Oticon or Siemens?

@macs65 said:

I tried a pair of Phonac Brio and was not thrilled after several adjustments and 12 weeks I returned them.

I recently went to two other retailers, both had indicated that my left side is worse than the right which is a new development.
The first retailer is suggesting Oticon Alta with two micro molds. The second suggested Lyric which is out of my price range when I look at the cost over say 10 to 15 years. She then suggested Siemans Pure 7mi (no micro molds).
The Siemens are $1000.00 more than the Oticon. She said we could go with a lesser valued Siemans unit, but for the differance in cost the top line would be a better value. This provider is sending a letter to my family Doc requesting a refferal to an E.N.T. to determine why the differance from R to L is out of the normal range. She said she would have an issue with selling H/A until this examination was completed. This provider is salaried, the first provider is commissioned. I was not provided with any reading by either retailer.

Any thoughs from forum members would be really appriciated about your experiance and or the quality of the mid range Oticon compared to the top line Siemans units.

I don’t think Oticon Altas are mid-range aids, but I could be wrong. I was told they’re pretty much the top end, especially the Alta Pros! I do have one acquaintance who tried both the Siemens Pure and the Oticon Alta Pros. She ended up purchasing the Alta Pros because she said the sound was more natural with Oticon than it was with Siemens. I have no personal experience using the Siemens so can’t comment. I did, however, try the Alta and the Alta Pro for my aided ear. Maybe it’s because I only wear one hearing aid at present, but I didn’t find there was any real difference between the two. Now that I’m looking into getting a second HA, I may end up regretting my decision to go with the Alta and NOT the Alta Pro, because apparently the Pros are much, MUCH better at helping with speech in noise, which is becoming more of an issue for me lately. Ultimately, though, what other people think should really be largely inconsequential in that only YOU know what you’re hearing with hearing aids on, and only you can decide which brand of hearing aid sounds and works the best for you!

I believe hearing aid providers are required to refer a person who has a significantly different hearing loss in each ear to an ENT. This is done to rule out any structural abnormality as the cause, such as otosclerosis or an acoustic neuroma. The ENT will likely refer you for a CT scan or an MRI to see what’s going on.

Good luck with your decision-making!

Kerry

The Alta Pro are the top end at this time, but like everything else some day they will be replaced by something even better. I just got back from a movie and the streamer pro works great in the t-coil mode, for the first time in a long time I could understand the speech. And the music and other noisy was moved to the background at a level that was enjoyable.

@Doc_Jake said:

without knowing your audio-gram it would purely be a guess…
if would also help a lot to know your life-style. business meeting, loud restaurants, retired, etc…
I would go custom molds either way.

I was not given an audio-gram this time around. I did post one last July but am unable to locate it. Both ears were pretty much the same last July, however the left has gotten worse.
The lady that conducted the test last week sent the result to my family Doc suggesting a visit to an ENT Doctor. I am retired, have problems with constant ringing, high sounds, wifes voice, restaurants are a problem, male vocies are fine without H/A.
The person who suggested the Oticons also suggested ear molds, the second person I visited said the molds were not needed for me. When I tried the phonac H/a I had an ear bud that was large and blocked the normal ear sounds, (my voice was difficult)did not like that at all, they replaced that bud with a softer style and it was fine. Do molds also block out the sounds that I could hear with the soft buds. Sorry don’t know all the proper names for H/A parts.

Since you had problems with background noise the last time around, I’d suggest the 7’s vs. 5’s as they’ll have more noise reduction.

I probably posted in the wrong place, Digital hearing aid section. title “A long road and not over yet” Would appreciate advice and comments. I am trying to decide what to do next.

-250 500 1000 1500 2000 3000 4000 6000 8000
R 60 …55 …55 …50 …60 …70 …65 …65
L 70 …60 …50 …40 …55 …65 …65 …60

You really can’t go wrong with either Siemens or Oticon. The technology both offer is really good. If I had to choose, though, I would choose Oticon based on looks. I like the design and look better than Siemens. I use Oticon’s Bluetooth technology as well and it does awesome. Oticon, just like resound linx, has made their hearing aids compatible with the iphone, which is a huge plus as well. Oticon is also focusing more on the brain now with their technology when it comes to hearing, which I think is a step in the right direction.

I would say that it really depends your lifestyle. Each manufacturer has different perks. You may also want to consider which provider you go to. If you like a specific store and they only offer Siemens and they aren’t that good with Oticon, I would go with Siemens. Having a good provider to help program your hearing aids is a huge thing that a lot of people look over. You’re going to be with that person likely for the life of your hearing aids, so you want to have a good relationship and someone who knows what they’re doing. If you struggle with know who to go to, you should do some research online. I saw this link on here a while ago and I know it was a good resource for me: http://www.hustonhearing.com/consumer-guide54

— Updated —

You really can’t go wrong with either Siemens or Oticon. The technology both offer is really good. If I had to choose, though, I would choose Oticon based on looks. I like the design and look better than Siemens. I use Oticon’s Bluetooth technology as well and it does awesome. Oticon, just like resound linx, has made their hearing aids compatible with the iphone, which is a huge plus as well. Oticon is also focusing more on the brain now with their technology when it comes to hearing, which I think is a step in the right direction.

I would say that it really depends your lifestyle. Each manufacturer has different perks. You may also want to consider which provider you go to. If you like a specific store and they only offer Siemens and they aren’t that good with Oticon, I would go with Siemens. Having a good provider to help program your hearing aids is a huge thing that a lot of people look over. You’re going to be with that person likely for the life of your hearing aids, so you want to have a good relationship and someone who knows what they’re doing. If you struggle with know who to go to, you should do some research online. I saw this link on here a while ago and I know it was a good resource for me: http://www.hustonhearing.com/consumer-guide