I just ordered Costco's Sennheiser Sonite Rise. mixed feelings about the experience so far

No HAs are gonna be any good for outdoor concerts, especially loud rock music unfortunately.

I didn't really expect them to be either. I was looking at it more as a science experiment of sorts....seeing what they'd do. See if they'd help brighten the highs for example, in such a noise intense environment....or help understand speech from my wife standing next to me, etc....

Hello, I have read this thread with a lot of interest.

I have moved up from one KS10 (phonak paradise 90) to two Sennheiser Rs then the Rise. I had a similar experience to you in Costcos Madrid. Firstly, my first few appointments were with a young lad who insisted I tried the Phillips which I hated, and so I asked about the Sonite the Rise and he said he had no infomation about it, so it had to be Sonite R. I was using a custom mold, and he insisted I didnt need one. I live 600kms north of Madrid so insist on 2 appointments when I go. I was sent away with open domes. We did a couple of virtual appointments but i was unhappy with the fitting. I went back to Madrid and ordered custom molds. But, they called me a few days later to say that I couldnt have similar molds to the one I was using and it had to be the new C-shells, which i agreed to. I went back to Madrid to try them and hated them. The audi was not able to get anything remotely satisfactory, I was horrified at the sound, which he took as confirmation of his orginal comment that I did not need molds. Then he told me that the Rise had arrived and said they would allow me swap and refund the money for the molds. Of course I had to hand in the Rs and make a new order for the Rise. He also commented that I would not be allowed to keep having more and more appointments. This, to me, is appalling. Anyway, when I went back 2 weeks later to get the Rise, he wasnt there. I saw an older man, clearly more experienced, and I had the feeling from a different centre. I will add that neither of them did the REM despite my requesting it every time. He was able to get a fair fitting with domes but not ideal. Costco told me they couldn't do a different mold. When I got home I put the mold from my KS10 on the new Sennheiser. So now I have one mold and one dome. Not ideal, especially seeing as I have not adjusted in Target. Like you, all this took many weeks and appointments. I am thinking of going to a local audi to try to make progress which will likely be cheaper than travelling 4 hours to Madrid.

To sum up, I notice an improvement from the KS10s, battery usage has not been a problem. I especially notice I can hear better streaming phone calls. Still can't understand the TV, very often children, people who annoying speak very softly and make me want to shake them. I need to get hold of the updated Target and have a tweak. I hate, but really hate, the music program, and I love live music. But one of the worst things is when you go to a shop that has background music and it switches to the music program and I instantly can't hear speech. Grrrr! Any tips on how to adjust the music program gratefully received.

Thanks, Dawn

There are articles on here about what programming is needed to get a good music program

Hi. I think they were the 9030 - whatever Costco sell. Partly I think the audiologist just didnt do a good job of programming. But also the app is rubbish compared to the Phonak app, you don't have any power to make ajustments, the 2 HAs are linked and only have one button which means you have one side for volume and the other side for program change. The Sonite Rise charger has its own battery too that holds a near full day charge. They just seemed very inferior to the Sennheiser. Of course part of it could be that I am used to Phonak.

my hope is that the Philips will be able to offer more gain on the HF end of things with vented or even open domes. My understanding and hope is that teh new Oticon processing is good enough, like Phonak's, so that I don't really need to change programs for different situations.....and if that's the case I don't really care if the app is rubbish must past my initial set-up period....

and Yeah I feel like the one button thing is an odd choice. Even though I never bothered with the app when I was using my Phonal Marvel's, I did from time to time turn them up or down a notch. Not very often but I did...

I like the 9050 MFI app better than the Rise BT Classic app. Also, you can change settings to operate HA buttons independently. Not sure how that works with volume on the single buttons…I have to look at the software. I have not spent any time in that section since I do not use buttons.

an early update with the Philips 9050.

It's early but I think I'm going to like these better.

Generally, the sound quality is way better! Music sounds great by comparison to my old aids and to the Sennheisers. I want to say that I can hear most everything better. Improvement in speech understanding is a little less pronounced. I think it's a little better, but it's hard to say. I'm not getting everything, for sure... but occasionally I feel like I'm getting stuff, though, but then I still have to ask them to repeat, and by the time I get that out, my brain has figured out what they said. I don't remember that really happening with the Sennheiser aids.

I'm fitted with a double-vented bass dome on the right and a vented dome on the left. The left is giving quite a bit of feedback and just a hint of it on the right. I think that today or tomorrow I'm going to put a double-vented one in place of the open dome to see how that goes.

I haven't talked on the phone a lot through them, but I do think that the Bluetooth connection is probably going to be more stable with my new Pixel 11 phone than the Bluetooth Classic is with the Sennheiser aids. Also, there's some good integration with the phone's system. Battery state of charge always showing with the Bluetooth connection, an always-on widget in my notification panel to shortcut to program selection, and a few other things that the Sennheiser and phonaks don't offer. There's not quite as much customization and features available with this one, though...tap control, and a few other things that I don't really use much anyway.

Other than that, I have a few minor tweaks needed...too much hair noise, and the right aid is dropping off completely for a moment with some but not all notifications from my phone

Sound from a speaker to the aids is going to be lousy. Get a tvlink or auracast transmitter if your aids have it.

Do not buy the high priced hearing aid mfgr branded tv links. Aftermarket from places like Avantree is going to be $75 USD or less. Amazon is a good source.