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Consistent static on new Philips HearLinks 9050

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Edited

Just got my new units and wow, what a difference. When my fitter walked me out of the soundproof booth and onto the busy Costco floor, it was like one of those vampire or werewolf movies where the character gets bitten and wakes up and can hear everything, people talking two blocks away, a fly scratching its legs together, you get it. I am noticing a low level, static sound coming from both ears though. I think if I were in a busy room with people talking, I wouldn’t notice it, but when it’s quiet, it’s noticeable. Is this normal? I’m going to see the fitter, who was great btw, in 2 weeks. He said my brain would filter that noise out after a short time. Is this normal?

Thanks, Bob

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Edited

If it sounds like bacon frying than I would say it’s normal, especially if your low frequency is close to normal. You can have the Costco fitter reduce the gain, or change some other setting, but there is a trade off in that you may not hear as well.

If your Costco fitter’s follow up adjustments are not helping, you can also go the route and see if there is a frequency or group of frequencies that you can reduce the gain on that would help, and minimize the trade off.

Note that like tinnitus, with time you may be able to just ignore it.

One more thing. You can have your hearing aid fitter use one of your 4 programs choices for a comfort setting that lowers the gain so that the sound is less bothersome when you are alone or in a quiet setting.

I suggest that your do check with your Costco fitter. When I demoed the 9050s, I sometimes noticed a frying or sizzling sound when I was in a quiet environment. Since I got my “real” pair of 9050s, I haven’t noticed any of this sound. (I also saw on this forum, that Oticon has a history of having a sizzling or frying sound. Since Philips have the same hardware, there may be some connection).

Thanks for the tips. I realized that the volume was pretty high. When I turned it down, the noise was much more manageable. Overall, I really like these and so happy to hear things I was missing.

Thanks again.

@bobestremera, the static noise issue with Oticon is real. It happens when you still have reasonably good low frequency hearing.

The only two known solutions are

  • switch to an ‘S’ receiver (if your allows it)
  • switch to a different vendor

If you are new to hearing aids, you will likely want to increase the volume as you get used to them. Don’t put up with the noise. I experienced the same thing when I trialed Oticons. I went for another vendor.

In reply to @OcramSagev

Ocram, just got my 9050’s last week and the static is annoying. I go back in a couple weeks to get earmolds. If fitter cannot fix static, I will ditch the 9050’s.

Can you say more about why you are not a candidate for the 9050’s? What are you wearing now? Thanks.

What you're probably hearing is the internal noise floor of the devices. If the gain for very soft sounds cannot be altered to eliminate this then you may need to switch to a different device with a lower noise floor.

Edited

In reply to @Jackhammer

My comment, “Let’s say I’m not a candidate,” was meant to indicate that the floor noise issue discussed here was one reason why they weren’t a good fit for me. That said , people have different preferences and, what may have not worked for me, may work for you.

Thanks. Are you wearing the Sonite Rise? I am also having a persistent problem with Bluetooth drop out with my Apple devices. Have tried everything to no avail eg reset device settings, airplane mode switching, re-pairing, etc. Even with iPad or iPhone right in front of me streaming music or video, I get a 2-3 second drop on one ear (almost always left) every 5-7 minutes. I am going to try the Rise with classic Bluetooth.

I use a Phonak Infinio hearing aid (the Sennheiser Rise is a twin). I haven’t encountered any issues with audio dropping out while using my Phonak hearing aids.

Static (floor noise?) continues to be a problem. Worse in left ear and worse as I insert dome deeper into canal. Also much worse in Speech in Noise program.

Tried Speech in Noise program to day in restaurant. Yikes! Sounded like a cacophony of static. Could not hear my wife sitting across from me in a booth. Had to switch it off…a total disaster.

Can’t wait to try the Sonite Rise. These 9050’s are not for me. Random disconnects (always on left) happening every 5-10 minutes streaming on Apple devices plus static are total show stoppers.

I had the floor noise problem with my 9050s too. If you're just using the default program, your audiologist can make adjustments to lower that by a substantial margin.

That's a bit obvious for some, who experimented with programs and apps.

In very quiet settings, when I am in Calm Situation program, I can hear more and more static if I set directionality from omni or fixed directional (Real Ear Sound) to most directional.

Than prabably can be offset by tinkering with soft noise reduction in PC Target fitting software and to a lesser extent (so not recommended) when traditional noise reduction is set higher.

I think I just made a break through on my Philips 9050. I have posted about the background noise (floor noise?) and feedback which started after ear molds, presumably due to fitter increasing gain to meet targets. During that last fitting session, fitter installed a Hi-Fi Music program. I switched to the HF Music program and background noise reduced dramatically and it appears feedback gone too.

This should give an important clue. Philips literature (not sure if it is current) shows the Music program default is Pinna mode which disables all of the automatic directional processing. I will report back after my next fitting.

Frying, hiss and static are 3 very different types of noise which probably have 3 completely different causes and solutions. So it would help if people clarify which one they are talking about, especially when reporting a solution.

(Generally in audio equipment other than hearing aids, frying is caused by a bad electrical connection or a failing component, so it is surprising that this is common. Maybe Oticon / Philips are susceptible to poor connections to the receiver wire, in which case disconnecting and reconnecting the wire might clean the contacts.)

@Beet said:

connection or a failing component, so it is surprising that this is common. Maybe Oticon / Philips HAs are susceptible to poor connections to the receiver wire,

It’s not this: the whole range suffers from an audible noise floor - noise floor occurs with low diaphragm mass microphones, due to Brownian motion.

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