What brands of hearing aids outperform Costco's?

Interesting and helpful. What do you mean by a music program? Would it play Chopin directly into your ears? If you play guitar, does it pipe your own playing directly to you?

I’m not going to try and talk you out of moving on from Costco, since you have audis nearby and Costco is now several hundred miles away. But some expectations-adjustment may be helpful.

As Consumer Reports suggests, there may not be much difference between brands in terms of reliability. Costco’s aids are built by other companies and are not less reliable generally to aids sold by others, as reported to CR by users. As you’ve discovered, eyeglasses may be termed plug-n-play where hearing aids are more plug-n-pray. Not that a miracle is needed, but aids need a lot more ongoing attention than eyeglasses.

Today’s digital hearing aids have very limited life expectancy. Even with the cleanings and adjustment, in my experience, the mean average life expectancy is about five years before replacement will likely be needed, so that’s part of the reason yours may be feeling over-the-hump to you. Three year-old aids often start needing repairs such as new receivers. Some people get a few more years beyond five. Others get fewer. Audis don’t tell you that when you’re shopping.

So if you do move to a private audiologist, have a price point in mind that makes sense to you within that five-year timeframe. I personally wouldn’t go top-of-the-line for just this reason; it may still only last five years with no better bang-for-the-buck in terms of reliability, but if your budget’s not as price sensitive and the top-line tech makes sense to you, you can do that. The higher price of top-line models reflects newer technology more than better reliability, generally speaking.

Not every hearing aid needs wax guards. Many receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) models or variants do; many BTE aids do not, because wax is unlikely to get up to the receiver, if you clean your tubes and domes every night or as needed, but BTE’s may need tubes and domes changed every few months. (These are cheap.)

Even with wax guards if you have aids that benefit from them, yes, you do need cleaning and adjustments, but there’s one other thing I didn’t see you mention that can reduce the need for repairs: use an electric hearing aid dehumidifier/dryer every night. It might add a year to hearing aid expectancy and reduce the need for new receivers. Some audis include them bundled with new aids because it saves them work. If not they’re available in the $50-$100 range as at amazon.

Good luck. Happy shopping.

@hamjor1 said:

use an electric hearing aid dehumidifier/dryer every night

But don’t use one if you get Li-ion battery-powered HA’s.

Drying rechargeable hearing aids

Have you looked in your manual to see what it says about avoiding heat exposure to your HA’s? My ReSound manual for Li-ion rechargeable Quattro’s advises me to avoid heat exposure. Check out what Wikipedia, Battery University, etc., have to say about the effect of heat on the long-term use lifespan of a Li-ion battery. Avoid sub-zero temps, i.e., don’t freeze battery, and best charging temp is about 15 to 25 deg C (55 to 77 deg F). I once totalled a phone battery in short order by always re…

I agree with that advice, but if richard is going for long-term reliability, my suggestion would be to steer clear of rechargeable aids for now. Partly because the rechargeable batteries shouldn’t be in a dryer, which is worth using for the health of the aids generally, and partly because the rechargeable batteries themselves are likely to need replacement within a few years of daily use. Lithium ion batteries only last for a certain number of charge cycles and a certain number of years. It’s very likely well lower than 5 * 365 charge cycles. Ability to hold a charge drops off sharply for lithium ion after a few years and then vanishes at some point, as we see in our cell phones and laptops.

Eventually we’ll all be on rechargeable aids, but we’re not there yet. The technology is new and not for everybody. (Early cell phone models needed 10 hours to recharge and then were good for 30 minutes of talk time /heh.)

@richardlinfield1 said:

Sierra, you mentioned to ask the audiologist if he/she “adjusts the gain to match the target.” You say, “Some measure (to meet insurance obligations) but do not adjust.” Does this mean to adjust something in the receiver once it’s in my ear, to match a goal from the manufacturer? I don’t understand.

The computer program combined with the prescriptive method, like NAL-NL2, determines what sound level vs frequency correction you need. The computer attempts to compensate for your fitting type, such as open, closed, vent size in a mold. However it can’t really estimate other than to the typical average, what your specific ear canal does. So at the end of the day it the computer estimate of actual sound level in the ear with your HA in place and measured between the HA and the ear drum is likely to be off. Best fitting practice is to measure the actual sound level (REM), and then adjust to bring the real sound level in line with the prescriptive target.

So the REM is an important feature, and I should find an audiologist who performs it. Thanks!

My thoughts are that if an audiologist does not do the REM and adjust to the results, they are cutting corners. If they cut corners there, are they cutting corners elsewhere? The Costco standard is to do the REM and adjust to it. If you want better than Costco results, you do not want to regress from the Costco level.