Bose Hearphones

I left a comment at this board in 2016 regarding Oticon IIC’s and streaming problems which led me to buying the HearPhones from Bose and I am mostly delighted with them with 2 caveats:

1. the first problem is the counter-intuitive set up, Once paired with your phone and all settings explored, the idea of simply controlling overall volume, treble registers, and direction, seemed initially too simple a solution (what about 16 channels???), but with a bit of trial and error they are way more functional than any hearing aid I have tried, and music is wonderful again. (they must have a hidden curve applied to more than just 2 equalization channels (bass and treble) and the software sculpts the rest by estimating hearing loss profiles).
   I seldom use the directional hearing, preferring to get all round sounds from my environment except in a noisy restaurant when directional is a plus. (easy to switch using the buttons on the wire going to right ear)

2. the second problem has been the neck ring, which is way less uncomfortable than the Oticon streamer and loop - that streamer gets stuck to my skin or between layers of clothing - I hated it.
   but the BOSE neck ring is awkward with t shirts - it gets twisted and sometimes pulls on the wire and the earpiece of one or both ears.

Eventually after a few months I discovered that the neck ring fits under my white shirt collars (so I wear that shirt more often now) and if I turn up the collar, it looks very chic.
Sometimes I wear the collar outside of my turned up jacket collar - and that makes it extremely stable and I get compliments on my look.

I do get fatigued with wearing the BOSE rig, much as I love it, My own endurance battery for the ring and the ear pieces lasts about 6 hours. the juice inside the rig lasts longer than that. I remember fatiguing from my IIC’s too, after so many hours I like to take them out - to get a break from some continuous sensation I guess.

My solution to needing a break was to get the Nuheara IQ earbuds. These are cheaper than BOSE hearphones, and the setup is like a hearing test at the audiologist, but I found I had to fake not hearing higher pitched sounds during the test (i.e. if I barely heard a tone, I would pretend not to hear it until it repeated 3 times) this approach gave me a functional curve for the treble parts of the sound equalization.

Nuheara IQ’s take some getting used to as well but they need no neck ring or loop to connect to your blue tooth devices. The sound quality is good, and several bud tips come with these. Some people think they look cool, but my wife says the Bose rig looks way cooler especially behind the collar but also even when hanging twisted with my t-shirts.

So I find that when exhausted from BOSE Hearphones, I can switch to the Nuheara IQ’s and vice versa. Charging one and wearing the other covers my day and I really don’t use my OTICON IIC’s any more than once per month or if I expect the day to be windy.

With Nuheara, (which I am wearing at the moment), my ears feel a bit like I have some cotton stuffed in them but I hear quite well. A slight tap on the left ear starts and stops music or answers a phone call - it’s other tap type controls seem a bit goofy, while the discreet buttons on the BOSE right earpiece wire are more logical and consistent with the other BOSE products.

The OTICON IIC’s have one feature that I really miss with BOSE and NuHeara - NO WIND NOISE. Both the Hearphones and the IQ’s stick out from my ears and pick up all the wind. If I am faced with a windy day and obligations out of doors, I will use the IIC’s and leave the streamer at home - answering the phone like a regular person.

Like the man said YMMV. But I hear better in noise, and with more clarity in almost every situation, with my hearphones than with my aids. And, my HAs are the “best” and as well tuned and adjusted as possible.

Try them. Give them the full 30 days. If they don’t work for you, return them. Nothing to lose, lots to gain.

For example, after 20 years I’ve given up subtitles and closed captions. And, I no longer have to pretend that I heard what others said.

The hearphones cost $500. In the last 20 years I’ve probably spent $20,000 on aids and audiologists.

Still not available in Australia. Don’t know why.

That does seem strange. Wonder if it’s a regulatory issue? I tried them and didn’t find them any better than my hearing aids, although they would be great for streaming music.

OK, I guess I need to qualify what seemed to be an unqualified endorsement of the hearphones.

Main pro - I hear better
Main con - they look goofy

Both are important to me. So I remain in the market for aids that let me hear as well but are far more discreet and with a lot of control over adjustments. I believe I will have to wait for a future generation. Or, perhaps something new from Bose.

Curious what your audiogram looks like. Certainly seems like you could match or exceed the hearphones with custom molds on a decent directional hearing aid. I think the main advantge the Hearphones have for reducing noise is that they have a more occlusive dome than most people have on their hearing aids.

I have custom molds and new directional aids. I will post my audiogram here soon when I figure out how. My hearing problem is pretty vanilla. When I asked my last audiologist what the best aids were for me he said any of the new good ones should work for me.

Still, I do have a moderate hearing loss that severely impacts my life and work.

Once again, I find the Bose hearphones superior to any other remedy I have tried. And, I have tried almost everything that has been recommended on this forum.

What do you get for battery life between charges?

Bose says 10 hours and I assume that is about right. My usage is erratic on and off, switching between the hearphones and aids, quiet periods w nothing. I also travel a lot and carry battery packs for charging.

I appreciate your opinion on this product. I have some Bose SoundSport wireless ear buds and I find their sound signature to be pleasing to me when I listen to music from my iPhone. I have had my Oticon Opn S 1 aids for a couple months now and the sound quality of streaming music from my phone is laughable (podcasts and phone calls are acceptable). I was tempted to try the Hearphones before I bought the new aids (only my second set), but didn’t. I don’t think their appearance in public is a detriment as so many people are using ear buds of some sort nowadays. I think I may have to give these a try

Bass? What’s that? If streaming music through my hearing aids was the only means I had to listen to music I would cease to do so. Thin, tinny, lifeless, and just downright unpleasant. “Stream music from your phone” should not be used as a selling point or feature of hearing aid advertising.

I guess I am lucky I never had an ear for music. All I care about is being able to understand speech and understand the words that are being said. Music to me is just something to take my mind off my tinnitus.

I recently bought Hearphones, as a backup for my HAs and as an alternative for specific situations–loud restaurants (haven’t tried yet) and walking in a noisy city (traffic noise). Excellent results with the latter! The first two days I wore them I was ecstatic about them. On later trials I’ve had some trouble with whistling feedback, which I assume has to do with the fit-in-the-ear, or the volume, although I’ve adjusted both. I still believe they are a remarkable product that perform very well as an alternative to HAs. At the price, a much better deal than buying a second set of HAs! I learned of them via the excellent new book, “Volume Control,” by David Owen. See your public library–most have it.

For me, they were much better than my Siemans $6000 HAs but not as good as my new $6000 M90s. But I really didn’t like wearing them. The feedback is horrible if you don’t have the right size ear buds and really jam them tight. They were great for noise cancelling on flights