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Phonak EON E90 Sphere vs Signia MaX 7

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I currently use the Signia Pure 7IX T with P receivers

I struggle with speech in noise, and I am looking to upgrade to either the Phonak EON E90 Sphere or the Signia Max 7.

My audiologist says I should consider the HP or UP receivers.

The main places where I struggle are in restaurants and bars.

I mostly go to restaurants with a group of 4 people, sometimes up to 10.

Can you take a look at my and let me know which hearing aids would be best for me?

Thanks.

Which one do you think is a better fit for me?

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If you're having to listen to up to 10 voices then a set of Phonak Eon's with a couple of Roger on Sphere devices linked in a multitalker network is going to provide the most comprehensive solution for you listening needs in a very noisy restaurant.

If you mainly attend with 4 talkers, Signia's real time conversation enhancement has three individual beams which isn't quite enough to highlight all of the talkers you attend with.

Consider using technologies to improve high frequency consonant detection (both options offer this). Go with the most powerful receivers you can get.

I don't know what your word recognition scores are, but you may also be a candidate for (as your probably already know).

I have the original Sennheiser hearing aids from Costco. They are Phonak tech and a version or two before the current Phonak. I find that the restaurant setting works quite well. I have another custom setting that is kind of restaurant on steroids that was named Loud Noise by the Costco Tech who created it for me. They both make an incredible difference in my ability to communicate in loud restaurants, and they improve my over all comfort level by reducing the volume of all background noise by a lot.

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

10 people or more in a restaurant is a stretch. It only happens 4 times a year, and when there's a big group of people, mini groups form.

My regular nights are 2-4 people, including me.

I read that the EON E90 Sphere tends to pick up the loudest voice in the room, regardless of where it is. That could be a problem.

My : Right ear: 80% at 75 / Left ear: 100% at 80 dB HL / 50% at 60 dB HL for both ears.

My audiologist and my say my hearing loss has been relatively stable all my life, so they don’t think a is necessary/recommended.

I've met many audiologists who say I could benefit from a CI until they see my history of .

I think the Eon Sphere + a Roger On Sphere will do the trick for you across most listening situations. Adding another one in for those 10 person dinners should cover your listening situations completely.

Your word recognition score are much better than I'd predict from your puretone . Has auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder been ruled out in your case?

Has auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder been ruled out in your case?

I'm not sure. I'll ask the audiologist tomorrow and the on Tuesday. I'll let you know what they say.

I once asked an audiologist if I could have an auditory processing disorder, and she said the tests didn't show anything to make her think that. The test was just a speech and hearing test.

Is there a specific test I should ask for?

Well, based upon your puretone I'd expect a 50% speech score at 80dBHL for each ear, rather than 60 for both ears. That's a significant discrepancy.

With your hearing thresholds I wouldn't expect acoustic reflexes to be present even if you had a so that isn't going to rule out . I don't know of any testing that would rule out ANSD with thresholds as high as yours other than an .

Consider asking your audiologist to perform an audiogram with narrowband noise as a the stimulus instead of pure or warble tones to see whether it results in much better thresholds that are more consistent with your word recognition scores.

@Hearing_Potential said:

Consider asking your audiologist to perform an audiogram with narrowband noise as a the stimulus instead of pure or warble tones to see whether it results in much better thresholds that are more consistent with your word recognition scores.

Interesting. Never heard about that possibility.

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

@Hearing_Potential said:

I don't know of any testing that would rule out ANSD with thresholds as high as yours other than an ABR.

Consider asking your audiologist to perform an audiogram with narrowband noise as a the stimulus instead of pure or warble tones to see whether it results in much better thresholds that are more consistent with your word recognition scores.

I’ll try to get an and an with narrowband noise as stimulus.

Thanks for the suggestions.

In reply to @Bimodal_user

@Bimodal_user said:

In ANSD first of all, the WRS is worse than you could deduce from a relatively good audiogram.

This is not necessarily true. Puretones may not elicit much of a neural response whereas the broader frequency bandwidth of speech may elicit a response at the same or a lower presentation level with . ANSD is a spectrum disorder and has many different potential causes/sites of lesion, hence the highly variable presentation. A significant disparity between word recognition scores and puretone thresholds is a better sign that further investigation is required.

Here are yesterday’s :

  • Right ear: 80% at 75
  • Left ear: 85% at 75 dB

The graph also appears to show approximately 50% recognition at 55 dB HL for both ears.

Both tests were done with live voice (not recorded).

That probably means your audiologist isn't able to adequately monitor the loudness of their voice. It should be performed using recorded speech.

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