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Do I need custom molds by your estimation?

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Edited

(I am not asking for medical advice, simply what people’s estimation of what might work best).

I am in my first few weeks of my first , in spite of needing them for at least 12 years!!

I posted a topic below about having trouble streaming phone calls into my new Jaba 30’s. The sound is terrible!! It’s not understandable, and it’s much worse than using speakerphone on my iPhone.

I also would like to stream the tv and music into my aids. I don’t know enough about what would work best for me. I currently have tulip domes.

In that thread that I posted, one of the posters just said that with my level of hearing loss, which is pretty bad, I could use custom molds, or at least a .
Does Costco do custom molds? If so, do I need a Senior HA specialist?

And most of all, do others who understand about this think that it looks like I need either a custom mold or a closed mold? I don’t yet understand how to assess this.

I have all Macs, including my computer and a new iPhone and Apple Watch (which I need for safety).

Thank you!

23 people in this conversation21 min readJump to latest

You can try custom molds. It really not have down side for custom molds and it will perform better than dome type.

But I want to check first. Since you mentioned you are first few weeks of first hearing aids. You may not get it insert into your ears correctly.

You use Dome type. I suspect it may not insert it deep enough inside your ears canal. Most new user may not know how to insert it correct. Some people will insert it leisurely so it sit comfortable outward but this will not get sound fully in. Or afraid of loud sound when it insert deep enough in the canal and you have to back it off which is incorrectly.

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Custom Molds will solve this problem because you will not have to adjust the position of receiver. It will always 100% stay in place where receiver should be.

You can try Custom Molds. But first, check your Dome insertion first. Did you insert it deep enough?

If you feel loose when insert deep. It too small size. If you feel like it clogged up and a bit pain inside. It is too large. You must ask for a new size of Dome. However, Custom Molds, you don’t have to do this. This is good side.

@Blue_Pearl1 said:

I also would like to stream the tv and music into my aids.

TV direct streaming to hearing aids is only possible with Bluetooth Classic. I think only Phonak have this.

Most Hearing Aids use LE Bluetooth. You will need adaptor to connect and stream direct into your Hearing Aids.

Most new Modern Smartphone both Androids and Apple can direct stream into your Hearing Aids since they support BLE LE Bluetooth.

But TV is not. Unless that TV mentioned BLE LE supported.

I find ear molds to be quite helpful and fortunately they are not very expensive at Costco. Costco should also be able to provide a TV streamer which plugs into your TV and sends the sound remotely to your hearing aids.

I’ve been wearing for 10 years and until a few weeks ago have used domes. I used open domes for most of the time because I couldn’t stand the occlusion of the .

I got some new Phonak Sphere’s a couple of weeks ago and have custom Slim Tip moulds and they are excellent. I’ve read lots of articles about custom moulds and they generally say that they are not for everyone - it seems to depend on the amount of hearing loss.

For your TV Jabra make a TV Streamer that works with the Enhance Pro 30. Also I think the Jabra supports so you can use streamers from Avantree and others.

Cheers

I’d say “borderline” with your loss. You may be ok with , especially if SoundRecover2 (or equivalent) is in use.

Edited

I just got fitted this morning w/ Jabra 30’s. My hearing is worse than yours. I have a power dome in one ear (worse) and a in the other (better of 2). When listening to people talk, everything sounds great. I did a test call (iPhone 15PM) to my daughter and it sounded extremely “tin-y”. She made some adjustments and tried again and the next test call to daughter was much better. Still had a little tin sound to it, but very much better. So, you might just need some adjustment/tweaking.

EDIT - I had vented acrylic molds with my previous (Oticon OPN1). recommended I try this set up before going to molds.

I would say yes to the custom molds, but don’t be in a hurry since you are still adjusting to the newness of the aids. I much prefer custom molds due to comfort (whether real or percieved). My hearing level requires them for the more powerful receivers I need for the Jabrs 30s anyway.

The Resound TV Streamer II and the newer TV Streamer+ both work great for me. (I have and use both.) The TV Streamer+ won’t adjust the volume adjustments low as I would prefer so for some chanells I have to adjust the volume with either my phone or the app. Other times I need more volume (Netflix), so yet another thing to get accustomed to.

See if your television will allow Optical Out and sound to your TV speakers (or soundbar) at the same time. If so, optimal setup is easy. Resound/Jabra TV streamers connect using either an Optical cable or RCA Jack(s).

BTW, you can find used TV Streamer II’s on Ebay.

Reproducible placement is such an advantage of molds! I’m leaning toward getting custom molds for that reason, plus the skeleton locks to keep the receivers from migrating out of my ear canals.

Edited

In reply to @mami2529

I wear Oticon aids and I have streamed the TV audio to my aids for at least the last 12 to 15 years. It does require a TV adapter but it works seamlessly and my wife can adjust the volume to suit her needs and I adjust the volume to my aids completely separately.

Depends on your ear with that loss. You could need custom tips. You could be okay in power domes or . Depends on the .

If someone put you in open domes I would . . . be worried. Unless your ear canals are very small. Like, pediatric small.

Not necessarily. Depends on the ear, depends on the . But if there’s no REM and we are going by guessing, then they are probably too open if sound is too tinny, lacking richness, and soft-spoken people are still really difficult.

In reply to @Neville

@Neville29

He said that he did , I don’t know exactly how to determine that. I doubt that he would say that if he hadn’t done it.

I also don’t know the size of my ear canal, but it’s unlikely that it is pediatric size. I’m 5’6", used to be almost 5’7."

Also, the sound *is * too tinny, and I think that soft spoken people are still hard to hear, although I still mainly have the volume low, because background noises are excruciatingly loud to me, unless I have the sound filter on.

Thank you so much for your experienced help!

Edited

In reply to @mami2529

I do have the aids pushed fairly deeply in my ears. Although, with the right ear, that leaves it stuffed so I then don’t hear ambient sounds unless I pull it slightly more out, but it is still fairly well in my ear.

In reply to @mami2529

I am not aware of BTLE vs another type of streaming into the aids. I know that I’d have to get a TV streamer.

And we’d have to get a new tv, because it is too old to have the technology to stream. We got it in January 2008!

In reply to @raylock1

@raylock1

Thank you, raylock1. Yes, molds may be the way to go. I may try some more with domes first, unless my hearing loss is too great for them to work.

Yes, a tv streamer is in my future, along with a new tv, since ours is too old to allow for that.

In reply to @rallygreg

@rallygreg

Thank you, rallygreg.

There is more adjusting to be done with the programs and domes or molds. I wouldn’t mind trying some more with domes, if that might be fruitful.

And, yes, a tv streamer would be good, in addition to a new tv, so I’d even have the possibility of streaming!

In reply to @TXPE

Thank you, TXPE, I will probably be trying other domes first before going to molds, unless others think that my loss is too great for any domes.

Yes, I think that some program tweaking is in order to see if streaming calls to my aids are more understandable (currently, they aren’t do-able at all), and less tinny.

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