Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Looking for alternatives to Phonak Naida

This topic is closed.

14 replies6k viewsLast reply

Link to this topic

Hi everyone,

I was fitted with a pair of Phonak Naida CRTs and, well, I have not been that impressed so far.

I am going from a Resound Live 7 (or maybe it was 9, I can’t really recall). I actually liked that hearing aid, but think I could have gotten just a little bit better performance and much better reliability. I need something new in any event, because those just don’t last very long.

So I went with the Naida CRT because I like the low-profile aspect of the technology. However, my experience thus far has been that I am really not hearing any better and maybe even slightly worse. I’ve gotten them adjusted and will be going back for more, but at this point I’d be surprised if I really saw a sea change in how they perform. Some issues (like too much background noise) could probably be fixed, but at the end of the day I’m just not that impressed with my ability to hear with the Naidas.

Can anyone provide a suggestion of something different I should try? Audiologist suggested I try Phonak Solana CICs if I didn’t like the Naidas. I might give that a shot but I was wondering if there were any other RICs that I should be looking at.

I need a decent amount of power as I have a severe hearing loss that is pretty much flat across everything except the highest ranges, where it tails off. Speech recognition is pretty darn good in my left ear but pretty bad in my right.

7 people in this conversation5 min readJump to latest
Edited

Thank you for the response. You might be on to something there. I wore Phonaks way, way back in the day (pre-digital), but since then I’ve mostly worn Starkey and then ReSound. Maybe the Phonak sound just isn’t for me.

To me the Phonak sound was more mechanical sounding than the Oticon ’s I now have which sound very natural.

A huge amount of people say Phonak sound mercanical and Oticon sound very natural. Everyone hears differently but more and more people say that Otion are natural :slight_smile:

Maybe give the ReSound Versos a try; they do have a power option available for and .

In my clinical experience, it can be challenging for wearers to go from wearing resound to another manufacturer.

Each of the manufacturers has their good qualities and points! but we don’t all like the same things, so it’s important to try a few. Phonak might not be the exact right fit for you.

In reply to #5

@NaidaUP said:

A huge amount of people say Phonak sound mercanical and Oticon sound very natural. Everyone hears differently but more and more people say that Otion are natural :slight_smile:

And, up until this pair of Phonak Bolero’s I have, I said the same thing. I previously had the Oticon Synchros and really liked the ‘natural’ sound … I tried the Ambras about a year ago, and felt they had a mechanical sounds, but I am really pleased with the natural sound of these Boleros.

Hellothere,
The other problem with with your naida’s could be your audi just isn’t good at setting them up. A friend of mine has Naida ’s and at first he had a lot of problems with them and after repeated trips for adjustments he requested the Phonak rep be at his next session and the rep got them adjusted to his liking and now he loves the ’s.

My Naidas are great! I’ve only ever had Phonaks my entire life as the Phonaks have only had enough power for my loss but have always been curious to try Oticon aids especially the Chili but was told there was not enough power in them.

In reply to @russiandeaf

If you are looking for a powerful -type hearing aid that isn’t a Phonak, here are some suggestions that would potentially have the power to satisfy; For high power aids - Siemens Pure Micon, Starkey 3 Series RIC. For power aids - Oticon aids (any), Bernafon RITE (any), Siemens Pure/Ace, Resound Verso/Alera. There are lots of others out there, but those are the ones I would start with.

Hope that helps.

@HearingAidHelper said:

If you are looking for a powerful RIC-type hearing aid that isn’t a Phonak, here are some suggestions that would potentially have the power to satisfy; For high power aids - Siemens Pure Micon, Starkey 3 Series RIC. For power aids - Oticon RITE aids (any), Bernafon RITE (any), Siemens Pure/Ace, Resound Verso/Alera. There are lots of others out there, but those are the ones I would start with.

Hope that helps.

That is helpful, thank you.

I am intrigued by what people have had to say about Oticon and I’m also curious to try the Resound . I’m all for the natural hearing sound and would even sacrifice some of the super-fancy programming to achieve it (though I probably wouldn’t have to). Really the only problem I had with my prior Resound hearing aids were that they weren’t all that reliable, being .

First I am going to try to adjust to these Naidas a little more though. I’m still quite skeptical but I feel like I should give them more of a chance.

In reply to @dockristin

@dockristin said:

Maybe give the ReSound Versos a try; they do have a power option available for BTE and RIC.

In my clinical experience, it can be challenging for wearers to go from wearing resound to another manufacturer.

Each of the manufacturers has their good qualities and points! but we don’t all like the same things, so it’s important to try a few. Phonak might not be the exact right fit for you.

Hi dockristin, I’m curious why people have trouble switching specifically from Resound (if I’m reading your post right). I could see why switching from any manufacturer to another can be tough, but is there something about Resound specifically that makes it tougher?

I’m still having a tough time with these things. I don’t think they are programmed well and they just don’t sound very good to me anyways. I’m probably going back to the drawing board.

@hellothere said:

Hi dockristin, I’m curious why people have trouble switching specifically from Resound (if I’m reading your post right). I could see why switching from any manufacturer to another can be tough, but is there something about Resound specifically that makes it tougher?

I’m still having a tough time with these things. I don’t think they are programmed well and they just don’t sound very good to me anyways. I’m probably going back to the drawing board.

I don’t know why…I have experienced it with both ReSound and Sonic hearing aids, as have my colleagues. I don’t know if it’s a different sound quality or the way the hearing aids process sound, or if the brain just gets used to and likes one sound better than another, but it can be difficult for people to switch to another manufacturer.

I would say of all the manufacturers, I have had the most difficulty switching from ReSound to Phonak and Unitron…people complain that it’s loud or harsh and they do not like them as well (and yes, I do know my programming software and how to set hearing aids!) If switching them to Siemens/Rexton, I don’t get the same “UGH! too loud, i don’t like it!”, I get more of the “I just don’t feel I’m understanding as well as I was.”

It’s interesting. I wish I had the time to do the research on it!

@dockristin said:

I don’t know why…I have experienced it with both ReSound and Sonic hearing aids, as have my colleagues. I don’t know if it’s a different sound quality or the way the hearing aids process sound, or if the brain just gets used to and likes one sound better than another, but it can be difficult for people to switch to another manufacturer.

I would say of all the manufacturers, I have had the most difficulty switching from ReSound to Phonak and Unitron…people complain that it’s loud or harsh and they do not like them as well (and yes, I do know my programming software and how to set hearing aids!) If switching them to Siemens/Rexton, I don’t get the same “UGH! too loud, i don’t like it!”, I get more of the “I just don’t feel I’m understanding as well as I was.”

It’s interesting. I wish I had the time to do the research on it!

Thanks for the response. I really do think I simply prefer the Resound hearing aids. I don’t know if I can say that they are objectively “better” than Phonaks or other brands, but I have experienced some of the exact same things you are talking about. The Phonaks do sound too loud and harsh, and I’d add to the mix that they also sound too mechanical. I don’t know why anyone would prefer that over what I at least perceive to be the more “natural” sound of Resound, but maybe that is a subjective assessment.

At any rate, I’m pretty sure that I’m going to call off the Phonak trial and give the Resounds a try (I imagine I’ll end up trying the Verso with my hearing loss, but we’ll see what the audiologist says). I’ve been wearing the Phonak Naidas for two weeks solid now and my adjustment to them has been minimal at best.

Related discussions