enhance Pro 30s) have excellent Bluetooth (LE Audio and Auracast) support

BT is nice to have for phone calls - but even then I generally just use the speaker on the phone if its just me, or if it is a call where my wife is also on the call. Talking to someone on the phone using BT can also look a little odd if people don’t realize you are wearing hearing aids (looks like you are talking to yourself). In the car I am just using Carplay anyway.

I never use them for music streaming - the quality just isn’t there. If I want music streaming I will use my Airpod Pro2 with hearing assistance enabled which sounds very good.

For video calls (phone or laptop) and TV using 5.1 audio system I just use the device / system speakers (and let the hearing aids do their job)

I also have Eargo 7’s which I use occasionally. They go inside the ear (virtually invisible) but with no BT. When I am wearing these I don’t miss BT at all. Sound wise they are very similar in most situations to Jabra’s (I have the Eargo’s programmed using the Costco Audiogram) and are nice to wear as a change and if I want something even less visible than the Jabra’s.

So for me choosing a new hearing aid BT support or not would not be a deal breaker if another feature / function was more important. However most modern RIC hearing aids have good BT, however not all support the latest standards (BLE Audio, Auracast etc). So if Bluetooth is important you should also check if you want / need BLE Audio or Auracast.

@coastal_california said:

… Talking to someone on the phone using BT can also look a little odd if people don’t realize you are wearing hearing aids (looks like you are talking to yourself).

I don’t think you need to worry about people thinking you’re talking to yourself. Have you noticed how many people are doing that these days, using earpods?
For myself, I find BT more than nice to have for phone calls - the convenience (and clarity) beats the phone speaker every time.

@OffendedOtter said:

I tried to compare by setting up a program based on VAC+ and one on NAL-NL2, and t me it felt like the VAC+ was better, fuller. The NAL-NL2 was slightly more tinny, but the overall difference seemed negligible

Have you tried to give you some time with NAL-NL2? like at least 2-8 weeks? The proprietary algorithms like VAC or APD (in Phonak) is mainly about providing comfortable, attractive sound, which not necessarily could give someone the best audibility and speech understanding.

No, to be honest. I am used to VAC+ and switched back and forth in situations where I was trying to understand speech better. There is also DSL 5. I know it’s paediatric, but some people seem to fare well with it. Hard to do a side-by-side comparison if switching takes 8 weeks. I understand the reason, but it would be preferable if I could at least start out with the most promising prescription.

I have never had a “delay” such as you describe. Been wearing hearing aids for nearly 40 years - 10 years for one side only ad now bi-lateral. I do wear BTE with custom ear molds and the receiver is not in the ear - it is the only type of HA that is recommended for my hearing loss. Trying HA in the office are not going to be at all like the real world and I would think that the problem with the delay would be extremely annoying. You need HA that are specifically for your hearing loss and your personal needs. Yes there are many many choices. It can be very confusing.

@2ball said:

The first thing I noticed is there is a delay in the HA speaker from when the person talks.

Probably it isn’t delay, it’s rather comb filtering, which occurs when you apparently has large vent in your earmold/domes.