Round 4: Ding!

2 replies501 viewsLast reply Aug 26, 2026

Toccoa GA 30577

Nov 25, 2025

So, here we are, at the next level. The Sphere 2.0 software is in the real world (after extensive testing, I presume, using military and US Veterans Administration guinea pigs), along with the update to Target V.11.1 allowing providers to, TADA!, upgrade your existing Sphere program (you don’t have to buy new hearing aids).

As well, after the first modification of my left Titanium mold still being very painful, my provider took a new impression; while we wait for the new replacement, he’ll attempt a second modification of the first left Titanium mold’s unsuccessful tweak, while…

I use leftover Beltone silicone molds, with his provided 3H receivers (the titanium molds have internal/contained receivers).. I had to go through three tries to get my left ear comfort with Beltone, going back some years ago. Almost a year ago, a new audiologist took new impressions, and they did the trick. The appearance of those silicone molds were markedly different from the first 3 iterations I’d had (and kept for spares, on which more, anon), but despite being substantially larger than the titanium Phonak molds, were entirely perfect for my use - if I had a receiver, vs a unified receiver/mold as is the case with the titaniums.

So, given my challenges with the titanium, while we awaited a redo, he gave me plain receivers to use with my Beltone molds. Which current model(s - L&R) already had some minor failures at the insert-point ring. Those had been noted by my Beltone lady I was sent to (as seen in earlier posts; it is/was a very long, frustrating journey), and she suggested that I get replacements under warranty but, since they didn’t fail entirely, yet, to wait until closer to the warranty expiration - which is in 2 weeks.

So, Beltone is redoing them; same molds, using the same SNs. But they demanded my old molds before they’d start. So, dammit, I’ll not have those - and don’t, now, so am using earlier, less comfortable versions - for my 3H (3 being the wire length, H being for high power; the previous ones, smaller, were 3M) while I wait for my soft molds’ re-do. I’ve told my Beltone folks that I’m now effectively deaf, as the tulip/domes don’t prevent feedback to assure all due speed. Truth is, of course, that I’m not really using the Beltones at all; I just want those well-fitting, larger-receiver accommodating, new molds ASAP…

But…

My Phonak rep has been tweaking with me since I started. And the good news is that I can nearly always hear my wife (the very deep speech challenge I used to have to overcome by having her wear a PalPro clip-on mike; the same was true of groups around a table, where it sat in the middle) even though the usual circumstance is me in my loft office and she in the kitchen or living room a level down. It’s dramatic, and has literally changed our lives. Unfortunately, the prior version of the Beltone silicone isn’t nearly as effective as was the most recent, being redone, but my in-house speech acuity no longer has overtones of either death or divorce as seen in one of my earlier long-winded posts

And, hallelujah, in the last several visits, during which we’ve been triangulating on my music solution, we appear very close to success. While not yet perfect, I can, indeed, hear other voices around me (choir), the piano, while still a bit "clang"y, doesn’t have the pitch changes previous, and I (mostly) can hear my own voice (can’t harmonize, or sing on pitch, if I don’t have accurate auditory clues).

So, presuming that we can solve the titanium mold comfort issue, we can do our remaining small tweaks to get our speech, Sphere 2.0 tweaks, and music as good as it will get. And, in however long it takes, I’ll have a backup/comparison point of known-effective silicone molds as a means of deciding which (soft or titanium) molds I prefer, in the end. If I actually get it tweaked adequately, I might again try quartetting (Barbershop harmony)…

I’ll do updates as they occur, but I’m over the moon, after YEARS of diligent efforts to solve my ability to both musically appreciate/perform AND have close-to-normal speech.

And, as to the Sphere 2.0, I like it a lot. My car road noise is a sussurant low-level hiss, while my wife’s speech is well understood; in a crowded restaurant/other-group-hard-room environment, the “Restaurant” setting on myPhonak knocks down nearly all the other noise, and in “Music” played and sung intonation is spot-on, and the percussive piano’s notes, while a bit clangy, are at the correct Hertz for me to match the pitch (any other music source doesn’t have that issue; it’s the percussive stuff which folks try to assure won’t hurt your ears, but in the process change the pitch which arrives at your eardrums).

Color me thrilled.

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Toccoa GA 30577

Dec 29, 2025Edited

So, here’s the first update after my replacement left ear Phonak Titanium mold arrived.

First impression was that it aggressively migrated out of my ear: I’d have an unnoticed diminishment of sound in my left ear until the “WHAT?” started again…

Whereupon I’d discover that the mold was altogether out of my ear. As well, it had been uncomfortable. I’d discovered, in the course of mucking around attempting successful seating, that perhaps my method of insertion was faulty, because as I started the habit of making sure it was seated fully, the discomfort seemed to disappear. The shape of the mold is an acute dent followed by a human-heart-shaped protrusion - the new mold has a larger dent than before - rather than a sweeping curve and relatively rectangular protrusion as I’d experienced with my Beltone molds; if you don’t have that dent properly positioned, it’s not only uncomfortable, it doesn’t hold the mold in place. So, I may have that issue (pain, migration-out) resolved (more below)…

In the meantime, I’d gone to Beltone to have my full silicone molds redone under warranty. I’d been using a Left previous, damaged, mold (it took 3 tries to get the fit correct; I had to pay for the 3rd set, as my previous sets wer out of warranty - so the new pair was under a new warranty), as a stopgap, the regular high power Phonak receiver overwhelming the domes, and providing feedback. That continued for about a month, but the new Beltone molds did arrive, and I picked them up the following day.

Of course, those Beltone Imagine 17s were a stopgap during my Phonak challenges, and worn merely to leave the impression (pardon the expression) that I’d been wearing the domes they gave me while I waited, when I went to get the new soft molds.

As expected, they’re comfy. And, I’m wearing them now. With a pair of Phonak high powered receivers inside them

And, they seem to have delivered far better sound than the Phonak Titanium molds.

So, I have newly made left and previous right Titanium Phonak molds. Those molds have the receiver integrated, as a single unit, Plus, now, I have the Phonak High Power receivers mounted in the Beltone soft molds, where they fit like they were made for each other. As with the Beltone receivers, they are entirely comfortable, and do not migrate. As well, my acuity seems better with those molds.

For example:

My music acuity seems to be returning (HALLELUJAH!). For the first time, in literally years, I’ve seemingly heard the proper pitch around me (piano, other voices) AND I can usually hear myself sing - and match those notes. An example was a small solo portion of yesterday’s hymn (8 different voices singing a phrase of a verse); I nailed it. (Baby steps! ) If you’re not a musician, let alone a vocal musician, this likely is Greek to you, but I promise you that it’s a sea change in my hearing experience.

So, I’m going to - after a week of wearing the Beltone molds exclusively - do some side-by-side (sequential) testing: Mid-day, successively, I’ll swap Phonak mold-and-receiver for Beltone-mold-with-receiver, and make notes about the differences and, if needed, a gripe list.

If my Titanium mold continues troublesome, and/or my Beltone mold/Phonak receiver proves more effective at delivering sound, I’ll see what the policy is about the titanium. At over $300, it’s of interest, you might say

But for now, color me thrilled. One way or another, we’ve rounded the corner, and it will work out. Super Sphere (or whatever the new version 2.0 is called) is in place, and, for the most part, the background noise is very well muted (car road, restaurant, e.g.) with speech continuing crisp.

If I ever figure out how to add a picture, I’ll update this to demonstrate forms of both molds, as they’re radically different - and I have no idea why the Phonak is shaped as it is, though I’m sure there must be some science behind it…