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More Phonak Titanium info

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Edited

So, if you’ve happened upon my previous posts, you know that I chose Phonak due to their Sphere noise suppression, since upgraded to V2.0 and perhaps further by now; your audiologist can make that free upgrade in Target 11.1 (memory on that spec may be slightly off currently).

BUT - I digress…

The titanium molds have been touted as the best thing since sliced bread.
And similar to bread, even if carefully kept, it will go TangoUniform after 3 months, which is the warranty period for my $312 investment.

Which is too bad, because:
My first left ear mold was literally painful. Months later, we gave up and did a new impression. That one doesn’t hurt, but it wants to work its way out. I lay that to the chicken-heart shape, rather than the relatively rectangular character of the soft Beltone molds I have left over from my last Beltone attempts before abandoning that avenue. As a Phonak receiver is the same size as my 3H Beltones, I just swapped bare receivers into those while we attempt to resolve the difficulties with the Phonak Titaniums.

Specifically, my audiologist tells me that, despite my being able to hear through it, my left mold won’t communicate with Target, rendering it unable to resolve my current speech hearing issues there.
and
My right mold’s wire sits far out on my ear, rather than nestling next to my head (as the receivers in the Beltone Soft molds’ wires do).

So, he sends both off to Phonak for resolution. Except the warranty is now long gone; I have no idea of whether the issues can be resolved locally (e.g., 1: heat the wire similarly to how an optician will do to temples on glasses to allow them more easily to be bent into some specific shape to resolve the shape, so as to make it lay flatter and, 2: somehow treat the connector - presumed to be the copperhead in the woodpile as to why Target can’t see it, but I still hear through it- which option wasn’t presented to me by my provider’s office - or if they can be re$olved by $ending them off to Phonak - or merely abandoned.

So, back to the complaint. I don’t know how much soft molds cost at Phonak. But as the receivers (well, specifically, I don’t know, but presume so) merely slide in (or out, as the case may be), the presumed 1-year warranty on the themselves should apply to the receivers, and any fitment issues could be addressed separately from the receivers.

My provider confessed that he’d been disappointed in his experience with the Titanium molds, after an initial “Hallelujah!” when they first were presented.

Elsewhere here, there is a review of Phonak Titanium molds; as they used to say in the initial EPA days, “Your Mileage May Vary”…

OY!

7 people in this conversation11 min readJump to latest

That’s a pretty fair assessment - from inside of the industry, I’d concur with the kind of popularity/experience you’re experiencing.

A novel material, works for some people, but the execution for a bunch of other people it just falls over in either the short or long term. Acylic doesn’t suit everyone, but it is a hugely flexible solution with significantly simpler modification methods.

I really don’t get this statement:

@Skip said:

Specifically, my audiologist tells me that, despite my being able to hear through it, my left mold won’t communicate with Target,

The mold itself is just a hunk of metal. There is no communication involved. It sounds like you have discrete receivers since you used them in your Beltone molds. It may be there’s an issue with a receiver. It’s possible I’ve misunderstood and the titanium molds come with built in receivers? If so, yeah that would make replacing receivers a pricy operation.

Bottom line: Could you clarify what was meant by the statement about your left mold not being able to communicate with Target?

My apologies for inability to quote you here, but:

My provider had been trying to tweak my titanium molds to where I could, again, understand my wife’s speech without being directly in front of her and likely cheating by lipreading.

My last visit had him tell me that he couldn’t communicate with the left instrument, so he went back to an earlier adjustment (receiver in soft mold; he said they behave very differently so I needed that month-old setting achieved just before the arrival of my new left mold - which was only a warranty replacement and didn’t start a new period!) for my Beltone housings.

I later got:

On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 11:39 AM Adams Hearing Aid Specialists <adamshearingaids@gmail.com> wrote:

Your molds are no longer in warranty.

I’ve asked the questions (clean contacts L, heat wire and reshape R) in my post but have not yet heard back. Out of curiosity, if not desperation, I’m next going to try (after they’ve fully recharged after a month of no use) my 3-generations-ago Beltone Imagine 17s in their soft molds; I’d gotten pretty close to understanding my wife after revision to the first-appointment time with my wife and a different Beltone office.

But the soft molds and standard P3 don’t get it (the abiity to understand my wife without looking at her), and my prior Titanium adjustment which DID seem to work, doesn’t/didn’t (they have them in the hour-away location…

Hope that was responsive…

I’m still unclear. Do your titanium molds have the receivers embedded in them or are the receivers removable. As far as communication with the actual molds (not the receivers) the only communication that takes place is a code on the mold that can be inputted into Target that tells Target what the venting is.

In reply to @Um_bongo

FWIW, in my much-earlier discussions I noted that I tried 6 different manufacturers in my quest ending with a very talented an hour away, but still Beltone.

One of those was Miracle Ear, and they went straight to acrylic (no domes of any sort), and, later, ditto Sam’s Club; both cases had those being comfortable for me.

I have little doubt that there will be a cost associated with trying that for my Phonak SI70s.

My next step (after the attempt with the now-generations-old Beltones) will be to see what repair costs would be on the T molds, if my suggestions won’t cure the issues found.

OY!

PS again my apologies for not being able to find the ‘quote’ button; this is a response to Um-bongo…

For the one that doesn’t lay flat, are you sure the mold had been put in all the way? It sounds like you are having some issue with the deeper molds. How are they taking the impressions? Closed jaw, talking, open jaw? You may need to try another approach to get a good fit.

Again the apology for unquote…

Both molds fit comfortably and won’t go in further. It’s a somehow-wonky lead from the mold.

As to impressions, it was slack-jawed; not clenched teeth, but also not open mouth.

Fit’s not the issue (it was, initially, on the left unit), efficacy of transmission is.

And, at this moment, I’m wearing the Belton 3H inside their soft molds.

I just asked my wife (downstairs, out of sight from my loft) to read me a sentence.

Brilliant. In the Beltone Hearmax All-around, speech clarity enabled. Using the first different, other, GA, audiologist in a waffle-walled room, with Lydia along for testing adjustment’ levels, as transmitted to my original, closer office.

Admittedly, they may not perform as well as the Ps in other areas.

But as my music acuity seems to suck badly, including hearing my own voice and others around me, I may reluctantly resign my music activity and default to solely using for speech.

NOT good. Even with massive insurance contribution, I’ve got over 1800 real dollars Out of Pocket in the Phonaks, with no (well actually, notably worse on initial review) improvement over the now-4-years-old/5-generations-ago Beltones.

OY!!!

In reply to @MDB

@MDB said:

Do your titanium molds have the receivers embedded

The software recognises Cshell receivers and allows for an extra 5+. I’m guessing that the one side isn’t seeing the fitting - Nothing stopping it being manually selected in the acoustics screen though.

My audiologist told me yesterday that due to my receiver requirement that titanium ear molds isn’t possible. And he said that most that he has fitted asked to ho back to acrylic ear molds.

@Skip said:

As a Phonak receiver is the same size as my 3H Beltones, I just swapped bare receivers into those while we attempt to resolve the difficulties with the Phonak Titaniums.

Are you using the belltone molds with the Phonak receivers?

Or back to the the titanium molds?

To quote… hold down the mouse key and drag it across what you want to quote. On a smart phone hold your finger on the words dragging your finger that you want to quote holding down. From there you will get the Quote option to reply.

In reply to @user490

@user490 said:

As Target sees the cShell, does this happen regardless of the coupling type selected in Target?

The Phonak built molds/receivers will talk to target through the aids. This information is built into the receivers. Just like changing receivers, target sees this and will tell you to redo feedback settings

Probably should have let um_bongo explain.

In reply to @Raudrive

@Raudrive said:

Are you using the belltone molds with the Phonak receivers?

Or back to the the titanium molds?

Thanks; your quote mechanism displayed above :smiling_face:

Yes, B Molds, P receivers, with Target acting as though they were P soft molds, while awaiting resolution on the P T Molds

However, now several instances later, with the B receivers in the B molds, I can understand my wife again (repeated instances) from upstairs, without having to look at her.

Something’s rotten in Denmark…

@Raudrive said:

Are you saying the Belltone receivers fit the Phonak Spheres?

Yes, the 3H Beltone and P3 Phonak receivers are either identical sizes or of no consequence to fitment inside the Beltone soft molds

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