Phonak Sphere 70 vs 90 for hearing aid in just one ear? Is the 90 better when worn in just one ear?

I don’t have a clear enough understanding but I think cochlear implant is a possibility if the auditory nerve is intact. I’d likely seek a second opinion.

@Raudrive said:

@Bimodal_user has one Sphere and a CI in the other. Maybe he can chime on this.

Yes, here I am.

@Raudrive said:

I remember @Bimodal_user talking about the Sphere’s are unique in that only one aid is needed to function in loud noise, no need for two aids. He will probably chime in on this.

That’s definitely true.

@luckybasket said:

My audiologist said that the benefits of the 90 compared to the 70 are only noticeable when you wear them in both ears, so for my situation the 70 would be just as good.

This is untrue regarding Infinio Sphere, but definitely true when we would said about “regular” Infinio R (without DEEPSONIC AI chip). So, your HCP must have confused one with the other.

@luckybasket said:

Although, I haven’t found anything specifically comparing the 70 vs 90 when worn in just one ear.

Sphere 90 vs Sphere 70:

1. Has stronger noise cancellation in its AI Spgeric Speech in Noise program - however you should maxx your noise reduction in myPhonak app you it should be set in Target programming software by your HCP

2. Has Speech Enhancer for distant or silent voices in quiet situations - I and @jim_lewis are fans of it. I recommend asking your HCP to maxx it out in slider in Target programming software.

I would personally ask your HCP for manual Spheric program and lower noise threshold to activate Spheric subprogram in AutoSense OS.

@Hooby said:

You might consider the Sonite Rise? It is thought to be just the same as the Phonak I90 and considerably cheaper from Costco

IIRC, Sonite Rise doesn’t have AI denoising program.

@Hooby said:

These hearing aids (like many other modern brands) continuously transmit information (sound and control info) between them.

In majority of hearing aids this is true except Spheres - I don’t see the binaural programs like Speech in Loud Noise in my DIY Target software.
In my Paradise 90-RT binaural Speech in Loud Noise is marked by orange “”, with pop-up info that program is unavailable with only one Paradise P90-RT. I don’t have that orange mark with my Infinio Sphere 90.

@CombatWombat said:

I would think having the Spheric mode in one ear and normal hearing that gets the full volume of the background noise in the other would be very disorienting

I don’t think this if true, if even so, there would be much problem with unilateral CIs, wlbut it doesn’t. It may require a bit of time, patience, rehabilitation and getting used to, but properly adjusted Sphere will definitely provide benefits.

CI for a vestibular schwannoma patient is rare and outcomes are not often great from what I’ve heard. The tumor is on the nerve and needs to be resected prior to the implant, and there’s a good chance of the surgery damaging the nerve which impacts CI outcomes. I think our local surgeon had done it in cases of very small ones, but it sounds like for this guy the surgeon thinks it would be a bad idea.

These tumors are benign but space occupying. Something needs to be done if they grow to a point where their size starts to impinge on something, but they can sit stable for a long time. I certainly have one patient who has been stable for longer then five years.

The quality of hearing loss is really variable. Sometimes it’s just simple hearing loss, but many times it can cause some weird distortion that also limits hearing aid benefit. @luckybasket Normal hearing out to 3k and then a precipitous drop? I’d double check the return policy, hearing aid benefit might not be significant yet. What are the functional deficits so far?

I think the R is for rechargeable. It’s usually not included in the Infinio Ultra Sphere name but they are rechargeable. The non Sphere Infinios go by Infinio Ultra R.

@luckybasket said:

Okay thank you, this is good info. Sounds like the 90 has significant benefits over the 70 even when just using one of them.

Yeah no.

Bilateral functionality is lost.

Any of the higher (Spheric) functions will be lost, any SNR gained by bilateral determination is lost. All stereo function is lost. Any spatial determination of speech over background noise and bilateral (phase) directional function is lost.

I am completely deaf in my left ear. Perhaps I was not clear enough earlier. @Um_bongo is right - all bilateral function of our hearing system in our body has been lost (In general: I don’t want to dive deep to the nerve pathways crossing).

However, I think there has been a significant, if not revolutionary, improvement with Spheric function compared to my older, non-AI Phonak Audéo Paradise 9, which I also used monaurally.
Phonak DEEPSONIC chip with AI denoising would work even with one mic in the HA, but in reality it uses 2 of them, e.g. when user or HCP sets narrower beamforming.

The difference between Sphere 70 and 90 is not as noticeable, but it is still good for me, even when used monaurally, without using CI in my poorer totally deaf left ear.

So, expect improvement compared to older type of hearing aids, but that will not regain bilateral functionality.

That’s helpful, thank you. So in my situation (one ear with normal hearing, and another ear needing a hearing aid) do you think the 90 will do a better job than the 70 in noticeable ways? My hearing in my bad ear is not terrible but warrants a hearing aid right now, but likely over the next few years it will get significantly worse, so I’m trying to get a hearing aid that will do the best job as it gets worse.

There might be a fractional performance boost in the one sided AI de-noising, will there be a noticeable practical impact? Marginal.

The best advice I can give us to trial the different levels through a system like the Unitron Flex mechanism to see if you can actually tell the difference between tech levels in monaural wearing situations.

I can’t answer the 70 vs 90 question definitively, but having worn an i90 in one ear for about 5 weeks, I can at least say this: it is definitely better than no hearing aid at all.

I’m also a single-ear case right now, so I understand the question. My impression is that some of the biggest advantages people talk about with the 90 may be more noticeable in binaural use, which is probably what your audiologist means. But I’m a little skeptical that this automatically means the 90 gives no meaningful benefit in a one-aid situation.

So my own take would be: if the 90 is financially comfortable, I can understand choosing it so you don’t wonder later whether you should have gone higher. But if it really stretches the budget, I would not assume that a 70 in one ear is a bad choice, especially if your audiologist can fine-tune it well.

In other words, from my limited one-ear experience: one good hearing aid is absolutely worthwhile, but I’m not sure anyone should state too confidently that the 90’s extra value disappears completely just because you’re only wearing one.

Disclaimer: written with ChatGPT’s help, based on my own experience.

My first question is why are you being recommended a Phonak hearing aid in your poorer hearing ear when the other ear has “good hearing.” Could you post your audiogram and speech recognition (if possible) please?

It’s worth going for the 90 level of technology if you’re a set it and forget it kind of person as the 70 doesn’t automatically go into spheric speech clarity, its a manual program only. It also has stronger directional performance (vs omnidirectional only in the 70) in the spheric speech setting.