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Phonak EON lab tasts are in from HearAdvisor

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Edited

Interesting. Will you continue using or slowly switch to NAL-NL3 for the testing @AbramBaileyAuD? Why does Hearadvisor use the manufacturer's proprietary prescription formula for the initial fit? Why not test how good the manufacturer is at meeting NAL-NL2 targets without tuning when programmed using NAL-NL2?

Edited

It was very interesting to see that the Eon's Sphere's scores for speech in quiet and speech in noise were lower than the Infinio Sphere for the tuned fit. Music streaming quality was also lower for the Eon Sphere vs Infinio Sphere. Why might this be? Could it be the switch to easyguard domes?

I tried to do the listening comparison of the two devices, but apparently there are no scenes where all devices have recordings.

Edited

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

@Hearing_Potential said:

Music streaming quality was also lower for the Eon Sphere vs Infinio Sphere.

Typically occlusion vs music tradeoff. Less occlusion (higher own voice HearAdvisor rating) is associated with reduced music sound quality (less bass).

In other words, the more plugged your ears are, the more bass you hear, and the better music sounds. My patients back in the day would always say music sounded so much better when they put their fingers in their ears (while wearing )... same principle.

Edit: To answer your question, it looks like there was more less occlusion with the EasyGuard Vented vs the Closed Vented Dome. So music quality should be lower.

Edited

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

@Hearing_Potential said:

Why does Hearadvisor use the manufacturer's proprietary prescription formula for the initial fit?

Because we are trying to find the most common outcome for the person who gets a very average clinical experience. We set the hearing aids exactly the way a novice or lazy clinician would on the manf first fit settings and using the acoustic setup the manf software recommends. No fine tuning to until the Tuned fit. Then to NL2, and yes, we plan to switch to NL3, though interestingly this negatively effects speech audibility (and our scores) due to changes in the gain prescribed.

In reply to @AbramBaileyAuD

So, the Eon Sphere was tested with an easyguard solution with less effective venting had poorer music and speech in noise performance than the Infinio (non-Ultra) Sphere with more venting?

Does the easyguard wax protection membrane worsen sound quality? Would this explain why the ratings for Infinio Ultra Sphere tested with easyguard domes were worse than Infinio Sphere tested with closed vented domes?

Sorry, might be getting my own wires crossed so posting this photo as my own reference.

I think the message here is consistent:

  • EON with EasyGuard = higher own voice score = less occlusion
  • Less occlusion = typically lower music quality rating

In reply to @AbramBaileyAuD

Was the reason for Eon Sphere getting a lower rating in Speech in Quiet and Speech in Noise the different frequency response of the two devices with less extended high frequency gain that the former? I note that feedback management rating improved at the same time.

Yes, likely that, but I haven't analyzed the results in detail myself. Probably a better question for Steve Taddei. (I can't seem to find his handle)

Thanks. You can learn more about it here:

HearAdvisor18VCCA Sabin

Edited

It was really interesting that with the blind testing I preferred the Infinio Sphere over the Eon Sphere for both sets of recordings. The additional high frequency boost made all the difference when it came to female voices and multiple talkers speaking at once.

What was even more interesting was that I was recommended the HearingAssist Control and Nuhera IQBuds Max devices as being even more preferred than both of these. I'm not sure why that is though. I listened to the recordings on their respective pages and they didn't sound at all like my preferred choices. Given that Nuhera device received the lowest ranking in the video presentation you linked in your post above I think there is a bug in the recommendations being made at the end @AbramBaileyAuD

When will Hear Advisor test the Resound Sensia?

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