Need molds redone for a third time, need feedback

Oh. Can you show me where that’s indicated? My understanding was that he vets them but doesn’t audit them. To be fair, it would be dramatically difficult for him to audit them as one person.

How often? Just the one time when they pay his fee, or as it should be, or an ongoing basis?

It is mentioned in some his videos when he discusses the network. I have watched too many recently to pick out the specific video in which it was recently mentioned but it probably related to best practices. He has an entire team of people running things for him. He does answer questions in his youtube comments, so you can ask him directly.

Okay, I did said review. He does not audit, he relies on patient complaints.

@user490 Yes, that is what I figured, that it would not necessarily be better from a private provider. And I figured that it was most likely that Jabra/Resound that left off the existing mold when they sent it back.

t think that the molds will work this time, which would be great!!

Then, I wouldn’t need to come back for a while, except to get the fitting increased, plus, to get them cleaned out every couple of months. It would be great to learn how to do this myself, although that means getting the molds themselves cleaned.

@Hearing_Potential @Neville @tenkan @flashb1024

Thank you for the suggestion @Hearing_Potential

Thank you @Neville @tenkan and @flashb1024 for the feedback about Dr. Cliff’s provider list.

As long as you have no major dexterity or vision issues it is easy to do maintenance cleaning. You need a soft cloth to wipe off ear wax and moisture. A brush to gently sweep the mic holes clean (aids came with on or ask Costco for another). A vacuum, Jodi Vac is a commonly used option, is helpful too. You can also buy various cleaning fluids or wipes but I’ve not found I need these. Regular cleaning will keep wax from collecting. Depending on your specific mold it may be fully removable for deep cleaning. You will need to clean any vent hole and there are various methods.

Ask Costco for some extra wax guards as you are far away and to show you how to clean things and change the wax guards.

Don’t worry. I’ve been fighting for the perfect earmold for a year now. Strictly speaking - for 16 months now.

During that time I had got them a few times, because manufacturer not fulfilled my order requirements, i. e. they gave AOV venting instead of pressure vent, smooth surface instead of rough, etc.

They also didn’t informed that they can’t make 0.6mm diameter vent in titanium cShells, minimum is 1.0mm…

In December I’ve got cShell with UP receiver and 1mm vent diameter which worked somewhat good, if you don’t count the weaker noise isolation compared to the power domes and quite frequent sliding out that required me to push it by my finger towards the eardrum. Unfortunately, It crashed:

Recently, I finally have got no vent titanium cShell which sounds perfect, which means my assumption to go with UP and no vent was right , BUT only when I push it by my finger. Unfortunately, it keeps coming out, basically after just a few moments, which negates any usefulness of the benefits of the UP handset and the lack of ventilation.

I explicitly asked in the order form to allocate the space saved by giving up ventilation to lengthen the earmold and increase its contact area with the ear canal in the part closest to the eardrum. They didn’t do it, they made the cShell tip even thicker (WHAT?!)

I am annoyed, because I ordered this no vent UP cShell especially for the party.

Now I came back to P receiver in Unitron Power domes, which greatly isolate from noise, but lack of some clarity compared to UP receiver, because it has maxxed out gain over 2 kHz… It’s a pity that UP cannot be attached to power domes

Does someone in the forum has experiences with Microsonic or Hörluchs earmolds? They make titanium earmolds even in skeleton form factor, unlike Phonak. @Michael_Phonak I would suggest adding skeleton form factor to the Phonak offer.

Titanium Earmoulds by Hörluchs® – Precision Meets Design5

Discover custom titanium earmoulds by Hörluchs®: ultra-light, durable, hypoallergenic and crafted with 3D laser precision. Made in Germany.

Just a quick glance at those molds tells me they are not as deep as needed. They don’t have the turn towards the eardrum.

Maybe I am off but it it looks that way.

That is frustrating. There’s so little control over the final product.

I just received and am trying Hoerluchs titanium molds. If you have a local dealer or can go to Germany it may be an easy process. Here in the US, it was a long process. And they ordered a different and more costly variant from what I requested despite my including a photo so they could not mess up or so I thought. I’ve not had enough time with them yet, but they seem very nicely made. The UNIRIC smart collar is great if one has different brands of aids. You could email and ask what they recommend for using UP level receivers.

Nearly every mold has needed or could have had some rework. I’ve even had audiologists send them back because what came was not what was expected. No idea whether this is less of an issue with ear scans versus impressions but I suspect not.

Try emailing info@hoerluchs.com and export@hoerluchs.com and inquire as to what they can make deeper and more closed and for your loss? I can’t imagine there are many mold shapes they are unable to make especially as you do not want larger venting.

They may need to use Smart Sleeve instead of Smart Collar in order to make the mold deeper. That would leave a larger length of sleeve space from receiver end to mold end. Usually the sleeve is for narrower canals.

Do the UP receivers come without molds or only as cShell units? I can’t recall whether you’ve posted a photo of a mold that worked well for you.

@user490 said:

UNIRIC smart collar

FWIK, UNIRIC is for S or M receiver, so not for me, unfortunately.

Thanks for your informations, I do appreciate it.

@user490 said:

Do the UP receivers come without molds or only as cShell units? I can’t recall whether you’ve posted a photo of a mold that worked well for you.

UP cannot come without cShells. It isn’t available even with SlimTips, which is probably due to space constraints. UP are permanently fixed in cShell casing. The advantage of this solution is that they can adjust the position of even a large receiver in the ear canal. The disadvantage is the need to send it back to the manufacturer to replace the receiver, for example. For what I read now, I’m not sure if Hörluchs can make that subleties.

Look at the report for my:

1. titanium cShell UP with 1 mm vent (left) for Infinio and
2. titanium cShell P with 1 mm vent (right) as a spare for Paradise 90-RT - that mold holds perfectly but has only P receiver. That Paradise has got new life with very good sound quality, better than ever before using that cShell.

@Raudrive said:

Your good high frequency hearing throws fitters off. Going against the normal just might be what you like. I suspect that’s exactly what you are wanting but the establishment doesn’t want to give it you.

I don’t think there is someone against my suppositions, but perhaps if I understand correctly you has said it with tongue-in-cheek

@Raudrive said:

I like your thinking about closed acoustics if you can deal with it.

I analysed some things and there was interesting article and simulator by Xavier Delerce from France:

With very interesting web application at the end of the article:

Occlusion : quel gain ? quelles pertes ?3

Nous avons l’habitude en Audiologie prothétique de nous intéresser beaucoup plus à ce qui pourrait « fuir » de l’oreille lors d’un appareillage (il s’agit du phénomène de Fe…

And another interesting article from his blog:

Comme neige au soleil1

34, 35, 37°C au mois de juin… tout va bien ! Les derniers glaciers fondent dans les Pyrénées, et se décrochent dans les Alpes. J’arrête là ce climato-alarmisme pour me consacrer à un su…

Which has very interesting results especially fornmy ski slope hearing loss (the outstandingly best results are for earmold with no vent - uppermost, red graph):

Another screen from another article in the blog, which shows losing speech intelligibility and sound quality woth more open fittings for sloping hearing loss: