Eargo 8 review from an experienced user

Thanks, yeah those graphs you posted show it but not clearly. I don’t think it has been revealed that the Sony’s do not compress at all. Frankly I’m shocked as these are based on the Signia Silks and even the very low end level 1 Silks have compression. I imagine the CRE-C20s don’t have compression either. IMO $1000 should get you at least primitive compression.

I was surprised by how good the Eargo 8 compression was. Subjectively, having tried the Eargo 6 years ago, it did not even approach prescription compression.

I was able to blow past that 4 khz dip with a power dome with a couple of pinholes poked in it for a hillbilly “custom mold” lol. I was using a vented Signia sleeve (my favorite), but there was too much acoustic leakage at that frequency. I may hop into my ENT audi for a custom mold for the right ear. Now I can fit the curve perfectly with the Lumity.

Darn physics anyway.

@DrJimmyJoeJimbob said:

OTC Hearing Aid Real Ear Measurement Compression curves vs Rx Phonak Lumity Hearing Aid (50,65,80 dB)

Why your worse (left) ear get less amplification in your article? Great test, though.

I recommend also to read on HearAdvisor about the test condition for each of hearing aid. For example Oicon Intent was tested with power domes, which gives it a bit of upper hand regarding noise reduction:

Oticon Intent Expert Review1

However Phonak Audeo Infinio Sphere 90 has closed vented domes, which is a bit poorer to isolate from the noise:

Phonak Sphere Infinio Expert Review1

@Bimodal_user said:

Why your worse (left) ear get less amplification in your article? Great test, though.

My right ear is my worse ear.

Indeed, you are correct, LOL, my forum profile audiogram is reversed. I’ll fix it.

You mean the CRE-E20s. But correct. The CRE-E10s seem to as well. Sony does seem the best otc at amplifying 8 and even 10 khz frequencies as well!

I actually only checked the CRE-C20 results: Sony CRE-C20 Expert Review2 Don’t suppose you have a set of Air Pods Pro 3 you can test? (Would be interested to know - hear advisor haven’t done them yet but they definitely have more gain at higher frequencies in my experience. Edit: Than the AirPods Pro 2 do. Still need to adjust the brightness control I think. Anyway background is I use them quite a lot between online meetings as an HA and found them surprisingly good whereas the 2’s are only ‘ok’) The reason I’m mentioning this at all as used as headphones they do audiogram correction with full frequency range, I’ve heard of them being used with Bluetooth stethoscopes for this reason. No personal experience here, I’m not a doctor.

Here you go with a power dome on the right ear. Almost a perfect 50 dB input 4 kHz match!

Thank you, awesome! This is why I love power domes, despite good low frequency hearing (see my audiogram). I have almost no occlusion effect, because I place it very deep, so that it lean at least partially in the bony part of the ear canal (⅓ medial - closer to eardrum).

As @Neville once said - almost in the brain .

Acoustic feedback depends mainly from gain magnitude, so for 50 dB input we need more gain = more feedback risk.

Do you have to use a smaller size power dome to get it in as deep? Can the dome be hard to get out? Do you need a longer RIC wire?

I tested power domes roughly in the standard placement and they were sometimes hard to get out.

@user490 said:

Have you tried this with something other than Sphere?

What is “this” - you mean my more occluded acoustic coupling? I do tested it with my Paradise, because I don’t have receiver for connecting it with power domes.

However I have earmold with 1 mm vent (which unfortunately has less earplug effect than power domes in my Sphere) and I see the slightly better working of directionality if I plug the vent with e. g. rolled tissue paper or thick enough plastic guitar string. Nevertheless, bear in mind that this is changing of acoustic properties therefore there must be additional regulations later, ideally REM (I know, it’s not always feasible).

Hi there. My hearing loss sounds very similar to yours, sudden moderate-severe sensorineural post covid. I have behind the ear but struggle with them, never get comfortable and would like something more discreet, considering trying eargo 8 for day to day, for loss as significant as we have to you feel like it cuts it for you? Used to work as PA now self employed so no longer have to deal with stethoscope that was tricky. Thanks in advance.

It is not adequate for primary moderate-severe. It’s fine for around the home and similar situations, but you should get prescription hearing aids for more challenging situations to achieve maximum speech understanding.

If you click on curves in with the soft speech (50 dB) included, it cannot reach moderately-severe amplification, while a closed fitting in a prescription aid can. (With a vented fitting or open fitting the prescription aid peaks about the same level as the Eargo 8.)

That said, it would be excellent for speech-in-noise performance in moderate hearing loss. It has superb, prescription-class noise reduction.

If discretion is a key concern, top-of-the-line Signia Silks are available online (eBay) at a lower cost than Eargo 8, and the Rexton equivalent is available at Costco. They’ll fit moderately severe, but you may use a custom tip, or do what I did: melt the center out of a black foam earplug with a hot needle and shove the Silk into it (lol, I’m nuts, I know).

I have ordered a pair of these and am eagerly awaiting their arrival.Your positive review gives me a lot of hope for these to meet a lot of my needs. Your loss seems about similar to mine in a key way. I’ll still be missing 6000-8000 on one side, but that is never coming back, no matter the device. So even though it’s not a total exact fit, I think this could work really well for me too.