Binaural Hearing Aids for Profound + Moderate Loss

The telecoil is mostly passive. It only operates in the presence if the magnetic properties of old fashion phones or in a room designed for it. I doubt you’ll notice it. If you are in an auditorium that has it, you’ll probably see it as a benefit.

This is pretty exciting. I have moderate to severe loss in both ears (see audiogram), kind of better than your right ear and worse than your left. I’m wearing Phonak Audeos now which are about three years old, and I hear pretty well with them. Do you think it is worth trying Kirkland KS8Ts? --Steve

@jleslie said:

But we did try to pair the hearing aids with the app on my LG phone again…and they paired…and have been working correctly since then today

If you have future problems, the way to repair is to remove the app, unpair anything left; then do a full reboot and start from the beginning. It seems to happen from time to time to all brands of phones and aids.

Steve (simring), my layman’s observations are that your audiogram is considerably better than mine with your largest loss at 90db. Mine is at least 100db. I believe that I observed that the KS8 has wider frequency range and higher amplification than any of the other 4 I tested or others that I investigated. I’m suspect that my loss made the others distort at the edge of their amplification range. Maybe not. The KS8 has more leeway with its stated 110db amplification…and speech is very clear to me.

Also, and most important for me…as the title of this forum chat says…I believe that I need to have some transfer of speech from the Profound loss side to the Moderate loss side. That was what I have been investigating from the beginning of my search. You’ll see that I have attempted this by fooling the hearing aids into thinking that I was using a phone and have their various telephone modes perform this function. The KS8 is the only one that actually provided speech to the other ear between the hearing aids in their default automatic mode. To be fair, I believe some of the others implied that they did too. But I could never achieve that result with them. The KS8’s did this automatically from the get-go.

From your audiogram, it doesn’t appear to me that you need this crossing speech so much as your losses are similar in both ears. Rexton’s (KS8) tech support will tell you that this ability really helps everybody, and I’m guessing it probably does. Also, your loss is below the amplification level of most of the hearing aids I looked at so this doesn’t appear to be an issue. Therefore, It’s hard for me to specifically say that the KS8’s will help you better than your current aid. I would ask however, why have you decided to look into this matter. To satisfy your question, perhaps you should make an appointment with Costco, they take quite a while to get, and try the KS8’s out. I could have said that in the first sentence, but I prefer the long-winded approach. Let us know after your trial as others have requested that this forum chat be continued.

The KS8 is the 312 or 13 RIC version of the current/latest Signia or Rexton hearing aid. I think the bid-by-bid eBay guy sells them, if you want to do the DIY route. Otherwise available at a much higher cost at independent hearing aid offices. Costco is the cheapest way to get that model with full service.

@StevenS said:

It takes forever to get an appointment there.

Initially true. When you have them, it has never taken me more than 10 days to 2 weeks to get adjustments. If it has a problem like an aid dying, I just show up and get taken care of when the fitter is free for a few minutes.

Don, That’s very useful information. I like Signia, which I guess is Siemens. I have bought aids on discount sites like BuyHear, but never on Ebay.

Could you explain “bid-by-bid” or direct me to a site that explains. What is involved with DIY or can you send me to a site. My experiences with Costco weren’t bad, but it is “economy coach” service. I like to keep up with the latest technology, but obviously I cannot do that and pay full price. Many thanks.

–Steve

I would like to confirm something that KenP said a awhile ago because it has confused me and probably others. Much is said about connectivity to your cell phone. Most of the available Android phone manufacturers’ use the cell phone strictly for controlling your hearing aids without streaming of phone calls or media. The is great as it eliminates the need to carry an additional remote control device. And the new apps perform more functions than the old remotes.

When they do this they have not been using Bluetooth, rather they use sound waves outside of normal hearing range. My Connexx Rexton Smart Direct app that I use with Costco KS8’s does this. It’s the latest in a series of apps that they have, with each new one having more features than the prior. There is a setting in the app that allows you to adjust the volume of this signal from Low to Medium to High. The notes about this setting say: “To control the hearing aids the app must send a signal through the smartphone or tablets loudspeakers. Due to the large variety of loudspeaker outputs we included an option to reduce or increase the signal even further if the volume control of the smartphone or tablet is not sufficient.”

They still go through a “pairing” process which confuses us, as it is not Bluetooth pairing. That’s why you should NOT use the regular Bluetooth pairing process, but rather let the app do the pairing directly.

I wish that I had known the details of this when I frustrated over trying to pair my LGv30 Android Phone to the KS8’s with the Smart Direct App. The hearing aid fitter and I were unable to do so at the demo appointment or again after I received my KS8T’s. I began looking into getting a different Android phone thinking that would help. Luckily I did get them paired at the local T-Mobile store by just trying again. Perhaps the sound deadening of the Hearing Centers room reduced the high frequencies too much. Anyway I did not adjust the apps “Broadcast Level”, which is set at Medium by default, as I did know about it.

To finish. This Smart Direct app has worked properly since then, without requiring another pairing. It just reconnects every time I turn the hearing aids or app back on.

Hope this helps others.

You are correct for the hearing aids and app you are talking about. However SOME Bluetooth hearing aids use LE Bluetooth from Android phones to control the app. Not all Android phones work. You can check out the discussion I had with Z10 almost simultaneously with your post. This stuff is messy.

My thought is that Signia is unique in sending sound to the phone. If you think about it, they aren’t using the receivers as double domes would attenuate that dramatically. Instead, they must be using the mic on the aids. A mic can be a limited speaker. That would require a reverse circuit to the mic and a mic that was suitable for such activity.