Phonak introduces Paradise, a new paradigm in hearing aid sound quality

@brec said:

A hitch: The first output is suppressed for several seconds while (I guess) the HAs assure themselves that it’s not ambient sound. And the Connector program will stop – the AutoSense program tone will sound – after about 40 seconds of no output – e.g., if you speak on Zoom for 40+ seconds!

@brec - sufffer no more! I had the same issue but was able to resolve it after connecting the TV Connector to my Macbook with an optical, and not analog, connection. More details here: Phonak Marvel: TV connector disconnects after x seconds of quiet TV signal - #27 by sundance

@MDB said:

I have Costco KS9 and have also tried Phonak Marvel and see essentially no difference.

Um, how could you, they’re the same aids, no?

I mean, difference could come from different fitters, but those two aids are the same. Just rebranded.

Semantics perhaps, but they are not the “same” as in identical. They have different cases with the microphone openings being the most noticeable. (This has been claimed to make a difference in wind- I was unable to compare in wind. The KS9 is not particularly good with wind noise)The only feature they lack that I’m aware of is tinnitus masking. But yes, the point I was trying to make was that if one is considering Marvel, don’t insist on rechargeables and cost is an issue one might consider KS9.

Oh, I see. Everyone so far repeat that they’re the same, so I took that for granted.

Know nothing about Macs but on a Windows machine it’s as simple as turning off the internal BT on device manager.

On the Mac it’s a little harder but I’ve got some instructions if anyone needs them. I must stress these are untested so good luck!

1. Open up a Terminal Application and open a CLI session.

2. Enter the following CLI command. sudo nvram bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior=always

3. Open bluetooth preferences and Turn Off Bluetooth (if not already disabled)

4. You then need to reboot.

5. Once rebooted and logged back in. Open up blue tooth preferences and turn bluetooth back on

6. The blue led on the dongle should be illuminated and flashing, indicating that OSX is now using the USB dongle

7. Switch on a bluetooth device such as Magic Mouse, Headphones etc… you should now see them appear in the available bluetooth devices

8. Connect to your mouse, external keyboard etc. and it should be all working

This command can be rolled back by opening up a Terminal CLI session and entering: sudo nvram -d bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior

Then reboot.

I am currently testing out the Paradise and I think I have found my new hearing aids! I previously tried the Marvels and did not like them at all. Perhaps this was a programming issue, but I can finally understand speech, even with masks on, with the Paradise. I can understand lyrics to songs that always sounded like mumbled noises before. I am surprised that I love them so much, as I see a lot of comparisons to the Marvel. I did not think that I would like the Paradise because of my experience with the Marvels. But to me, they are completely different and I can hear things that I could never hear before. They aren’t perfect, as I still had trouble hearing when people were across the pickle ball court with a lot of construction background noice, but these are by far the best for me that I have tried (Marvel, Resound Quattro, Resound One, Unitron). I think it may be the motion detector that seems to really zoom in on who is speaking and words sound so clear. Also they are small and comfortable and I love that they connect to my Mac and iphone flawlessly. The TV connector also works well and it is a great small size. I was just about to give up and give the earlens a try. Thank you to everyone who gave me helpful advice and I will use it all in the future. Good luck everyone!

@julieMK said:

I did make sure that frequency lowering was activated this time.

If this wasn’t done with marvels, then there’s your main difference. It’s huge stuff.

This idea of doing rem after you buy I find insane. Point of rem based speech mapping fitting is to give you FIRST fit as best as possible. And then, he relies on manufacturer. Zero logic.

Also, if you need frequency lowering, I’m not sure there’s rem fitting protocol for that.

No clue about molds.

About motion sensor, I’d recommend trying after you’re find the best in short time frame for fit, molds and that. So that you don’t compare too different setups.
But definitely try. There’s no other way to know for sure if something brings a difference or not.

@Blacky said:

Also, if you need frequency lowering, I’m not sure there’s rem fitting protocol for that.

There are, but I think it’s the very rare person that uses them. Here’s a ton of info: Frequency Lowering Fitting Assistants22

I’ve always found frequency lowering requires tweaking. On my Rexton’s, the default setting was way too gentle and I gradually made it stronger. On my KS9, the default was too strong and I had a lot of s-sh confusion. Ideally one should ensure that the “s” sound is audible, but that you can tell the difference between s and sh sound.

You really can dig up crazy things online
Awesome

Those are pretty good numbers! Thank you for letting me know. I am going in tomorrow to exchange the battery for the rechargeables. I’ll let you know how it goes. I usually wear my HA all day for 16-17 hours and stream maybe a couple of hours, plus tv connect at night.

That is about similar to my scenario, so please come back and let us know how it all works out for you. I’m hopefully get mine in 2-3 weeks. P90 R

@Sequoia_Woman

Rough numbers - 1h of BT streaming eats 10% of battery, one hour of TV/roger around 3% if I remember correctly (TV one, for BT I’m sure).

More challenging environment eats more than quiet, bigger receiver eats more than small.

That’s why other peoples numbers don’t mean much, since you don’t have precise information. Eg what is moderate to you can be heavy streaming for someone else and so on.

Phonak calculated that for 4h of BT streaming and 4h of TV (that’s about 50% of battery) and regular use (so it’s 8h left in 16h day) they should suffice, which aligns with what people are reporting.

However, more streaming than that, and use in non trivial environment after that, becomes tricky.

Also, not to forget that battery will lose it’s capacity over time. So if during the trial they’re less than 25% left, you don’t have much for those days that are not average eg you’d have to be mindful in those days.
I don’t know how fast they’ll lose capacity, but if they get only 10-15% left at the end of the trial days, be prepared that in a year or two they might not make the whole day. So calculate the cost of exchange if you need the info for budgeting now (or check if that’s going to be replaced by phonak under warranty).

I agree with Blacky’s assessment. In my case my left ear is less demanding of battery power because it is less impaired. Yesterday we switched the dominant role (for connections) from the default right side to the left side so that communications power drain is better balanced. Seems to be effective but would only work as a strategy if your two aids don’t demand equal power.