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As promised, we finally tested Fortell hearing aids...

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Edited

And for those who prefer video:

HearingTracker22Fortell AI Hearing Aids: Testing Results from Our Audiologist

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I'd really like to see the Audeo E Sphere and Oticon Reveal devices retested with power domes if that is going to be the standard used for measuring speech in noise performance. Giving people an idea of the best level of performance possible with each device would be the fairest comparison.

And in direct response to your "fairest comparison" comment...

The logic at HearAdvisor is to try to approximate what the average user might experience. That is why we use the decision trees1 to try to land on the most common fitting patterns. Unfortunately, in the US, many clinics take a click-and-go approach to fitting and it's not uncommon for providers to simply use the manufacturer's first fit recommendations, acoustic setup / gain recommendations and all. For our tuned setup, which we weight less (as the data suggests fewer people are fit this way), we attempt to match and we increase occlusion as needed.

In the case of Phonak, a more occluding dome was not needed to accomplish NAL-NL2, nor was one recommended for mild-to-mod loss (by manf software). So this is why we plan to run more tests to see how they compare with similar occlusion, though this would be outside of our standard rating approach (due to logic above). With Oticon, the venting was actually similar to Fortell, but we haven't released that data yet.

In reply to @AbramBaileyAuD

@AbramBaileyAuD said:

You mustn't have read the article :)

Yes, I read the article. I still think that testing using power domes to check for maximum possible performance would still be a good idea. Perhaps limiting testing to what is recommended for an N3 isn't comprehensive enough. Perhaps using an N4 audiogram for the flat losses to test speech in noise performance with a power dome might be more useful to a greater number of hearing aid buyers with greater degrees of hearing loss than the mild-moderate loss represented by the sloping N3 audiogram?

Either way, it is good to have some independent testing.

There are a billion tests we could (and hope to) run, but for the moment, we are running as many tests as we can (given our bandwidth) and trying to produce results that are applicable to the broadest set of people with hearing loss possible.

Please note that none of the above is intended as criticism. Like for like comparisons are always going to be the fairest ones because there are fewer different variables that can affect outcomes. This isn't me saying anything about the quality of your testing which I have been impressed with and praised in the past.

I'd really like to see Fortell retested with a vented dome rather than an open one.

@Hearing_Potential said:

Like for like comparisons are always going to be the fairest ones because there are fewer different variables that can affect outcomes.

Trust me when I say we hashed this out ad nauseam as a team... We had to pick between fair comparisons (matters more to the manufacturers) and giving the average consumer guidance on realistic fittings / performance expectations.

@Hearing_Potential said:

I'd really like to see Fortell retested with a vented dome rather than an open one.

And as stated in the article, we plan to test with open just to be able to comment on the situation, and for those that are wanting to make the direct comparison. At the end of the day though, there will always be some degree of venting/occlusion difference (not to mention device position, mic position effects) so it can never be 100% apples-to-apples in terms of comparing just the hearing aid processing. And even in a fully-controlled venting/positioning scenario, you're still dealing with things like automatic mode program switching time delay differences and other such things.

@Hearing_Potential said:

This isn't me saying anything about the quality of your testing which I have been impressed with and praised in the past.

You're good. Been a long day and just trying to respond as quickly as I can. Sorry if I seemed short. Not trying to sound dismissive or anything.

Interesting reading!

What level of hearing loss is the Fortell aids focused on?

(didn't see anything about in the article... though was intrigued by the 6.0 out of 5.0 metric :grin:).

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

ah I'm not surprised occlusion was noticeable on that loss with a "power dome". im surprised they recommended a "power dome" fitting for this. obviously that would get the best noise reduction results but surely a vented dome like you/others suggest would be better. occlusion is something that can make people reject hearing aids entirely.

manual control only - i like this but i can imagine many would hate it, especially techphobic elderly like my parents who can't even use their phones at the best of times.

still incredible that the tech can seperate frontal voices from general babble. curious how good this is for more severe and flat losses.

Oh now this'll be great if you do get a set, some real world based reviews will be great to read!

In reply to @MattHdeJonge

A couple of questions.

Technical-wise, do your clinics fit earmolds?

Location-wise, what are plans for the DC area? Kind of surprising to see nothing upcoming here, when you have or will have two locations in the NYC area, south Florida, and Bay Area.

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