Fitting range

As X-Builder said the published fitting range is the manufacturers recommended loudness in decibels that the aid can handle and corresponds to your loss as measured by your fitting professional.

The fitting range, is of course, just one of the parameters that define an aids performance. Ed

Also note that fitting ranges as shown in data-sheets; the selection page of the software … and in the capability of the actual fitting screens … can differ.

The fitting range can be optimistic or pessimistic compared with the aid’s true capability.

I eventually decided that this was a legal liability and/or marketing issue … don’t recommend an aid if there is any chance of it being too weak … or … do recommend this aid even if too weak as we want to beat the competition.

Some firms fall into the over-optimistic camp, others into the over-cautious camp.

@xbulder said:

The only way to see if the instrument is really capable is using speech mapping
sadly most people dont use it, it is a powerfull tool

eh?

Surely if we’re only talking gain requirements, any REM system can show the max output of an aid. REAR with speech only gives you and averaged maximum speech response which is handy for tuning, but doesn’t exercise the full potential of the system.

@Um_bongo said:

eh?

Surely if we’re only talking gain requirements, any REM system can show the max output of an aid. REAR with speech only gives you and averaged maximum speech response which is handy for tuning, but doesn’t exercise the full potential of the system.

Speech mapping IS NOT REM!!! So the idea is to have soft sounds audible, conversational sounds confortable and loud sounds loud but not uncortable. All this have to be fitted
within the patient dinamic range right? With speech mapping you can see how much
you can squeeze right and if you use the right machine, you can fine tune the aid to maximize SII, right? Rem does not provide any of this information right? (someone correct me if Im wrong please)

@xbulder said:

The only way to see if the instrument is really capable is using speech mapping
sadly most people dont use it, it is a powerfull tool

Thanks.
but I want to know what’s the meaning of your said"speech mapping".
can u speak Chinese?

@EnglishDispenser said:

Also note that fitting ranges as shown in data-sheets; the selection page of the software … and in the capability of the actual fitting screens … can differ.

The fitting range can be optimistic or pessimistic compared with the aid’s true capability.

I eventually decided that this was a legal liability and/or marketing issue … don’t recommend an aid if there is any chance of it being too weak … or … do recommend this aid even if too weak as we want to beat the competition.

Some firms fall into the over-optimistic camp, others into the over-cautious camp.

very agree with your point. in china,some manufactures extend the aid’s fitting range arbitrarily. for the marketing reason.

@pvc said:

Here’s a picture of fitting range charts:

thank u very much

Thank you for sharing the picture with us , i also don’t know the meaning of fitting range , by looking at your picture , now i can understand it a little .

Okay here’s red lines drawn around the fitting range of Open Dome - Plus Dome:

Sorry, the picture was lost.

Specific example again (color coded);
Open Dome - Plus Dome = Blue,
Custom Mold - Power Dome = the entire gray area,
My Wife’s right ear Audiogram = Red.

See how her low frequency loss is outside the Open Dome/Plus Dome fitting range but still inside the Custom Mold/Power Dome fitting range?

Sorry, the picture was lost.

@pvc said:

Specific example again (color coded);
Open Dome - Plus Dome = Blue,
Custom Mold - Power Dome = the entire gray area,
My Wife’s right ear Audiogram = Red.

See how her low frequency loss is outside the Open Dome/Plus Dome fitting range but still inside the Custom Mold/Power Dome fitting range?

pvc, that was a Great explanation on how to read the chart! i couldn’t figure out what that dark gray sloped line was all about. After your explanation it dawns on me that it’s the line border between the open and custom mold domes fit. If only they had made the border on the outer edge of the shaded area a bit darker like that dark gray line maybe I’d have figured it out. hahahaha, geez

edit: with my data, I’d be borderline with an open dome/standard recv’r at 3000hz and above, what’s the difference in shape/color between the 3 recv’rs(are they colored green/mustard/black as the charts depicts it)?

I’m sorry for going off topic here, I’ll stop it now if I’m in err

@xbulder said:

Speech mapping IS NOT REM!!! So the idea is to have soft sounds audible, conversational sounds confortable and loud sounds loud but not uncortable. All this have to be fitted
within the patient dinamic range right? With speech mapping you can see how much
you can squeeze right and if you use the right machine, you can fine tune the aid to maximize SII, right? Rem does not provide any of this information right? (someone correct me if Im wrong please)

Apologies if this comes over as patronising, but:

Speech-mapping IS REM, more specifically it is Real Ear Aided Response with a superimposed target derived directly from the speech banana/kayak, and the residual dynamic range of the patient.

The veracity of speech mapping has been established through various empirical studies, but the requirement to provide loudness growth equivalent to the ‘banana’ is unproven, especially as Dillon and others state that audibility isn’t improved by level differentiation - and if you take TV adverts as a guide, compression clearly gives the appearance of a ‘louder’ signal.

As with all measures, taken in isolation, as good as the system is, you can’t state that it is the only answer verbatim - especially as people’s own loudness and experience may differ enormously. I use the system to judge the physical fitting - then vary the findings based on the patient response.