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Streaming quality with open tips

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Edited

First , resound vivia 9s with open tips. I have had 2 visits to the audiologist, picking them up and 1 adjust. The first visit they were set to 70% of my needed levels and apparently beginner or first time user mode. Among other things streaming was garbage. Sounded terrible and in noisy environments I could barely hear it.

At the first visit, they were adjusted to add bass and mids ( what in hell is the point of making the new guys hear utter garbage out the box) and some other dbs . Now the volume is good, but the sound quality at most volumes it clipping. The closest thing I can compare to is a blown speaker. Now at lower volumes and certain things sound great, spacial and clear. As I sit here I have the resound tinnitus therepy app listening to ocean sounds at a low level and any bass clips.
So 2 things, what can be expected with open tips streaming? And second what would a different brand have to offer?

Best case is someone who uses open tips, has similar as me and has tried several current model brands. I have a pixel 8pro if that matters. Thanks in advance.

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Edited

The issue with open domes is that they leak low and mid freq sounds, so what you describe is expected .

I’ve used Oticon OpenBass with my Widex and Phonak, their performance is better than the plain flower style open domes . I’ve also tried Tulips with good results (not great) for streaming. Our are not too different (I have more loss at 6,8K).

I just don’t understand why fitters sell their most expensive high tech noise management aids (like the Vivia and Sphere) and fit them with open domes. How can these devices do their promised work in noisy environments and streaming with open domes? . I must be missing something here.

in short , streaming with open domes will not sound good . Try the next level: OpenBass ,Tulips or double-vent domes.Some people here will say molds: I’m one of those that likes to try simple solutions first)

I expected loss in sound with open domes. I listen mainly to audiobooks. I didn’t expect to not be able to hear with a receiver pointed at and right next to drum. Then after they adjusted, what sounds like blown speakers. I tried tulip domes and couldn’t handle the occlusion, at least not yet. Vented domes maybe would be better.

Leaked sound or poor volume maybe I can understand, but should it be clipping? I have 50 something days to get these right, but is that possible. Either because of brand or tips?

Edited

It took me a while until I found the Oticon OpenBass . Before that I tested about 10 different domes . I detest the occlusion effect. , so I do understand your situation. I was never able to get used to it

Edited

In reply to @OcramSagev

As someone who is researching for a likely purchase (and who has now read a lot of material) I was wondering this exact same thing. How can open domes be good for noise handling and at the same time will cut off low frequencies which the HA can’t reproduce and lead to more occlusion. I guess somewhere in the middle is a compromise with appropriate vents. Then for steaming you want closed. Hence active vents. I expect for my fairly tame HF loss open domes will be best for speech in moderate noise but yes streaming and probably calls will suck (I have AirPods for that).

Edited

I’ve got a fairly similar and I’m also a hearing-aid newbie - in my case it’s about six weeks with Phonak Sphere 90s and open domes. (I have not tried other brands.)

My streaming experience, in general, has been good - subject to the expected limitation that open domes are not appropriate for hearing lots of bass in music, for the same reason that badly fitting domes will kill the bass even from the best audiophile earphones. My strategy from the beginning was that if I really wanted to stream something with great musical fidelity, I’d take out my hearing aids and pop in my trusty Sony WF-1000XM4s; I haven’t actually done this so far, since most of my music listening is in my car, streaming over the car’s rather good speakers and letting the Spheres help with the treble. If I stream something that should be bassier and I put my fingers over my ear canals, I can hear that there really is decent bass being produced, even if it mostly escapes my ears.

As a performer, I’ve found that with the Spheres in, my low G is almost inaudible. But that’s because my low G really is pretty much inaudible!

Edited

In reply to @OcramSagev

@OcramSagev said:

I just don’t understand why fitters sell their most expensive high tech noise management aids (like the Vivia and Sphere) and fit them with open domes. How can these devices do their promised work in noisy environments and streaming with open domes? . I must be missing something here.

In my case, open domes are quite compatible with what I want my hearing aids to do. I’ve got annoying tinnitus (as opposed to other people’s non-annoying tinnitus :wink:), so I explicitly don’t want a lot of high-frequency noise blocking. I do benefit from some amplification of high frequencies for music and understanding my wife if she’s in another room - but open domes are fine for that. And I absolutely despise noisy environments (nothing to do with my hearing) and avoid them like a plague.

In fact, I would have chosen the non-Spheres if that had been an option - in the six weeks or so that I’ve had my Spheres, I haven’t once been anywhere where I needed the Spheric Speech in Cacophonic Hell mode. (I suppose at some point we’ll be invited to a wedding or some such… :-o)

EDIT: …And after reading (and responding to) your post, I looked up the Oticon OpenBass domes - and it turns out that that’s what my provider gave me! So presumably I’m getting more streaming bass than I would be with “normal” open domes, and mmmmaybe less ambient treble.

Some experimentation may be in the offing… :-o

In reply to @miyanc

@miyanc said:

Leaked sound or poor volume maybe I can understand, but should it be clipping?

Have you listened to other hearing aids? Or even a different pair of the same model? What you describe doesn’t sound like what high-end hearing aids, properly configured, should sound like. And like me, you should (I think) be a fairly easy job for your provider to get right.

In reply to @JohnSmith

Android user, so no airpods for me. Apple does need my advise but if they worked, I might buy them and an apple watch. When first researching aids, I first looked at getting airpods, maybe set them up on my wife’s iPhone or getting a older cheap one. Then looked into , but I’m the end ( and for the first time in my life and maybe anyone’s) my insurance wanted me to get real aids.

In reply to @DonRadlauer

I walk several times a day, my xm4’s ( which I also love) are not safe for walking. I have my open run pros that I used for walks, but they end up hurting. Not that my ears don’t hurt anyway.
I can and will adjust to whatever works. I want to either get the most out of the vivias or switch to something that, in the end, does as much of everything I need, without needing to switch. The more I notice issues, the more I am fiddling with my ears, the less I am paying attention or staying involved in the world.

Edited

In reply to @miyanc

If you like your streamed music. AirPods Pro 3 with a (suitably not severe) programmed in, a with the personalized Spatial Audio, just blow everything else away. I gave away all my other headphones as they are now largely useless to me. When I first tried this, and that was with the 2’s which in hindsight are no way as good as the 3’s, well let’s just say it was emotional. Not android friendly I understand though. Although I am an Apple user I wish others would do this. Personally based on how well it works with my audiogram I’d have bought an iPhone on the spot if I needed to, but I am a big music lover, which might have been partly responsible for my audiogram in the past….

In reply to @miyanc

Lots of valuable comments here! I have Oticon Real with OpenBass domes. I have tested 15 different domes before I ended up with these and they work very well for me except when streaming.

For streaming music I use a cheap device: 3M noise protection earplugs ( cheap orange pliable plugs that are sold in boxes of 50)! I cut a 10 mm thick piece off the end, and use it to seal off my outer ear. This works a lot like putting my fingers in my ears - the bass is back!. I keep a few of these cut-offs in my pocket.

In reply to @OcramSagev

@OcramSagev said:

How can these devices do their promised work in noisy environments and streaming with open domes?

Yes. In fact, my audi told me that she’d ONLY sell me the Sphere if I agreed to CUSTOM MOLD, which would replace the floppy-squishy double-dome “power” domes I’ve been wearing for 15+ years now. She would NOT fit me with those squishy domes given my snake-belly . I respect her opinion here. As a further note, I just got custom titanium molds made and WOWIE KAZOWIE, I LOVE them! They have a “grippy” roughed-up finish, so they really hang on to my ear canals.

No more pushing speakers into my ears 100s of times a day. These puppies stay put. I don’t think they’re overkill for those with MUCH better hearing either. I think the performance, comfort (fingers crossed!) and feel of these is superior to my old squishy domes seated atop the matchstick speakers. OWIE those were painful.

In reply to @OcramSagev

when i go looking for “oticon OpenBass” I get several options. they talk of certain mm(10,8 or so) and also say miniFit. some look to have double domes and single. As a beginner, I am not sure what fits with what, and also if ReSound recievers will fit with oticon tips, although I assume universal fits.

Edited

You are probably looking for Oticon Bass. Search for OpenBass. There is only one model of it (multiple sizes ). See link below.

will they fit the resound? They are cheap, you can try. Resound M is 8mm. Make sure the fit is tight so that the dome doesn’t stay in your ear.

Minifit is just a name that Oticon uses for their receivers.

https://a.co/d/5RROkX115

Edited

In reply to @Eivind

I can wear them all day and mostly don’t notice them (sure notice their absence though with everything becoming muffled again). They do slowly slip and around twice an hour need a little rotation to tighten them. Pure foam tips would likely fix that when available. The most important thing is tip size selection, it needs to get into the end of the ear canal and seal well at the same time. I also use them as . I’m currently exploring prescription options and will update on a comparison later. Other (more expensive) options didn’t do so well for their HA use for me.

In reply to @miyanc

I use the minifit OpenBass in both 10mm and 8mm sizes. The 10mm works better with phone and streamed sound, and the 8mm are more comfortable ie I do not feel them at all. The streamed sound is a little bit weaker with 8mm.

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