Do you use Phonak AutoSense OS or various settings?

Haven’t read Oticon stuff recently, but that wasn’t my take. My impression was that they were set them up and forget about them. Where are you getting your impression from?

If you don’t want AutoSense to function it can be turned off in the Target software.

Something that @Um_bongo wrote recently to someone else.

Could be that it is other brand though.

https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/how-does-one-find-objective-data-for-hearing-aids/54494/50?u=blacky (member archive)

This i had in mind from @Um_bongo

But I remember someone saying somewhere about one manufacturer who explicitly doesn’t want automatic switches ‘like that other one’ and that brain should do the work.

I forgot who that was (manufacturer) exactly, was under the impression it’s oticon. Could be wrong.
I like phonak automatics very much, but if not, it’s definitely not chose them then.

It would be pity to have to move to another brand if everything else is good. To make the auto switching optional should be an easy firmware fix.

@jfranek43 said:

A “HOLD” button would be the best - to hold the current program, mode, etc.

This is what the manual programs are for.

OK.
I only know what I read, and I understand that the AutoSense has about 9 programs, but not all are available for manual selection.
But I could be wrong. The documentation available on manufacturers’ websites is poor and not explained properly.

All are available to put into manual but you have only 3 available slots for manual program.

So if you don’t want autosense, you can program only 3.

With autosense, you basically have 9+3. But those 9 switch automatically.

But maybe problem lies somewhere else.

@jfranek43 said:

It would be pity to have to move to another brand if everything else is good

Autosense is phonak’s core feature and main reason to pick it, so ‘everything else is good’ I must say that I’m a bit confused what ‘else’ would be and why you wouldn’t go to some other brand that gives you more than 3 manual programs for example.

But, back on the topic. What’s the issue that bothers you?

Autosense has 9 programs and each of them can be adjusted. Unfortunately they cannot be turned off completely (in terms that you disable car program only for example), but they can be set up very very similarly if needed.

So, what is the reason you don’t like it? What it does wrong that clashes with your needs and environment?

Maybe it could be adjusted to fit your needs, who knows

Ah I’ve reread again and saw that you’re only gathering information so hopefully you didn’t buy them yet.

So, to rephrase - what bothers you about autosense?

And second, definitely - look into another brand also.

And different form maybe.
I wear ric aids with domes from the day one, and I can only recommend them, tiny wire that no one notices from front or side until I tell them it’s there.
Since virto is black, I guess you’re not aiming for complete invisibility.

And new tech was released with resound (has 4 manual, only noise cancelling is automatically per environment but can be disabled afaik). Also we expect oticon to give something late October/November. I think they’re also non automatic.

But new stuff comes to ric devices first (and they have bigger battery and longer working hours), ite wait usually several months to get it. So you might want to look into it.

Also starkey, I think they don’t have automatic by default, you can choose that ‘edge’ mode to turn on automatic recognition of environment (I guess then noise cancelling, but I didn’t peek in programming sw long enough to remember).

Hey, so I figured out that you can turn off the auto sense and have the aids preset to various modes. That worked okay. I ended up ditching the marvels and switch to ITC oticon opn though and have very impressed with their automatic setting. I literally didn’t have to make any adjustments when the audiologist first got them and have been very pleased with them. Autosense on the Marvels was just too blatant and disorienting in my experience.

If fitter didn’t adjust the aids properly, so thinking about which level of noise cancellation you need for each environment, or do you want to hear soft noises in quiet, or what you want to hear when streaming

I’m talking about features that modify hearing experience, not basic gain, but also, basic gain per program can be set up - afaik only with phonak/unitron, everyone else just build on top of one gain graph.

We were talking in forum about how that’s called, I think it’s something like ‘single base’ vs ‘multiple bases’ for programs. So basically, for phonak, each program can be totally differently set up, like you could have one where you have no bass, another where you don’t have any treble, third where you have no mids (ok, depending on your audiogram and curves, but general idea) - such stuff can’t be done by features, it’s about gain per frequency.

Just a tip, in case you have insanely different environment which could need different gains per frequencies, and not just adjusting features like - noise reduction, protection from sudden noises, hearing soft noises (like fan), changing directionality of microphones and so on.

One more thing. New aids are connected with BT to programming device that is called Noahlink wireless. I didn’t bother my fitter with so many things, I’ve adjusted bunch of those features on my own, sitting in my room with my noises and removing those I don’t want to hear.

It would take a bunch of notes and visits to get it to that point. Like I guess he’d do it in steps, I did it also, but it took me 30 seconds to realise I need it maxed out. One example.

Also, test how I handle noise is easy, I just open my kitchen window while I stand up from my computer. I can test, and sit back and readjust.

Since you’re digging so deeply, maybe you want to look into that

I definitely don’t have problems with hearing autosense switching to wrong programs all the time.
Yes, I do hear when it switches from quiet to noise when I wash dishes because everything is quieter. If that’d bother me, I’d remove noise cancelling for autosense noise program and create manual program for noise when I really want high noise cancelling eg when I’m outside.

I also hear when it switches between streaming and non streaming since I don’t have same options enabled, but a lot of that can be resolved if you either take detailed notes and your fitter knows what they’re doing, or you just do it yourself. I was lazy to make notes so I’ve learned how programming sw works.

I’d also highly recommend getting sw for all aids you might be interested in, without programming device, and just check what’s available and how it works. Since there’s not much data available especially how things work, and some of us learn faster when they see what’s really happening when you move this or that, even without hearing the change applied to HAs, you’ll still learn a ton about different possibilities with different aids and/or manufacturers.

Is it easy to find the fitting software?
I have noticed there is a complete section dedicated to DIY on this forum, but people ask where to get it, and no answers. Maybe private messages.
I would try the Phonak - Target version for Marvel, and Oticon Opn Genie 2. Maybe also for Starkey Livio.
Can you help with links?

@Shelldrake said:

. I don’t like the idea of disabling all notifications on the phone, they are there for a reason.

You can disconnect streaming part of BT connection and leave only call part of BT connection. Until you want to stream something.

That way notifications come to the phone, but not in your ears nor interrupt something.

If you’re lazy to go through menus, there’s an app you can setup on homescreen as a widget and it’s 1-2 clicks away. I’ve created a thread about it, so should be easy to find. Name is Bluetooth audio widget.

I often just completely disconnect regular BT, since I don’t get unannounced calls anyway.
So not killing the BT completely but only connection with HAs.
Since HAs have 3 connections, 1 regular (the one for calls and streaming, the one I kill when I don’t need it) and 2 low energy (LE, they’re for communication with the my phonak app, so changing volumes, programs etc, I don’t kill that at all)

Thanks, certainly something to consider playing around with a bit.

So I trialed Phonak Virto Marvel 90 ITE and hated Auto sense and Bluetooth iPhone issues, now I’m trialing Resound Quattro 90 ITE they just sound so tinany and not natural, what are Oticon’s like? Hear some say they make static sound in noise cancelling situations, what is the streaming sound and app like ?

I work in an Amazon Warehouse where I am pretty much surrounded by conveyor and machinery noise most of the time. I need to manually lock mine in speech in noise with noise block set to maximum. In calm environments I like to hear as much as I can with omni directional