How to quantify a comparison molds to domes?

true enough... If the price is $40 then that's not so much more than the price of plain old receivers

but the other thing is the lead time. If it takes 2-weeks to get an appointment, then whatever time it takes for manufacturing and delivery, then another chunk of time to coordinate the appointment for 'fitting'.... that may not be dollars, but it's a huge cost if during that time I have a broken wire.....

Yes Costco do them, but it's not usually 2 or more weeks to have molds made for most, but anyways having spare parts in this case receiver with fitted dome untill the molds are made is nothing, you get a better fit to your loss plus with the canal lock very little if any movement unlike domes, I think your overthinking this, all this talk of is it deep enough/too deep, aimed in the correct direction, the seal and vent size correct or not, is on verge of paranoia! to the clinic this is just a very simple thing to have done, yes there's time's when things don't go to plan and maybe the molds need to be redone, but it's not common, once you have used molds you won't want to use domes again, have you considered DIY projects, you could save a lot of your time not worrying about appointments etc

If you find the hollow slimtip occluding, you'll likely find the cshell too occluding. They come with a remake warranty, so if they are not comfortable you can have them re-done. Take note of where your current ones cause discomfort because the lab can also compare new impression against old tips if given the serial number.

I don't find mine too occluding (in terms of hearing my own voice)

As it is, they are a little bit occluding in terms of blocking the ambient sounds (and the aids don't reproduce them strongly enough to make up for it)

It's almost more about just having something hard and inflexible in the ears... that's why I'm open to doing everything I can to give the domes a chance

@bradw said:

It's almost more about just having something hard and inflexible in the ears...

There are other choices like super-soft silicone molds if you can go outside Costco. Mine are comfortable, and if the receiver ever has to be replaced then my audiologist can do it.

They come from a 3rd-party company, Microsonic in my case. I'm tempted to say that if an audiologist offers molds from a 3rd-party company, it's an indication that they're serious about their work.

@x475aws said:

They come from a 3rd-party company, Microsonic in my case

I have considered the possibility of going the route of third party molds eventually...

I had looked at that company a while back I think, but had forgotten about them specifically. At the time I was focused on finding a source for trying "aftermarket" titanium molds

Anyway, browsing their site this morning I see a very long list of style options. Of particular interest are their open-fit options. Seeing those really circles me back to the question that originally prompted me to start this thread.... and taht is how to quantify.... so I really wonder where their very open molds fit into the performance and comfort spectrums, along with the vented domes, etc....

molds are probably 'good enough' for me, but I wonder...might the molds be more comfortable overall? Might they offer better acoustic performance making my speech understanding and overal hearing experience just a little better?

...and no this is not grounded in paranoia. That would imply that I'm afraid that someone is trying to trick me. That's not the case at all.

It's an engineering mind looking to optimize a system that, from my perspective, sometimes looks a little 'sloppy' in some regards. Am I getting the best bang for the buck? I might be getting the best experience...or I might not. In the end I understand that "good enough" is sometimes just that...but if I can get a little better with a reasonable investment, then why not do it?...and perhaps even more than that I'm trying to learn a little something along the way. Maybe I'll most likely learn that the investment for improvement isn't worth the payout and there's a reason for the empirical approach.

@bradw said:

Might [molds] offer better acoustic performance making my speech understanding and overal hearing experience just a little better?

Pretty definitely more consistent performance since molds fit only one way and they stay put (though I’ve heard that’s not so for some people’s ear anatomy). Staying put in the canal also protects against losing an aid.