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My Hearing Aid Journey...to Costco & Sennheiser

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By way of introduction, a potted history of my hearing aid journey with my personal views & experiences.

My hearing aid journey began with the NHS (UK) with classic Noise Induced Hearing Loss giving me a distinct ‘notch’ in my hearing around the 3kHz region. The hearing diagnosis was good & I was fitted with aids which had 4 programs which had to be manually selected - a bit klonky by today’s standards but the initial fitting was good and the experience of wearing was invaluable. However, later attempts at refining the set-up were little short of disastrous. A valuable lesson - the skill of the HA fitter is all important.

After this I decided to investigate HAs in more detail & began to research the design approach taken by various manufacturers to see what might separate the various brands. Looking at the published papers (and interpreting marketing ‘blurb’) I decided that the general approach taken by Phonak appealed to my engineering sensibilities and I decided to purchase a pair of Phonak HAs from a suitable supplier - I settled on Boots HearingCare.

Fitted with a pair of Audeo V90-10s I found the Phonak ‘sound’ to be very pleasant, very ‘normal’ & the automatic mode, switching between various programs was brilliant. Only minor adjustments were needed after initial fitting.

I started to think about what the next technology steps should be for future use & decided that rechargeable batteries plus Bluetooth operation for hands free mobile calls plus streaming from mobile & laptop would be the minimum requirements together with a fully automatic approach to program switching. This arrived with the Phonak Paradise platform but without ‘proper’ Bluetooth implementation - it could only connect ot one device at a time. A year later and Paradise was updated to something I was happy to call ‘proper’ Bluetooth - they could connect to 2 devices simultaneously (and pair with 8). I bought a pair of P90R’s.

The difference between these P90Rs & my old Audeo’s was like night & day - everything was better plus rechargeable & proper Bluetooth. Again, only minor adjustment was needed after initial fit.

Time & technology move forward and next generation HAs begin to emerge, mostly described as ‘’ in the marketing blurb but generally using neural networks to train the HA to recognise various sounds (& variations thereof) together with improved signal processing of speech in noise and directional beamforming to provide a speech focus. I looked at how some of the manufacturers were implementing this technology & again thought the overall Phonak approach looked a sound engineering solution.

I tried the Phonak Infinio Sphere only to return 2 pairs as defective with faults in the Bluetooth & left-right communications. However, the speech in noise performance was definitely a ‘wow’ factor compared to previous HAs. Twice bitten, I resolved to retain my P90Rs until Phonak could convince me that such problems had been eradicated from the Infinio range. (The later Ultra firmware update seemed to eradicate such problems)

However, tempted to try some new & different technology, I opted to try the Jabra Enhanced Pro30 from Costco which came with enhanced noise reduction capabilities (quite good, probably not as good as the Phonak Sphere) & fully ready for . I found the sound quality to be quite shrill, particularly when streaming and could only tolerate them with the bass turned full up & the treble full down – this still gave a fairly ‘tinny’ sound quality. However the control app (Android) did not retain this setting & would revert to the default shrillness. Also, the app did not switch from ‘streaming’ to ‘normal’ in a proper manner, frequently requiring the mobile to be turned off & back on to clear the error. Other app error conditions included showing one HA (could be left or right) as ‘disconnected’ when it wasn’t, again requiring a mobile off/on to clear the error. Following a further audiologist adjustment the shrillness was reduced but still a ‘tinny’ sound which might have been improved with further adjustment. However, in general there were a number of problems with the Android app which in combination, resulted in my decision that the Jabra app in Android (which was essential to properly control the HAs) was really not fit for purpose & I returned the HAs to Costco.

Given an interest in Auracast I looked at how to implement it more locally & researched & bought a couple of dongles to experiment with – an Avantree C82 Aura to use as an Auracast transmitter plus a FlooGoo FMA120 which can be configured as either transmitter or receiver. Technical support from both Avantree & Flairmesh (FlooGoo manufacturer) was both good and highly responsive.

Plugging the C82 into my Win10 laptop provided a secure (passcode protected) Auracast stream. I then configured the FMA120 as a receiver (a simple firmware download) & this then plugged into my mobile (Google Pixel 8a) onto which I had installed the FlooCast app. The FlooCast app provided an Auracast receiver display which showed the C82 transmission. Entering the passcode enabled the laptop/C82 audio to be played from my mobile via Bluetooth to my (non-Auracast) P90R HAs.

Now to Costco & the new Sennheiser Sonite Rise. I had decided to buy the Sennheiser HAs from Costco to extend the decision point for likely Phonak Sphere purchase when I discovered that Costco had just started selling a new Sennhieser HA – the Sonite Rise. An initial comparison between the Sonite Rise product information and that of the Phonak Infinio suggested that the Sonite Rise is broadly equivalent to the Infinio R90 (non-Sphere), minus some software functionality. This suggested excellent value for money at the Costco price point and a significant upgrade from my P90Rs. Initial fitting seemed good, sound quality similar to my P90s, no problem pairing with my Pixel 8a (Android), Win10 laptop and Phonak TV Connector. The next few weeks will provide opportunities to try out the speech in noise characteristics in different settings such as car journeys, noisy restaurants & bars etc. before a further audiologist visit for any adjustments.

And so my Hearing Aid journey continues.

6 people in this conversation12 min readJump to latest

Just a note on the Jabra 30s and their inability to swicth from streaming to normal functioning:

If you mean that they sometime stay in streaming when one would think streaming should be off. I found that going into the Android analog to MFI - i.e. the Android app for controlling - allows turning off streaming without need to reboot the phone.

I often get a message something like ‘Accessories and cannot be selected while streaming’, and the Android HA app can clear that up by changing the preset to the ‘normal’ setting or whatever its called.

My experience was a bit different to yours. The Jabra app would go into a ‘split screen’ mode showing both streaming & normal modes which could only be cleared by turning the mobile off/on.

That plus other recurring issues with the Jabra app meant I was spending too much time sorting out app issues instead of just enjoying listening with the .

I have had to choose between editing my post above to be more accurate or adding this post. Since editing is likely to make readers wonder why you posted, I’ll add this one.

Same symptom - split screen, each stuck in a different program, unable to turn off streaming in one ear, so it’s impossible to hear an actual person who’s trying to talk with you/me.

Android 16 has an app like IOS that controls HAs. Like the Resound app, it shows the split screen. The Resound app can’t clear up the problem; the Android 16 app can.

If I hadn’t found that fix, I might not be using Jabras, either.

Thanks for the informative post. I find the Phonak world works best for me, as well. As a musician and sound engineer, I find to get the most out of my aids (Costco KS9/Phonak Marvel M90 and now Sennheiser Rise) I need to tweak them myself. So I went to the section here, ‘found’ a copy of Phonak Target software, and ordered a NoahLink Wireless device from EBay. If you like that kind of control, it’s pretty rewarding (once you’ve got a handle on the software and the way the adjustments work from an audiological POV) to be able to fine-tune your own hearing aids. And, of course, if you err, you can always go back to the previous settings (which was an integral part of the learning curve). Anyway, right there with you on the Phonak world. Next round, who knows. I hear that Sonova is giving up the Sennheiser brand. But hopefully, they will have another Costco version of the next great leap in 5 years or so.

In reply to @philbob57

Thanks for your comments. As I sad, my experience was a bit different to yours. I tried resolving the Jabra app issues with the Android controls but did not find a solution there (perhaps some small differnce in Android installation?). The only workable resolution was the phone off/on (less trouble than uninstalling/reinstalling the app etc). The overall point was that not finding an easy (hopefully one off) resolution to the Jabra app issues I was spending too much time sorting out app issues instead of just enjoying listening with the HAs. As HA users & consumers we should not be spending a lot of time trying to compensate for poor products (yes, I know the app is free but it is a OEM supplied control tool for the HAs we purchase)

In reply to @uburoibob

Thanks for the comments. My research and use of Phonak HAs has shown that the Phonak technology (at least for me) works very well. I guess that in the main, I have been fairly lucky with audiologists and HA fitting which helps the technology to work properly.

Yes, Sonova have announced that the Sennheiser commercial audio division is for sale but I guess the prescription (Sonite) HAs might fall outside of that sale & another solution will be found - perhaps Costco own brand?

That would be my guess. I think Sonova found they need Costco during the few years between KS10 and Sonite R. I am sure they will be back with something. Having worked with Sennheiser pro for 25 years, I kinda like having the S logo on my aids, so I hope they keep it.

In reply to @uburoibob

@uburoibob said:

Costco KS9/Phonak Marvel M90 and now Sennheiser Rise

:waving_hand: fellow musician, guitar, bass finally had to quit due to hearing deficit. Just now got new map. I am truly ignorant and you could help me a lot in one sentence a new Costco is opening five minutes from my house and I intend to make use of it here in Texas your comment above about Costco KS9/phone act Marvel and now Sennheiser rise. I think you’re saying that these are all within the same manufacturing family? I am going to ask them for a real ear measurement as the audiologist I just went to seem to be almost completely ignorant of such. thank you for helping.

Edited
@R7th said:

Costco KS9/phone act Marvel and now Sennheiser rise.

All of these Costco are based on Phonak (Sonova) technology - the Sennheiser Sonite Rise being the most up to date model. The Sonite Rise is broadly equivalent to the Phonak Infinio Ultra i90R (non-Sphere) with only one or two software modules (e.g. tinnitus control) missing and is therefore a highly capable latest generation hearing aid.

I’m two weeks into using a pair of Sonite Rise HAs & so far only positive things to report.

Thanks for hopping in, 1Viking. I was just about to tell the poster the same thing. I’d add, that in Target 11, with my Sonite Rise, I CAN use the tinnitus control. It programs in a slight, constant “shushhhhh” sound in the background. It can be setup based on your or you can customize it. If you are a DIYer it’s pretty easy.

Also, to R7th, Costco will do the Real Ear Measurement when they fit you for your aids. It works by listening to the aid in your ear and adapts the settings accordingly. It makes a big difference.

Happy to answer any questions I can.

Hi, uburoibob, interesting comment re ‘release’ of the tinnitus program.
I had been told outside of this forum that Costco are ‘locked’ (i.e. can only be programmed by them) but that it was possible to remove the lock by DIY programming & I guess also enable any ‘missing’ software functions such as the tinnitus control. Did you find any other software functions that you could ‘release’ into the Sonite Rise?

There’s a section here where someone sent me the Phonak Target 11 software (make sure youn update to the latest version - you can do that from within the app). It works with all the Sonova/Phonak/Costco KS/Sennheiser Sonite hearing aids. If you go there and ask, it’s a good bet someone will help you out. We have to do this because, indeed, the aids ARE ‘locked’, but not only to Costco - just to Audiologists who fit them and have ‘legal’ access to the Target software including Costco.

And it takes a bit of time to work with software to understand what it all does. When first hooking up your aids, I suggest you let it download the settings from your aids and save that as a failsafe to go back to. Then start a new session to play around with.

To use it, you need a PC (doesn’t work on a Mac, and doesn’t work well on a Mac using BootCamp, Parallels, etc) running Windows 11. You also need a NoahLink Wireless unit. I bought mine on eBay in 2019 for $175 and I believe you can still find one there for that price. It hooks up via USB and manages the connection of your aids to the PC via Bluetooth (but with some special sauce in there that the Target software needs to program back to your aids).

I primarily use Target to set up my music setting by turning off the feedback protection, which creates that ‘trill’ sound for any pure tones - as I get when playing my guitar. I did try the tinnitus function and may reinstate it. I found it distracting and it didn’t really help mask my tinnitus any more than the aids do without it. But your mileage may vary.

All that said, your Costco fitter SHOULD be able to enable the tinnitus function for you. It’s on the FITTING screen under options, which links you to the setup page in Target 11.

As far as any other ‘missing’ software functions - not really. Just the option of dialing in some settings once you get used to using the software. And a caution that audio-modification curves for the various thresholds are exceptionally tricky if you don’t speak “audiology”.

Costco aids used to be truly locked - only Costco had the software that could adjust their aids. That stopped being the case some years ago. Fitting software identifies the model, and it’s easy to program restrictions.

Tinnitus control is limited to docs (audis, MDs, ODs, etc.) in some states in the US. Costco chose to standardize on not treating tinnitus, I presume because the administration would be nightmarish.

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