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Choral singing difficulties with Phonak

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Hi! I am new to this forum. I have Phonak Infinio audeo spheres purchased in Jan. 2026. I am having several issues, the worst being the issues with singing in a chorus with these! My audiologist is trying to help, but I fear that even with her 20 years experience including singers, she is not adjusting these properly. My issue is that even though she has set up a singing program, it is not working well. I find that even normally, things are very metallic sounding ( yes I have lost the high frequencies over the years and through a sudden severe hearing loss, but gained most of it back) and so when I sing in a choral setting, it does sound very tinny. It also seems to cut out or maybe it’s falling behind in the sound, and causes my brain to think I am singing the wrong note for a split second, though I am not. Of course this causes me to question my singing and frustrates me to the point where I pull them out of my ears, but then of course it sounds somewhat muffled. I have changed from domes to a vented dome in one ear because I am having fit issues in one ear where the earpiece was moving around too much. This vented dome stays put better, but feels very metallic sounding and I am finding that it isn’t as good for my hearing overall, as I can tell it’s a slightly more muffled sound in that ear.

So my question for choral singers is: Have you had more luck with proper programming? What about getting specific molded domes for the ear (RITC)? I don’t mean the kind that need to be connected to streaming or close your ear canal completely. I feel like for the price I paid I absolutely should be able to adjust these so that I don’t have big issues, but I just don’t know where to turn. I am under contract with this audiologist so I don’t think I can move right now. It’s also been 3 months and is it possible my brain still needs more time to adjust? I am so upset right now because I do NOT intend to give up singing, and it’s been extremely frustrating!

Thank you for any advice you can provide.

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@AltoGal said:

I sing in a choral setting, it does sound very tinny.

What you’re describing sounds like a programming issue—a tiny metallic sound—that can be managed through the programming software, and it’s usually related to the gains at high frequencies.

If, what you said " yes I have lost the high frequencies over the years and through a sudden severe hearing loss, but gained most of it back" is true, then this statement could explain part of what it is happening, Maybe the gains your audiologist set up were based on the indicating you had high-frequency hearing loss. I said “maybe” because, without seeing what was done, my statement is purely theoretical.

@AltoGal said:

I feel like for the price I paid I absolutely should be able to adjust these so that I don’t have big issues

Absolutely, you pre-paid for bundled services so you should insist on getting what you need from your . HAs sometimes require several tuning sessions until you get the desired result.

“Have you had more luck with proper programming?” The real magic of a hearing aid comes down to proper programming, even more than its brand or model. Of course proper programming is the #1 way to optimize the performance of the aids.

I don’t think you can fix this on your own, since the solution is most likely a change in the programming. This is assuming you have been wearing your aids regularly for the time you mentioned.

People here might be able to offer more help if you share the audiogram.

Thank you for your help. The says she has done all the programming she can right now. She did set up a ‘singing’ or music program to help, but she won’t tweak it any more until she says I have settled my overall hearing as she says I have to get used to it for a few weeks every time she tweaks it. Also the dome in my right ear has not been working well to add to all of this. I am just concerned that the tweaks needed for singing should be separate and should not really be dependent on the overall program tweaks but she says they are (which she did not say until a couple of weeks ago). I’ve had about 6 appointments so far, and I do feel I am not being ‘heard’, but thinking maybe I am expecting too much too soon. I feel in a quandary for sure. And yes, I wear them all day, every day. I can definitely feel the difference without them and I don’t like my hearing without them at this point.

One more note: I have asked for the in an email, but she did not send it to me. I know that’s probably not okay because I have researched that she absolutely should send it to me if asked. I didn’t push it because I can’t really go elsewhere at the moment.

It sounds like you are saying, yes, it’s in the programming and that can be adjusted, which is what I was hoping. I just have to be patient and get this adjusted in the program. I will try to hold on and still push her to fix it as soon as she can.

In the meantime, have you tried adjusting the EQ settings in your Phonak App? You can create a new program and play with the presets (clarity, etc) or make your own EQ profile. Maybe lowering the highs a bit in the app can help.

Don’t give up: Once they are well tuned, aids can be wonderful companions.

While I am not a singer, I used to play classical guitar and recorder flutes, then moved on to digital wind synthesizers.

I am wearing Phonak Bolero M90 rechargeable aids, and do my own programming. Like you, my hearing on the higher frequencies has really dropped off over the years. I obtained the best results using vented domes. This allows the lower & mid frequencies to bypass the hearing aids going directly to my ears, with the hearing aids boosting the highs.

I have it set up as a dedicated music program in which all the whistle blocking, noise reduction, and frequency shifting are turned off. It’s as close to analog as I can get, and it sounds very good to me.

The one drawback to vented domes or ear molds is in noisy environments like restaurants, where the hearing aids can only reduce some of the noise, because a lot of it is going past the hearing aids directly to my ears. It’s a tradeoff that I am willing to accept, but I’m in the process of setting up another set of hearing aids with just for noisy environments.

In my opinion it’s not about the hardware, it’s all about the programming. If your audiologist has experience with singers or musicians, and has the patience, you should end up a satisfied customer. If not, you might want to try someone else. Hearing aids cost too much to settle for “good enough”.

Hi! I’m a choral singer myself, welcome to the forum.
I have the exact same hearing aids as you, and I have unilateral hearing loss. I would go to your audiologist again to configure some of the settings on your Audeo. Make sure you have consistent patient-audiologist relationship to form a setting that is right for you.
Also, as Ocram said, EQ settings can be helpful. You can ask your audiologist to create a program for you or you can do it on your own. Hopefully this helps.

Edited

To reduce the metallic sound, you might try reducing the gain somewhere in the range of 3500 to 5000 Hz. You’ll want to experiment with both the frequency and the amount of gain reduction. 6dB might suffice.

Edited

Hi there,

I’m also a choral singer, and I’m also wearing Phonak (Audeo Paradise).

After a lot of frustration, I switched to and I found a nice setup which lets me hear my own voice with no distortion/frequency shifts, no tremolos and also have a good “overview” of what’s going on in the choir and in the bass section (mine).

I use vented domes, deep in the canal, with a 2nd music program which I derived from the standard music one (which I also activated for music listening and acoustic guitar).

With power domes, which are better for my loss, I didn’t find a good setup.

Anyway, I removed:

  • the whistleblock system (this is giving the tremolo). If removing isn’t possible, lowering also helps
  • all noise removal features (noiseblock, soundrelax, etc…), because they also manipulate pianissimo sounds and compression
  • Windblock, because it removes some specific frequencies when only one is involved… this sometimes happens while singing very close together
  • Soundrecover2, because shifts down high frequencies (not an issue with pitches, but armonics-rich sounds sound bad)

This was enough to get a better experience… but I’ve been able to get even a better one tuning the frequency response and the compression.

To do that, the only solution I found was recording a choir session (checking also the level), go home and play this with my HiFi system (with same dB level) trying to sing my partiture at same time (yes I know: it’s VERY embarassing :slight_smile:). After a few test I found a nice frequency (and compression) setup.

Basically, I reduced the gain at very low frequency (my own voice) to make the choir audible, and lowered the overall compression, to get a more linear experience with less distortion.

I know: all this stuff is quite easy with DIY. Otherwise you need a lot of cooperation from your audi.

Good luck!

In reply to @Gracefullystumbling

Thank you! I have tried to set up a program while at choral practice but I don’t know that I have as many adjustments that can be made as the audiologist can. It seems like there should be an EQ setting which is not showing up on my app. I will talk to the and see if I have access to EQ settings somewhere. Yes, I will try and work with the AuD and I want to because I am sure they know more about it all even though I have a tech background (I was a post production video editor for 35 years), and I might not be able to adjust these things in my app.

It will not have as many options as the programming software but it is very helpful . Below is a tutorial that you can use to learn how to use the program features .

In reply to @marcobuffa

thank you!

I just saw where the actual EQ was in the top right corner of my app and when you bring up adjustments. I will definitely have to fiddle with it now to see if I can adjust it better.

I am also noticing a clipping issue when we sing, although it’s intermittent. I think I mentioned it in my first post. I think the react to loud noise by clipping sound which caused them to go in and out. I am not really sure if I can fix that on my end, but I will experiment.

In reply to @marcobuffa

Marco,

You summed it up better than I could, and I agree with everything you said.

Unfortunately unless you , I suspect it can be very difficult to find an audiologist willing to take the time away from his other patients to get it all dialed in. Once you learn to do your own programming, you will have the opportunity to try all kinds of settings knowing you can always revert back to an earlier setting you liked. Also it’s fun, and you don’t need waste your time waiting for an appointment.

In reply to @AltoGal

The clipping may (possibly) be caused by the feedback manager. When feedback occurs, the aids may try to shift the frequency to another adjacent one that has no risk of feedback. Lowering the volume may help but then the aid may not be effective. Good question for your next visit.

In reply to @dacuttler

Thanks, I feel I don’t really know all the ins and outs of the app yet. I did play with it some yesterday, but I will read up on exactly how it works as it’s difficult to hear those slight nuances right away. I can’t really tell what my EQ is adjusting because it’s not marked in db. Honestly, I definitely should try and read up on the app first. I might ask the to show me exactly what does what, if she actually will remains to be seen.

In reply to @Beet

Thanks. As far as I can tell right now, my app doesn’t have any number perameters or settings where I personally can adjust the exact db. I am looking into it, but it might only be something can do exactly and is a source of my frustration.

In reply to @marcobuffa

Let me add that all the names you are calling for me to remove don’t exist on my app. My thinking is that the only has control of these, so in this case might be very limited. I can though pass this information along to her and see how it fits in to what she has adjusted. Not that she will do all of it, but when we get to that road, maybe she will, so thank you.

In reply to @OcramSagev

Thanks! I literally just signed up for his tutorials yesterday. He seemed like a great Dr to get info from and certainly willing to share. I will watch to see if it can help in any way. I really appreciate it.:blush:

In reply to @AltoGal

The very first step is asking the to add a music program in the button cycle, so you can select it easily and you are able to temporary get rid of autosense.

This is crucial to to avoid struggle: you need that specific music program to stay engaged and you don’t want autosense try to guess the best fit for you changing the settings several times per minute while you are singing.

Second step, if you are not doing , is asking the AuD to remove (or at least minimize) all the stuff for noise and feedback reduction in the music program.

This way you can engage the music program when you go practicing and use the app just to find a comfortable volume.

Tuning the frequency response is hard without DIY, but I would leave this as further improvement.

Good luck!

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