Resound Alera vs. Future

I’m new to this and just trying to figure it out. Thank you for your response(s)

I found this forum today while researching the Resound Futures. I am scheduled for a hearing test at Costco next week. I currently have a four year old pair of Siemens Intuis Life. They were cheap but I guess I got what I paid for. They help a little but I am constantly asking my wife and others to repeat themselves. I can not understand my Pastors sermons and really have a difficult problem with TV movies. I am so glad I found this site before my visit as the information on the Futures is exactly what I was searching for. Thanks to all, especially Delmar, for taking the time to contribute.

Dave

@TXArchitect said:

I’m new to this and just trying to figure it out. Thank you for your response(s)

I’m sorry, I should’ve explained a little bit better. Neither hearing instrument will work with an inductive loop. The acoustic phone program is designed to enhance the mid range frequencies to make the phone work better. It is not capable of picking up any flux or induction electromagnetically.

Delmar

@tooltime47 said:

I found this forum today while researching the Resound Futures. I am scheduled for a hearing test at Costco next week. I currently have a four year old pair of Siemens Intuis Life. They were cheap but I guess I got what I paid for. They help a little but I am constantly asking my wife and others to repeat themselves. I can not understand my Pastors sermons and really have a difficult problem with TV movies. I am so glad I found this site before my visit as the information on the Futures is exactly what I was searching for. Thanks to all, especially Delmar, for taking the time to contribute.

Dave

Dave-

Give the Futures a try (if they’re audio-logically appropriate) and I think you be very happy.

Do some research on something called auditory degradation and Phonemic regression. This is where the brain becomes “out of practice” with speech. Hearing aids are able to help correct the X’s and O’s on the audiogram and get the information to the brain. What they don’t do is help the brain sort out the information. We measure this as “discrimination” in the evaluation. 90 - 100% discrimination is a lot easier to fix than someone who only can process 50 or 60%

There’s a lot more to this than what I posted. If you would like to shoot me a message I’ll give you my phone number and we can talk over the phone, if you would like to go more in depth on this topic.

Delmar

Delmar,
Thanks so much for that information. My audi also recommended just the 3 programs for now. Is the soft switching an option that just doesn’t tone when programs are switched?

Is there someplace where these are defined? I don’t understand what the difference would be in a Restaurant and Party program. I would think they both have the same loud background noise. What does a traffic mode do? And of course I don’t know why a person would want only one ear in directional rather than both.

@MVPinFLA said:

Delmar,
Thanks so much for that information. My audi also recommended just the 3 programs for now. Is the soft switching an option that just doesn’t tone when programs are switched?

Is there someplace where these are defined? I don’t understand what the difference would be in a Restaurant and Party program. I would think they both have the same loud background noise. What does a traffic mode do? And of course I don’t know why a person would want only one ear in directional rather than both.

Soft switching pertains to how the microphones work (switching polar patterns and Omni to directional) there is not a place I can think of where you can get this information. Other than registering to audiology online and taking Resound programming software classes. It’s really best to tell your audi what you’re expecting and they can build the appropriate program.*

The programs I listed are just a base to build off. Like restaurant has autoscope adaptive directional microphones with a minimal amount of frequencies in directional mode. Where party has fixed directional mode but can be set up exactly like restaurant with a high amount of frequencies in directional. There is no hard and fast rule to which is better, it’s really patient specific. The natural directional (one in Omni and one in directional) is like having Lasic surgery where one eye is nearsighted and when I is far (this is most likely your program number one now.*

If you want to send me a message I will respond with my personal e-mail and phone number and we can get more in depth. I have had patients get very in-depth about what does what in there hearing aid software and get in the way of a good fitting. Not to be rude but your audi has spent a lot of time learning this and works with the equipment 8 to 10 hours a day. It gets hard to explain every detail, there’s a lot to consider with every adjustment made and a lot of terms that will also need to be explained so you can start to have the conversation

Delmar

@Delmar said:

Soft switching pertains to how the microphones work (switching polar patterns and Omni to directional) there is not a place I can think of where you can get this information. Other than registering to audiology online and taking Resound programming software classes. It’s really best to tell your audi what you’re expecting and they can build the appropriate program.*

The programs I listed are just a base to build off. Like restaurant has autoscope adaptive directional microphones with a minimal amount of frequencies in directional mode. Where party has fixed directional mode but can be set up exactly like restaurant with a high amount of frequencies in directional. There is no hard and fast rule to which is better, it’s really patient specific. The natural directional (one in Omni and one in directional) is like having Lasic surgery where one eye is nearsighted and when I is far (this is most likely your program number one now.*

If you want to send me a message I will respond with my personal e-mail and phone number and we can get more in depth. I have had patients get very in-depth about what does what in there hearing aid software and get in the way of a good fitting. Not to be rude but your audi has spent a lot of time learning this and works with the equipment 8 to 10 hours a day. It gets hard to explain every detail, there’s a lot to consider with every adjustment made and a lot of terms that will also need to be explained so you can start to have the conversation

Delmar

Delmar,
Your explanations are really appreciated. Thank you so much and for the offer of additional assistance. I do trust that my Audi knows best. I am merely trying to learn about my new HA’s so I that I am more aware of their capabilities, so that I can communicate better with her. That way I can help her to help me.

I had no idea that one of my HA’s could be Omni while the other is directional. I will have to ask her so I know which ear to face toward conversation. thanks again

@laobai said:

Hello all,
I’m now the new owner of a pair of Futures, as of last week. However I have an issue similar to the ‘broken speaker phenomena’ described in this posting: showthread.php?t=8175; where whenever a sound gets high at all it sort of ‘rattles’ like a speaker with a blown cone, part of which is vibrating at a different rate than the speaker. Went back to Costco and it was adjusted by turning down the high frequency sounds, I think, and it made better, but the problem still exists. And I’m not convinced that this is the best solution, because then I loose some of the highs… (I wish I could program these myself and fiddle with the settings, but alas…)

Before this, I’ve only had a couple of songbird (digital) HAs and these didn’t exhibit this problem, but I’m a total n00b and totally lost.
Any advice on what the solution to this issue would be appreciated, esp with the Futures; I would think these would be tons better than the SBs, but at this point, I’m not sure they are. And anything I could tell the tech on my next visit might be helpful.

(Sorry if I’m violating protocol asking this specific question in this thread, but it seems to be Future-related).
-Lao

Can you post the results of your hearing test and also, what kind of dome or tip are you using (open dome, looks like a wagon wheel, tulip dome with two “petals”, or solid closed dome)?

@Don said:

Can you post the results of your hearing test and also, what kind of dome or tip are you using (open dome, looks like a wagon wheel, tulip dome with two “petals”, or solid closed dome)?

Thanks for the response…
solid closed dome (I think); tech tried open dome; didn’t make any difference. I have heard this phenomena (blown speaker) described elsewhere as ‘buzzing’. That might be an apt description as well.

250 500 1K 2K 4K 8K
L 15 20 25 50 65 60
R 15 20 30 65 70 55

• Lao

@Delmar said:

Dave-

Give the Futures a try (if they’re audio-logically appropriate) and I think you be very happy.

Do some research on something called auditory degradation and Phonemic regression. This is where the brain becomes “out of practice” with speech. Hearing aids are able to help correct the X’s and O’s on the audiogram and get the information to the brain. What they don’t do is help the brain sort out the information. We measure this as “discrimination” in the evaluation. 90 - 100% discrimination is a lot easier to fix than someone who only can process 50 or 60%

There’s a lot more to this than what I posted. If you would like to shoot me a message I’ll give you my phone number and we can talk over the phone, if you would like to go more in depth on this topic.

Delmar

I ordered a pair of the Futures to trial. My hearing loss was a lot worse than I thought. Word discrimination was 48 left 60 right and 68 when tested together.

@MinnesotaHIS said:

There are a lot of seemingly-random factors that go into which brands we work with. Business/financial reasons can come into play, but it’s not uncommon for providers to simply stick with the brands they know (and the reps they’ve developed relationships with). If you want to stick with ReSound you should call their toll-free number and ask them to point you to a local provider who carries their hearing aids. If you’re a provider’s first ReSound fit in several years they may not be in the best position to program your aids optimally. Going with someone who regularly fits ReSound aids will likely lead to better results.

I agree.

I would then call the professional to verify they sell that brand. When I went looking for Starkey aids, their site listed 2 local professionals. When I called them, neither one sold Starkey. Starkey’s toll-free number provided me with my current professional’s information.

Anyone have experience withnthe liberty aids from SAMs club…trying ric 64 and the audio that put me in them has left and new person doesnt seem to know the new product that well…came over from sears and they sell a different brand

Isn’t Liberty the only brand Sam’s sells? They should get up to speed quickly if that’s what they sell.

First I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I was getting frustrated with my new Futures and wondered if I should have ordered something else. After reading all the posts I am convinced these are the HAs for me. I want to continue with adjustment appts until I have them right.

Audiogram
Hz250……0500….1000….2000….3000.…4000….6000….8000
R…35………35………40………45………50………50………50.……55
L…50………40………45………40………45………45………60.……55
Speech Discrimination
R: 100% at 80db
L: 100% at 85db

History: 1987 Starkey analogue, 1995 Widex Sensos, 2003 Widex Divas, 3/2012 Resound Futures

The programs I currently have are
-Natural Directional
Directional mix R: very low, L: n/a
-Restaurant
Directional mix R: very low, L: very low
-Music
Directional mix R: very low, L: very low n/a
-Basic + soft switching
-Phone now
-Streamers
-Phone clip

Questions:
I had trouble getting the adjustments right. At first I would put my fingers into my ears and I hear much better. So my audi changed the domes from the ones with holes to solid ones. That didn’t improve things so I wonder if I should go back to the original domes. What is the difference acoustically?
I kept thinking the microphones are pointing backward, probably when I was in program 1, as I had trouble hearing the judge in a courtroom, the person sitting next to me whispering to me on the left, my partner calling cards softly at the bridge table 3 feet in front of me, people with soft voices in group settings. When I get into my car and start the engine I think I forgot to put on my hearing aids as the engine sound is so low.
Last appt I had my audi increase the volumne 3 or so steps in the 1000 – 3000h range and it has helped. I also asked my audi a lot of questions based on things I have learned on this discussion thread. Many of these questions my audi didn’t know and it was too late (here on the west coast) for her to call the technical assistance. So we made notes of all the questions to ask at my next appointment.
Would any of you be able to shed light on the following:
Noise Tracker II is set: per environment. Should I try another setting? What would I expect from: mild, moderate, considerable, strong?
What is the directional mix? Mine are all very low. What do the other settings do? My audi didn’t know and was reluctant to change this.
What is the DFS Ultra? What do the different settings do?
What is Expansion? What do the different settings do?
Are there any settings you would suggest I try out?
I would appreciate any input you may have.
Thanks,
Paula