Connexx / Rexton ( KS7 ) for newbie

@MDB said:

Many on the DIY forum have a positive relationship with their audiologist. Mine didn’t encourage or discourage but found it fascinating and I’ve been able to share some things with her that she was unaware of.

And I hope to also have a positive experience. I’ve only just got them so the relationship is only just beginning. So far so good.
That’s a nice positive thing about your audi. I’ll see tomorrow for my first follow-up visit how touching on the topic might be received. I certainly have lots of other things to ask about so we’ll see if there’ll be an opportunity to get near that topic.

My report from my first followup visit was that it just didn’t quite feel right or there didn’t seem to quite the opening to broach the topic. I’ll be back in a couple weeks so maybe then. We’ll see.

I am a newbe here. I am considering the HearSource devices because of the ability to easily obtain both he hardware and the software for DIY self programing. I like the KS7 for its features and its price. Where can i find the hardware and the software to self program the KS7?

I got my stuff from Buyhear. Works great.

You mention Hearsource. They sell a programming box that has not been tested (to my knowledge) with major-brand HA’s. I’d be curious to know if it does work but some people would be adamant that it would not. But they haven’t tested it either.

Get your audiogram entered on this site though…it’s easy. (no obligation of course)

Oh. You’re back. Keep reading starting at that link. As I said in the prior post there was a seller that used to participate here but he’s gone. The newer HiPro would be vastly more expensive but you can find them on ebay and also a seller on here called Euroear.

Well…this is my thread and I’ll resurrect it if I jolly well want to
To catch up new readers…I’ve long since been doing my own programming. Yes. I said it. Programming. Take that some reviewer guy.

So recently in another thread Volusiano hinted something about doing in-situ in the fitting software where I thought hmmm…I seem to think i saw that in Connexx.

So I finally got around to connecting everything up and there it is in First Fit. Ok so I guess I have to blow out everything that’s currently there…oh well.

It seems that how I was doing things before in demo mode was that of course I couldn’t see these screens in their active state. Now I have. I went through it all and there are definitely differences from the audiogram. I set points for where I could hear and all and then made sure to check the box using it after all that. Off I went.

So…then I looked into Critical Gain. Hey look I can do this too. Clicked the buttons on each side and all I got was some static for a brief period and then off. Same for both sides. It seemed to be done. Clicked the boxes to use it and all. I now see the shading in the graph.

But…what does it do?

TIA

One thing you need to learn is how to import and export programs in Connexx. That way you can get back to previous settings. I save major changes as V1, V2… You can find good videos and a manual for Connexx 7 and the changes in 8 are minor, though documented. When you run Critical Gain, it measures leakage of your ear mold which results in feedback. So, if you change earmold style, it is wise to rerun this, which means you should also delete any Fine Tuning. The Connexx software has a lot of adjustments, but other than some fine tuning of some frequencies and maximum power output, I find the first fit pretty good. Oh, depending on your audiogram the software may suggest using Frequency Compression (FCo), which moves those shaded out frequencies to a lower frequency you hear better. If you don’t have problems with speech understanding using FCo, I think it is a good thing. That said I only use it on the Universal program and not TV or Music.

If you find a place that works fairly well for you, run with it for a few weeks and see how it goes. The toughest adjustments are speech in noise and banging dishes.

Thanks again.
@MDB talks of using FCo. He has the same HA’s as me.

Yeah I sometimes joke with the spouse when the spouse says they didn’t hear something on the tv…well hey maybe you need to get your ears checked. The spouse doesn’t like that

Although…shows these days and what with dolby digital 5.1 surround both of us get frustrated at the pounding not-so-background music that it really interferes with hearing the dialog. We mostly just use the stereo speakers in the tv itself. So I’ve adjusted the audio output to be compressed rather than the natural 5.1. It helps a little. I’ve had some success with going through a 5.1 amp setting the output back to natural which then at least spreads some sounds out (as it should). I might even try disconnecting the surround speakers and just hear dialog out of the center.

There is a Reverberant Room program to select, but it seems kind of silly to have 5.1 surround and then compensate around it. Our church is a big reverberant room that I never liked, so I quit going. Surely there is no price for that. I am with you for keeping the sound simple. My wife likes to tinker with Concert Hall and Stadium settings because they are there I suppose. I watch football with no sound and she thinks that is nuts.

I have been wearing hearing aids for 35 years and probably needed them 20 years before that. First time I went to an audiologist for hearing aids, she could not believe I was functioning. Getting old is not for sissies.

I am now using the Signia NX 13 7p and self fitting. My idea of fine tuning is making the piano sound better. If the restaurant or party is too loud maybe just leave.

It’s not so much compensating “to have 5.1 surround” as it is to be receiving it from the supplier which is from the producer. I use a satellite tv supplier. They get the shows. The shows are made with all the 5.1 etc. The supplier forwards that on to me. If I don’t have a 5.1 system then all of that sound seems to get crushed down into (stereo in my case) whatever your outputting the sound from. So I use the compression on the receiver to at least remove some of the wide dynamic range that all of the supplied 5.1 would take up.
That’s why if I use the 5.1 system then the sound gets properly distributed to where it’s supposed to go leaving me better able to hear the dialog coming out of the center. It’s then that I wonder about not even having the surrounds playing but the 5.1 system will still be slicing and dicing the 5.1 signal, as it’s supposed to, entirely unaware that an actual speaker is not actually playing what’s being sent to it.
I suppose that could be thought of as silly but the spouse doesn’t notice anything sound related other than the previously mentioned “how’s the volume”. 5.1 is nice to get the ambient sounds around and echoes and whatnot. But really I don’t use it all that much. It’s another device to turn on and all that. Yeah I know first world problems.

I’ll give it a whirl when the shows return after the Olympics. Just center. See how it comes out.

I’ve got some Connexx programming / workflow documentation. If you wants, anybody, PM me!