Has anyone tried the iHEAR Max?

Would love to try these if they were available in the UK !

Drew.

I am on day 3 of a pair of IHEARHD; so far I like them. Programming was straight forward, but a little lacking in controls. I have worn aids for about 25 yrs; the past few years a pair of Embrace RIC’s. Before that several brands of CIC, I like CIC better.

I returned the iHearHD’s due to the proprietary batteries ($4/3) only lasting 4 days vs the advertised 9 days. In fairness though, I had the volume cranked up to the maximum. I exchanged them for a pair of iHearMax and am now on the 4th day of use. They were harder to program just right, but their excellent customer support was able to assist. These use regular 312 batteries, are more comfortable & seem to be better built.

I have since returned the iHearMAX’s as well. Just couldn’t get them to sound as good as my 3 yr old Embrace X-Mini RIC . The HD’s sounded better, but their proprietary batteries lasting only 4 days was a “no go”. Looking at checking out Costco.

I have typical age-related “wear and tear” sloping hearing loss with normal hearing in the lows, dropping off at 1500k down to 50 dB loss. The MAXs are truly outstanding hearing aids in all respects! The performance is outstanding with no complaints. I used the USB programming kit, which was straightforward. Took me 15 minutes to program them - EASY.

After running through the programming which is intuitive, the aids worked well. I programmed them a few times because I could, and because I wanted to experiment. The algorithms running the MAX’s are very good. The sound quality is great for speech and marvelous for music. Speech in noise was not the problem it had been using other aids. Up and until the MAX’s, I’ve been a 10-year wearer of Phonak’s best hearing aids (think $5,998 a pair) - I would go with the MAX’s every time given the extraordinary price (I believe $349/ea now).

No more appointments or costs that come with a dispenser or audiologist – a most aggravating and costly facet to hearing aids.

Easy setup, comfortable to wear and lots enjoy. I love music, and the MAX’s beat virtually every aid I’ve ever tried (maybe 10 different brands and models in ten years). Remember, with any new hearing aid, there is an adaptation period that takes a week or so to get used to the particulars of the aids. These are no different and it took a week, but it was a week well spent.

I did keep them – as they say, no-brainer!

The iHEAR HD batteries should last about 9 days with normal use of 14 hours/day and turning off at night. Some people forget to turn off at night, and even wear them during sleep because they are comfortable inside the ear. If you do not turn off the battery at night, the battery life is reduced to 5-6 days. FYI, the patented battery module for the iHEAR HD is also an acoustic high frequency booster and also earwax filter. Many of our customers appreciate the combination of invisible wear and advanced self programmed sound processing for about $300.

The iHEAR MAX uses 312 size batteries. It has a versatile digital sound processor with advanced options to match most premium digital hearing aids on the market. Sometimes it takes time (and skills of our professional support) to find the optimal sound processing. We thank you for trying the iHEAR HD and iHEAR MAX and hope that you give our new versions we released last week a try.

I have to admit, it sounds rather promising. I spent $6,200 for a pair of Widex Uniques RICs and had them now for 15 months.

Do you really think the Max could help me based on my audiogram? Or do you think these are for those individuals with only moderate loss in hearing? Lastly, are they really allowed to call these “Hearing Aids” and not personal amplifiers? Are they FDA allowed to label them HA’s?

Marc, Thank you for your public service announcement but I wish FDA clearance was as simple as you state- being FDA registered means the product and the manufacturing facility are regulated and must comply with strict standards and regulations- and demonstrate Quality Management System that must be adhered to by every employee and vendor.

Class I devices have a very low bar to meet, which is why there is so much crap on the market (like failing hip replacement hardware, untested stents that kill people, etc.) The required form is relatively simple, and the requirements are pretty basic. There’s also no inspection requirement, though the FDA is allowed to perform inspections; at this point, FDA is so understaffed that it’s hard not to get clearance.

I’m not saying that your product doesn’t meet high standards, just that saying “FDA Cleared” for Class I devices is relatively meaningless in the scheme of things.

@chatteremail said:

Class I devices have a very low bar to meet, which is why there is so much crap on the market (like failing hip replacement hardware, untested stents that kill people, etc.) The required form is relatively simple, and the requirements are pretty basic. There’s also no inspection requirement, though the FDA is allowed to perform inspections; at this point, FDA is so understaffed that it’s hard not to get clearance.

I’m not saying that your product doesn’t meet high standards, just that saying “FDA Cleared” for Class I devices is relatively meaningless in the scheme of things.

BTW, it’s not even clear to me that air conduction hearing aids require premarket clearance (i.e. FDA review) other than some kind of required notice.