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Phonak Virto Marvel occlusion effect

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Greetings,

I’ve been wearing for seven years. I’m due for new HAs and thought the new Phonak Virto Marvel 312 half shell looked interesting. Partly this is because I’m tired of knocking my HAs off when removing my mask and because I think the Virto Black looks cool.

The thing is, I’ve never worn HAs before and I’m concerned about the occlusion effect. My low frequency hearing is near normal and I have moderate-severe high frequency loss. Is there anyone who has a similar type of loss and has tried ITEs?

9 people in this conversation8 min readJump to latest

Hi traildog. I’m just trialing the Virto M titanium. First I also wanted to try the Virto black , but my audi ordered the titanium, so I decided I give it a try. Before I had the Audeo M. My hearing loss should be closed to yours (you could actually post your ). From my experience I can told you that you will experience a more severe occlusion-effect with a . I have by both HA the same vent and I thought it will be the same. But it’s not, I still find the occlusion by virto to be more present. It’s a little bit bothering to hear every tinny sound (chewing, speaking, moving your head, walking etc.). I activated the occlusion compensation, I’ll give it a try. If one can used to this occlusion effect, I don’t know. Here should the more experienced users deliver a more accurate answer.

I have almost always worn aids and I love them. If the vents are correct you will not have any issues with the sound of your own voice and the sound of eating

The vents should be chosen for your hearing loss by the fitting software. If the vents are to large you will have too much feedback, if the vents are too small then you will feel stopped up and hear your own voice too loud, and your movement of your jaw.

Thanks. Guess I’ll just have to wait until they come in to see. BTW, I grew up in Hot Springs :smiley:

In reply to @steffner

I am interested in the Marvel Virto for the same reasons as traildog64, especially interference with glasses for behind the ear models.
I am current trying the KS-9 from Costco which I like very much. These have just been updated to version 2.0. This has eliminated some of my issues with the initial version so I like them even better now. However, the buttons on the device lie exactly under and touching the earpieces which makes it difficult the change the volume and programming without using the myPhonak app. This requires digging out my phone and waiting for the app to connect.

I would be very interested in learning about your experience with the Phonak Virto device.

Howard

The Phonak Easyline Remote Control Is pretty handy for changing volume and programs on the Marvel aids and now also the KS9 aids. Easier than pulling out a phone.

I am also very interested in IOS 14: “AirPods Pro Become Hearing Aids in iOS 14”.

Noise suppression, high quality streaming audio, convenience and frequency equalization might make the AirPods Pro a viable choice for someone like me with a mild to moderate hearing loss. A stretch for now I know but I believe the convergence of high fidelity earphones and hearing aids is coming soon.

I have been wearing ’s for the last 20 years. Started off with analog hearing aids that had no vent so I had to get use to the occlusion effect. With today’s digital HAs the occlusion effect can be minimized by using a vent and making the canal portion of the mold long which helps reduce the occlusion effect. My current ITE half shell has a pressure vent which helps with the occlusion effect along with reducing low frequencies and longer canal on the shell. With my severe-profound hearing loss I did not think I could be fitted with custom ITE HA’s. Also important to choose a HA that has good feedback management(along with a good fit) if using a vent with severe high frequency hearing loss. It also important to give yourself some time to adjust to the new sound which includes some occlusion.

So, I tried the Virto Marvels for about a week. Guess I didn’t notice the occlusion effect at first, but it became obvious after a couple of days. My audi did real ear measurements, which showed moderate occlusion in one ear, and mild in the other. We’re sending them back to Phonak to have the vents enlarged as much as possible. I hope this works, because I really liked the otherwise.

I have an iPhone Xr. I thought the bluetooth worked OK, but not perfect. The did drop the connection several times. My audi explained that BT doesn’t travel through the human body very well since we’re mostly water. I probably had my phone in my front pocket during these times.

Dr. Cliff on YouTube also mentioned this in his review. He stated you have to position your phone correctly to get maximum range (e.g. upright instead of lying down).

I got my Virto Black hearing aids back. They did make the vents larger and the occlusion is not as bad. It’s still noticeable when I speak, but otherwise, I really like the hearing aids. Should I expect the occlusion be become less noticeable?

In reply to @traildog64

@traildog64 said:

Should I expect the occlusion be become less noticeable?

Our brain can learn to ignore some stuff with the time. Give it a few days of not thinking about it and by then you’ll see if it disturbs you.

However if it’s here after a week or two and annoys you tremendously, then I’d say you need further adjustments on itself.
Maybe a little less gain on bass could help (or just for some transitional brain training period), if you hear it only when HAs are working.

In reply to @traildog64

@Blacky said:

However if it’s here after a week or two and annoys you tremendously, then I’d say you need further adjustments on HA itself.

Try not to do this, its best to deal with this problem by venting and a bit of patience if possible, only do the SW adjustments as a last resort, because making a small change in the lower frequencies also makes changes in the other channels/gain handles. 1 or 2 weeks is not long enough to get used to the occlusion effect for most people, as annoying as it is.

@traildog64 said:

Should I expect the occlusion be become less noticeable?

Yes absolutely, over time it will become much more tolerable, this can take up to a couple of months for some people, so just hang in there.

@traildog64 said:

Yes, the effect is there with the devices turned off

Yes that’s because your ear canal is blocked, having them turned on or off isn’t going to make much difference.

@tenkan said:

1 or 2 weeks is not long enough to get used to the occlusion effect for most people, as annoying as it is.

Oh, I didn’t know that. My brain adjust to some annoyances in several days so I rounded it up thinking that 2 weeks should be enough to see the situation. Good to know, thanks!

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