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Phonak Audéo Infinio (Ultra) I90 Sphere Hearing Aids

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Edited

I am trying out a pair of Jabra 700s for 2 weeks now and am hearing much clearer in 90% of environments, especially hearing a speaker in a auditorium with a listening audience. However, in a resturant the other night the waiter and my table guests left me wanting more clarity. Is that the setting where 70+ decibels triggering the sphere chip makes the difference? Are there other environments you all have seen improvements in that the phonak ultra sphere 190s make the upgrade really worth it? I am getting local booth test soon .I think my online audiogram showed moderate to in between moderate and severe, not sure.

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Well for SURE johnecho65 post your right HERE after you get the results, cuz that way MANY here can make a more informed opinion and offer suggestions.

You could benefit from either some tinkering or having your audi tweak settings to accommodate LOUDER venues. I’m not familiar with the Jabra features. I wear Phonak Lumity Life 312-battery aids, and they do pretty well in LOUD places (either by default, or sometimes I have to put them into a dedicated Speech in Loud Noise program), but my aids are like 2 generations behind the Infinio Ultra that many users here rave about - precisely for their ability to deliver clarity in situations across the board like NOISE.

For now, I’m putting “cosmetic” ahead of performance, lol! I LOVE the color choices and convenience of my little gem 312s. But at some point I’ll probably have to face the sour music and step up to Infinios (or whatever comes after them) due to my cinderblock ears.

Thanks Bluejay. You have a good sense of humor lol. Never heard of cinderblock ears till your description! My wife’s sentiment exactly

The local aidiologist after beaming me in will let me try out the ultra Spheres Phonaks.for comparison to my current Jabra 700 pair. I am amazed at the different pricing I am seeing for a pair. From 2500 to 3800 during black Friday sale.

In reply to @johnecho65

WOW! Snap those puppies up with Black Friday sale discount! Your trial will let you decide if they are keepers or not. I’m a super POWER user (evidenced by those “brick ‘n mortar” ears I have) so I’d spring for the high end Infinio Ultras. I just don’t want fabulous hearing aids at a fire sale price that come in boring colors.

I probably have my priorities backwards, y’think?

@WhiteHat said:

Think they can put a wrap on like they wrap cars?

That is the $million question here. I’ve SO often wondered that very thing. But. Would you entrust a TEENY TINY pair of $6000 aids to a technician in an auto body shop to wrap these with a tweezer, surgeon’s magnifying glass and itsy-bitsy squeege?

Yeah, chances are the dang aids would fall on the floor when no one’s looking and be STEPPED on with a Doc Marten’s size 11 Sheist-Kicker boot. End of story.

@johnecho65 said:

However, in a resturant the other night the waiter and my table guests left me wanting more clarity. Is that the setting where 70+ decibels triggering the sphere chip makes the difference? Are there other environments you all have seen improvements in that the phonak ultra sphere 190s make the upgrade really worth it?

A number of users here (notably @JordanK ) have had extremely good success with the Spheres in noisy, challenging, hellish environments. Some others have had less spectacular results. A lot depends on you - your particular hearing loss, as well as your lifestyle, preferences, and so on. And another huge set of variables pertains to your provider - a (relatively) cheap hearing aid that’s perfectly configured is likely to do better for you than a top-of-the-line hearing aid that’s configured badly.

Assuming that you do frequently subject yourself to the kinds of horrible, horrible situation where the Spheres stand out, and assuming you’ve got a good, conscientious provider who’s comfortable configuring Phonak aids, and assuming you can fit them into your budget, I would think that a trial of the Sphere 90s would be a very good idea. (I haven’t used any of the other brands, so I can’t say anything much about them - but some of the other flagship hearing aids might also be well worth a tryout.)

Good morning all. It is that time for me to get new aids with in the next 3 to 4 months or so. I am torn between te Widex allure ad the infinio sphere. Where my current Widex moment 440s do okin most settings I struggle in either very loud settings engaging in conversations or when dealing with clients where english is not their first language. In you’re oppinion do the sphere’s manage this? My hearing loss is defined as severe so directionality and speech clarity are key factors for me. Any thoughts you all have are appreciated.

I sure hope the Spheres work the way so many say they do in noisy environments, I will be getting my Spheres next Friday. I now wear the Oticon INTENT1 aids and love them but struggle in really noisy environments.

Honestly I don’t know my audiologist has maxed out my aids to give me the best possible noise reduction in noisy environments. If you look at my , then realize that my receivers are 105db then maybe that helps. I have absolutely no issues with feedback or wind noise. I do a lot of driving with the windows open. I ride a motorcycle with my aids on and at normal volume and have no issues with the sound. I can handle small numbers in meetings, 10 people without any issues as long as there isn’t an echo in tje room. I have no issues with a lecture as long as people don’t start talking over each other. But let my wife be watching TV and then start talking to me and I can’t understand a word she says. This is so common. I have to be honest I don’t watch the garbage on TV anymore, I prefer to read or listen to audiobooks. While I love our parakeets they are very noisy when the TV is on or anyone starts talking. I grew up in the country and love country life. So I love hear birds and animals. Yes I can still hear them. Our parakeets are so loud I can have my aids muted or no aids at all and hear them just great. But without my aids I can hear people talking and not understand a word.

Edited

Okay. Thanks. I had trouble in a really noisy environment, actually a post funeral gathering, a couple of months ago. There are some environments that are particularly difficult, as you are aware. My noise suppression on the Intents are set to 10dB. I notched it up to 12dB last week, but it had the effect of reducing everything in quiet environments by 2dB, which may have been logical, I don’t know. Anyway, I set it back to 10dB.

Good luck with the Phonaks. I know the noise suppression is fantastic. I personally am waiting for the next release of Oticon as I cannot afford the costs of getting + Infinio fitted in my area.

Edited

I am fortunate, I am a veteran and my hearing loss is service related. I have been wearing aids for 20 years. My first set of aids I purchased and was my worst of my aids. Since then my aids are provided by the Veterans Administration. But 7 years ago I met my current audiologist and he has changed my life. I went from being basically a hermit to wanting to be around other people. He is a professor of audiology at the State medical school and I have taken a few of his courses and been a case study. He kept me on Oticon aids because that is what I was use to. But he fits mostly Phonak aids and has been hinting at me switch every since Phonak came out with the Spheres. So next Friday I start a new venture with my hearing. I am scheduled this spring to be his case study again, and I will be taking his doctorate level course. I am sure it will be well over my head, but I was asked to take it. Like with all my aids from the the Spheres are I90, I wear nothing but custom ear molds. And I am getting the Roger ON 3 microphone system too. I am kind of looking forward to seeing what the Spheres bring to the table. I have seen my audiologist spend hours on the phone with Oticon and have had Oticon reps and audiologists, work on fitting my aids by coming to the clinic and remote sessions. My audiologist a sured me he can transfer my fitting from the INTENT1 aids to the Spheres then customize the Spheres for my needs.

In particular, I am looking for hearing aids that can assist me with directional sound. I have no vision and thus use hearing when i am out and about. The Moments do an OK job of directional sound but tend to get overwhelmed when say walking near a major street. Also, what does widex mean by natural sound? I saw a review on the hearing tracker channel when they were testing the Allure’s in a forest and a cafe and could not really tell much difference. Any thoughts?

My INTENT1 aids are great when I walk the forest trails at allowing me tell where sound is coming from. But in a busy street not so much so. My issues is with noisy environments such as noisy restaurants and an echoing classroom.

Another question is, does the fact tat the Phonak connect via normal bluetooth settings make them more stable? For the widex moment they drop connection sometimes multiple times a day and I have to repair them.

@Nikosman said:

Another question is, does the fact tat the Phonak connect via normal bluetooth settings make them more stable?

Short answer is yes. My Ultra’s almost never drop the connection. Very stable connection and connects to anything with Bluetooth. Biggest issue it’s that you are limited to two active connections at once so you need to turn off the Bluetooth in devices you are not using or those devices will grab the connection away from the device you want to listen to.
Jordan

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