Super power hearing aids options since Widex no longer has 675 SP

I have used analog HA’s from Unitron like the Unitron UM60 and Unitron Icon AoHP until till 2005 where then started with two different Widex P38 SP with 675 till late 2018 where I switched to Widex Menu 3 SP with 675. So as a result I am rather used to hearing pretty much everything with only mild background noise suppression with the P38, Menu 3..

Anyways.. my point of thread is to ask what power 675 HA’s that will use a full shell earmold would be a good option to consider trying when I am used to the way Widex sounds as I am annoyed at them for discontinuing SP 675 HA’s. .

Signia Intuis SP4

Resound Enzo Q BTE 98 SP

Unitron Stride B-UP and Unitron Stride V-UP

Oticon Xceed Ultra Power (as their SP is size 13)

Phonak Naida L-UP and Phonak Naida Link M

Also if any of these SP 675 HA’s can be customized so I can hear everything with the background suppression more limited in one mode much like the Widex Menu 3 and have another mode be more for speech in noisier environments would be great.

Hmm the Unitron Stride B-UP has some potential; due to the classic and conventional presets I guess more for people used to to analog HA’s and digital ones like the Widex P38 and Menu 3. Stride Blu UP BTE Hearing Aids | Unitron

However I forget the model but I tried a 675 Uniton SP in fall of 2018 and it was not great. For example it tried to suppress background noise on the fly with some delay like say when driving and road surfaces changed in musical notes so it cut out my voice either part or completely at times from what I remember. I went with the Widex Menu 3 instead which I was very happy with so hopefully the newer Unitron 675 options are much better.

Thanks.

Why I need a new HA well..

My Widex Menu 3 had the earhook popped out of case and as a result the mic got out of place and this HA is too old for warranty repair. This same thing happened with one of my Widex P38 (thankfully still on warranty) as they are pretty much the same case.

So I have been trying the Widex Moment BTE 13 D for almost two weeks now. It does not meet my needs in volume and gain. A Widex rep said in a call to my audi and I said their only close to SP option is the Widex Moment RIC 312 D (why 312 battery for their most powerful option???) with a custom mold for RIC since domes will not do it. If only they kept going with a 675 SP option even on Moment series.

The problem I have with the Moment BTE 13 D is that it makes everything so Quiet as I cannot hear familiar sounds I am expecting to hear (as they are often faint at best due to suppression?) that I could easily hear with my Menu 3 and still working old P38. The first day I had the Moment BTE 13 D I did not realize my bathroom fan was still on 2 1/2 hours later as it was faint compared to the Menu 3 and P38 allowing me to hear it clearly.

The Widex Moment BTE 13 D only lasted 4 1/2 days with 13 battery at most when I used the Widex Tv Play a fair bit. Currently only using telecoil and headphones and it has so far lasted a little over six days even with turning up volume two beeps most times.

It perhaps does not help that the canal part of new earmold (old one was 7 years old and breaking anyways) is some 5mm shorter in canal compared to the old earmolds for my SP HA’s so it lost some gain perhaps. It also has a small vent which my P38 does not like as it gives constant feedback. Had to get a new Audiologist as my old one passed away still working part-time for something to do at 69 and he always made my earmolds with a longer canal and no vent. The shorter canal does have the upside of not being plugged with earwax so far yet when I had to clean my old molds 1-2 times a week..

I also like 675 as my Widex Menu 3 lasted say 11-13 days and P38 lasts as much as 17-19 days even while using a widex audio shoe with a FM receiver quite a bit for TV and PC use.

Yeah my new audiologist said the Signa Intuis I asked about would sound more smooth compared to the bit more harsh Widex. I would like to stay with Widex which is why I am annoyed they did not either keep the Menu or make a 675 model on Moment line. The Widex guy my Audi and I talked to on speaker phone last Wednesday said the only thing close to SP they had at the time was the .Moment RIC 312 D and I do not recall him mentioning the Widex Allure BTE as he knew I wanted a SP option.

I’m aware the Moment line is older in coming out in 2020 and may perhaps be discontinued within next what couple years?.

Ok according to a news article on this hearingtracker site it says Widex Allure BTE, A slim, powerful option for mid to profound hearing loss, offering telecoil, rocker switch controls and extended battery life.

If only the Allure BTE was 675 then I would wait for it as the next HA to try.

Not a big fan of going rechargeable as it can potentially be a major thing to fail in some way and would not be something that can be repaired/replaced after five years in warranty repair here as I like the idea of it being a backup even if I get a new HA down the road.

Between trying the Widec Moment RIC 312 D and the Widex Allure BTE I think I would rather try the Allure as I can use a full shell earmold and not have to worry about earwax clogging the RIC and replacing the RIC at times and it using a small capacity battery.

Edit: Not sure if it meets my needs however I forgot there is the Widex Fushion Power that uses 13 battery. and is for severe to profound loss. Though the Evoke line is also older like the Moment line.

All of the 675 HA’s I mentioned should be powerful enough in gain and volume to meet my needs as any HA that says it is for up to profound pretty much does.

The Allure line may be recent but the latest is not necessarily the best option. It is available here though for BTE there is really only two options as in the Allure RIC RD and now the BTE R D. However both are unfortunately only as rechargeable and not size 675 or 13 battery. .

So my Audi ordered a Widex RIC 312 D even though I told her in email I was not really wanting to use a RIC. Found out on Friday (as I dropped off the Widex Moment 220 13 D and Tv Play 1) that she ordered a hard full shell for the RIC even though she knows I have only used soft silicone full shells since as long as they were available for me, So annoying that Widex went with 312 and not 13 for a barely any more wider case for this HA as that was one of the reasons I was hesitant to try this RIC model..

Never really liked hard things in my right ear,though if I were to try a hard earmold option I would even consider a full shell titanium earmold whether with a HP RIC or a thick wall #13 tube.

The Widex Moment 220 BTE 13 D was TOO quiet overall when using the mic though I could hear much more clearly with Widex Tv Play and with telecoil and headphones.even though I had to turn up the audio volume compared to my Widex P38’s. ‘I got about 4 1/2 days when using Tv Play a fair bit and 7 1/2 days when only using telecoil and headphones even if I turned up volume one or two times on second battery use. Seen some sources that says the Moment 13 D was for moderately severe. and if so that may be why it was lacking.

It second visit for fitting she said she tried to turn down the compression as much as she could to see if that helped but that I think it made it a bit worse like say with the conversation with my sister that same day compared to when I vised her before this change. Also as I was driving home this Moment HA seemed to tune out the siren of the ambulance even as it passed me so that was not good.

My audi said I probably would not like the Phonak options as they tend to focus on being quiet, which perhaps includes the mentioned Unitrons also. She also said the Allure from her experience (i;m guessing the Allure RIC R D) tends to also focus on being quiet also. The Oticon Xceed UP may meet my gain and volume needs however I have seen reviews like one saying he went from a Oticon Chili SP7 where he could hear everything to the Oticon Exceed UP and.then could not hear everything like before even after trying out adjustments.

I get that most HA’s now days tends to focus more on reducing strain on your hearing and mental strain and on speech clarity. However I think they should still allow people to be able to hear everything when they want to vs only hear what the HA thinks you need to hear.

I would like to have a HA that is plenty powerful enough for my needs (ideally with battery over rechargeable) but can be customized whether with an existing mode or a custom mode so the background noise suppression and speech control is minimized and allow me to hear everything.in that mode like my Widex Menu 3 and P38’s did. I will still want mode(s) that can be for speech clarity in noisy environments like restaurants, noisy stores or such also. Never did get a chance to try and work with the Music mode to see if that helped as I only had it as Universal, Telecoil and Party modes with the Moment 220 BTE 13 D..

edit: Also had to return the full shell silicon earmold as she made the canal about 5mm shorter compared to the usual soft silicone earmolds I got from my old audiologist (who passed) and it also had a small vent that Ultra Power HA’s like my old P38 did not like due to bad feedback. Going to get a new earmold impression next visit so I can have a new one with a longer canal and no vent for my old P38 and to be less wait if I were to try a ultra power HA since the earmolds take longer to arrive compared to the HA.

I wonder if the shorter canal part and vent had much impact on gain lost with the Widex Moment 220 BTE 13 D.

I did not like the Widex Moment RIC 312 D even though it was more powerful in gain compared to the Widex Moment BTE 13 D. While I did like the Widex sound I just did not like the bulky hard acrylic full shell earmold it it took to house the HP receiver. It has the even smaller 312 battery when 13 is some 52% more capacity. Also the wax filter trap is so exposed on end of canal when I can have earwax issues.

Been trying out Signia 4.3 and 4.5 though most of the time they were with a old soft silicone earmold when I wish I had held off till I finally got the earmold I needed, just did not think it would take so long. Not sure if the 4.7 is really worth the extra $1000 it will cost me over the 4.5 when the tech specs in Signia Intuis 4 document does not seem to warrant it.

Been told by my audi that the Phonak/Uniton 675 options will be suppressing things much more which I hate enough as is with the Signia Intuis 4.3/4.5. The Oticon Xceed UP is old as it came out Aug 2019 when Signia Intuis 4 was Sept 2024.. Seen reviews of quality concerns with the Resound Enzo Q and it came out about Feb 2020. Also found out today that Signia said their Signia Intuis 4 will be their last 675 power option as they plan to go rechargeable. So my options are pretty limited sighs as I do not want to use rechargeable anytime soon.

If only Widex still had 675 power option like say a Widex Moment BTE 675 D as I would love to stay with the Widex sound.

Looking at the WSAUD documents for the Widex Moment BTE 13 D and the new Widex Allure BTE R D. It shows this Allure BTE has basically the same suggested fitting range and tech specs as the Widex Moment BTE 13 D so this Allure is not really an option as it will perform to same level.

I have considered trying the Widex Moment BTE 13 D again since I got a proper new earmold as I was trialling it with the first new earmold that had a canal 7mm shorter and a vent, should have used my old one. The short canal and vent caused the occasional feedback chirps and short squeal. I tried a similar short canal one from Widex without vent for a week recently and it downgraded the performances of the Signia 4.3/4.5 and my old Widex compared to my old current and new current earmolds. The shorter canal had very noticeable bass loss and amplification volume loss as one could think 7mm should not make much of a difference lol as it likely made the BTE 13 D perform poorly. The cons I do not like is the 13 battery has a short runtime compared to 675 battery and If my loss were to get a bit worse in next 3-5 years or so would this BTE 13 D have enough leeway.

RANT

I also had a heck of a time trying and trying to get a new soft silicon earmold with the canal length I need.as Widex and Signia sent out four clear soft earmolds where all canals were short length. The first one had a unwanted vent and sent the other four attempts as if it was a fit issue and not due to canal length sighs.

Turns out Widex/Signa only wants to make relatively short canal soft silicone earmolds at most which is contradicted when the canal length on the acrylic full shell earmold was some 5mm longer and almost the length I need. The acrylic one was likely only longer due to the HP receiver.

So today I finally got a new soft silicone earmold with the canal length I need but the new manufacture installed the tube with a brass lock that I hate to use, at least it is very close to the top and not in middle. I have only used thick wall #13 tubes with no form of lock in the last decade or so. The brass locks have only pinched the tubes and have damaged my earmolds in tube canal and cracks on top when replacing the tubes. So now I have to hope it will seal fine when I need to replace the tube with no form of lock.