I am trialing a pair of Resound Linx2 9’s. I was outside cutting some wood. It was snowing (yes, snow in Michigan in October), and I had a hat on. I’ve done this many times with my Oticon Agils with no problem whatsoever. One of my hearing aids started crackling or maybe lots of static is a better way to describe it. I thought maybe it was due to moisture so I put it in a hearing aid dryer as I do every night. It was in there all afternoon, all night with no change. I put it back in there for a few hours today. Still no change. I’m beginning to wonder if it is something else. The crackling was constant and much louder in program one (auto program) then the others. It only does it when there is noise. If it is completely silent, there is no crackling. It still works… Just lots of background static. If i turn it down enough, it isn’t as loud and makes it usuable. But that’s hardly a solution!
Any ideas… it’s driving me crazy and it’s really making me think about purchasing these. I’ll be calling my dispenser tomorrow!
Aside from that, recognizing my own biases, I would stay with your Agils before going with a Resound device. The Agils have significant technical superiority even above the newer Resound Linx2 9s. If you are needing new devices, the only ones that actually have the same or better capabilities than Agils are Oticon Nera2 Pro, Alta2, and Alta2 Pro. For an Agil wearer to buy Linx2 9s would be like a 2010 Cadillac driver “upgrading” to a 2015 Kia.
Aside from that, recognizing my own biases, I would stay with your Agils before going with a Resound device. The Agils have significant technical superiority even above the newer Resound Linx2 9s. If you are needing new devices, the only ones that actually have the same or better capabilities than Agils are Oticon Nera2 Pro, Alta2, and Alta2 Pro. For an Agil wearer to buy Linx2 9s would be like a 2010 Cadillac driver “upgrading” to a 2015 Kia.
I’d like to know if other people concur with this? How are we (as consumers) supposed to know what is good and what isn’t. Are there unbiased reviews out there? What I do know is that I’ve been wearing hearing aids for over 40 years and these Agils have been the best hearing aids that I’ve had to date. Is the Resound brand problematic?
Its not that the resound brand is problematic. But its like Kia or Hyundai. It is set up as a “value” brand. Whereas Oticon is set up as a “Luxury” brand. I just ran into the same thing yesterday. I am in the process of buying another company and I was sitting in with the Audiologist I am buying it from at one of his offices. One of the patients that came in was wearing Agil minirites they have had for 4 years. They said their insurance buys them new devices every 4 years (verified) so he wanted new ones. So this Audiologist sold him some Sonic Innovations Charm 40 minirites (because he got them on a deal with Sonic - he bought 100 of them for $10,000 - about $100/ea). Needless to say we had a ‘discussion’…
Resound Linx2 9s are currently Resound’s top of the line device. It has one advantage over the Agils. It is “made for iPod” so you can control it directly with an iPod app without any additional gizmos. To do so with the Agils you would need to get a Streamer Pro 1.3. But the Agils have a wider bandwidth, 2 kneepoints, a lower noise floor, a more personalizable fitting rationale, physically more durable casing, amplifiers that have less distortion, receivers that are more moisture resistant (and smaller), better , longer battery life. Some of that is technical, I know. But truly, the only thing the Linx2 9 has is the iPod compatibility.
As far as research goes, Oticon’s fitting rationale is literally 4-6 years ahead of any of the other brands. Now, that being said, there IS an element of personal preference here. If you LIKE the sound of the Resounds, there is some value in that. But be very careful with what you “like” because it is subjective. If you do any objective verification tests, you will find the Agils more capable of clarifying speech. If you want to improve even more over the Agils, look into Alta2.
By the way, the only reason I am biased is because I program them all and I get to see the various levels of satisfaction with every one of them, and the reactions don’t come anywhere close to a properly programmed pair of Oticon premium devices.
And I have to say, I am pretty darn good at getting people who are dissatisfied with other brands to be reasonably happy. But even after that, I can still put Oticons on and their jaws drop.
What would recommend for me? My hearing has probably not changed since the results below. I will go back to Costco if they have something that will work well for me. I get along very well with the Costco version of the Resound Verso. We adjusted the restaurant program to max out soft speech and minimize noise. We had adjusted it a couple of times and I said, what would happen to the sound if we just maxed it out (soft speech up, noise down on the sliders). This was on the page with the 7 or so sliders for fine tuning. It works really well like that. When I change to the restaurant program I can hear the background melt away and the voices at my table come up enough that I can hear them about as well as everyone else.
But they go out of warranty soon and I’m wondering if I would be better off with a model that does frequency transposition or compression? Would I be a good candidate for frequency transposition or compression and which of the Costco brands would have the best results? I understand Costco will have the Phonak Q model soon, and the Linx2 model a little after that. So between the Bernafon, Rexton, Phonak, and Resound, which would you recommend?
Don, you might trial the new ones but it sounds like you really can wait. You say you’ve good results with older ones. Why fight success? Next year will likely have a KS7.
Mine don’t do frequency transposition and with my slope, I’m wondering if that would be a big step up for me. I can wait and probably will wait until the new models hit, but, planning ahead.
I don’t know. You still have hearing – even if it sucks at the higher frequencies. If you have a strong enough , I would think you are getting sounds. Rasmus remarked on a somewhat similar loss that the person would benefit from an aid rather than BiCross. That makes me think you’ve got a decent solution and your experience seems to be bearing that out.
I will go back to Costco if they have something that will work well for me.
If you went to Costco today, they would probably set you up with the Trax 42. Not sure if that would change once new models arrive. Seems like time is on your side for making a decision.
That entirely depends on the Costco you go to. Our local Costco doesn’t fit very many of the Trax42. It is almost entirely KS6s. Just their personal preference, and the limitations of their knowledge, I suppose.
technologies will not help you very much because your slop is too steady. I find that those types of tecnologies only really make a difference when the highs are completely gone, OR if there is a sudden drop off, say from a 20-30 loss at 2k to a 70+ dB loss at 3k. Or something similarly extremely, like that. Manufacturers that use frequency lowering a lot like Phonak and Starkey like it because it makes it really easy to control feedback. These companies are typically willing to sacrifice speech clarity for reduced feedback.
In your case, if you have the money, I would recommend Oticon Alta2 or Alta2 Pro (Usually $6000+ for a pair). If money is a constraint, I would recommend the Oticon Nera2 or Nera2 Pro. If you are really looking for low price, then the Rexton Trax 42 at Costco is a good value, if it is programmed correctly.
But looking at your , always remember that no matter what model you go with, you are still going to miss roughly 1 out of 5 syllables, or 15-20%… So still plan on trying to look at people when they talk.
Justin, you really like the Oticon line. Seeing that Costco has the Bernafon clones, wouldn’t you be recommending that over the rest that Costco offers?
I’m always torn on that. From a hardware standpoint, yes I would recommend the Bernafon over Costco’s other options. I just don’t have a lot of faith in their experience programming them because I hear of them being recommended so rarely. I know that Wayne at our local Costco doesn’t have a clue about programming a Bernafon. It shouldn’t be that hard, but a lot of dispensers/ make programming hearing devices so much more complicated than it needs to be.
We’ve all seen the ongoing discussions on this forum about the struggles in finding a dispenser who knows what they are doing, and a lot of “knowing what you are doing” has to do with your comfort level with a particular product. So generally, I would recommend a dispenser who really know what they are doing with a Rexton over someone who is going to screw up a Bernafon.
Complicated answer? So, I suppose, if your Costco dispenser is confident with the Bernafon, I would recommend it.
Thats a good point. Half the time I forget they even have Bernafon because there is so much discussion on here about the Trax 42 and the KS6.
