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Anyone tried new Costco Phillips hearing aid?

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In reply to @Volusiano

Volusiano, thank you for the very clear explanation of the difference between the Opn More and the Phillips Hearlink background noise suppression technologies and how each brand employs artificial intelligence.
I would appreciate if you could share the link to the white paper you referred to in your explanation so I can give it to my audiologist.

In reply to @vigetan

Vigetan, thank you for your suggestion. Once the new KS-10 comes out, I will do another trial of both the Phillips Hearlink and the KS-10. My audiologist has offered to set the background setting to each parameter throughout the trial and can now do it remotely instead of me having to visit in person.

In reply to @runner

@runner said:

Like most things in life, YMMV. I tried them, on a suggestion from the fitter and I absolutely hated the sound! Lots of people love them. Try it for yourself. You may like them. If not, there are other brands and models.

@runner: I like this. It’s one of the most concise statements on hearing aid brands that I have seen.

In reply to @hpres

@hpres: Because of the number of Oticon technical white papers on their site, I haven’t “Oneboxed” individuals … it’s easy to navigate their download site.

Hearing aids, information on hearing loss and tinnitus | Oticon

Rediscover the sounds of your life with Oticon hearing aids. Explore all our hearing aids & accessories, learn about hearing loss, and more.

I can’t help you with the Philips technical stuff, unfortunately.

Good luck.

apologies for asking a “newbie” question here, I’m considering getting my first paid of aids, have been putting it off for years. Costco hearing aids are perfect price range but I’ve heard they are older models made by bigger brands? Are connectivity on these reliable?

The Costco models may or may not be the latest model, but they are still quite current. I think many would question if the connectivity on ANY hearing aid is reliable. Costco’s are no better or worse. Your hearing loss should be able to be helped by any of the brands that Costco carries. Connectivity is a little tricky because people mean different things. There’s streaming from a cell phone. There’s streaming from other devices like computers. There’s an app that allows some control over the hearing aid. Not every phone is compatible. Some are compatible with the app, but not streaming. Sometimes even the fitters aren’t clear.

In reply to @hpres

@hpres said:

Volusiano, thank you for the very clear explanation of the difference between the Opn More and the Phillips Hearlink background noise suppression technologies and how each brand employs artificial intelligence.
I would appreciate if you could share the link to the white paper you referred to in your explanation so I can give it to my audiologist.

@MDB already gave you the link for the Phillips Hearlink 9030 whitepaper.

If you want the MoreSound Intelligence whitepaper (that I referred to) for comparison with the Phillips Hearlink 9030 whitepaper, here’s that link: https://wdh01.azureedge.net/-/media/oticon/main/pdf/master/whitepaper/69674uk_tech_paper_moresound_intelligence.pdf?la=en&rev=3F19&hash=B5DB11DE0F46CCEF6E2409805F73A67287

In reply to @MDB

ah thank you for the reply! I just thought connectivity as in being able to stream from my phone and TV, didn’t know there’re all these types. Just wondering do these Phillips allow for phone streaming and android connections?

They are “Made for iPhone” and they are “” compatible which means they will basically work with Pixel 3 and later and Samsung S10 and later phones. If you want wider Android compatibility you’ll need the KS9 or Phonak Brio 4 models or you’ll need another device to go carry along with your hearing aids.

VOLUSIANO and MDB

Thanks for the links to both white papers.

In my observations of the new Phillips Hearlinks, I failed to mention there was no difficulty connecting to my iPhone 10 with iOS 14.4.1 or iPad Air 4 and actually connected faster than my KS-8s. Just like my KS-8s, the auto handoff feature of both Apple’s mfi or the LE Bluetooth standard did not work but turning off streaming on the device not in use overcomes that glitch.

I’ve observed the MFI auto handoff feature work only 1 time between my iPhone 7 Plus and iPad for my OPN 1, and that’s probably by random chance. Most of the times it doesn’t work. And yes, that’s common knowledge that you can pair your MFI hearing aids with multiple iOS devices and just turn off on the unused device guarantees that you get proper MFI connection with the chosen device.

I don’t normally give reviews, but this is something you should know if you are a musician and you need a hearing aid. Costco’s Jabra hearing aids are pretty special. I initially bought a pair of Philips aids, but they interpreted my cello sounds as feedback, and gave a very fast, annoying vibrato/tremolo to every note I heard being played. I would have had to play my cello without the aids. I did a lot of research, and was going to return to Costco with a list of adjustments that I wanted; I doubt that the Philips could even be calibrated the way needed. Then I found out by the research (see link below) that the Jabra hearing aids incorporate technology from their parent company, Resound. They have a special “music mode” that is more than just tweaking the settings—it accomplishes all that I had wanted. This includes: an increase in the peak decibel limiting level to 106dB (since music is unlike speech), wide dynamic range compression, lower compression ratios, more accurate cancelling of feedback, omnidirectional sound pickup, noise controls turned to “off.” If you play a musical instrument, these are the ones to get! The speech mode is, in my opinion, just as good as the Philips, and you get more control of how you want it to sound. There is also a setting for noisy situations, such as conversations in restaurants. Costco was very good about exchanging my Philips aids for the Jabra ones.

Making The Most of Music With ReSound DFS Ultra II and Music Mode | PDF |...11

This document discusses how hearing aids can struggle to accurately reproduce music due to inherent differences between music and speech signals. Traditional hearing aid processing does not adequately account for music's wider dynamic range and...

Which Jabra aids did you buy? Did you compare the preset music modes in each? Did you try Widex which some musicians seem to like?

Jabra Enhance Pro 20. I did try the preset music mode in Philips but it is not at all the same; it produced the impossible to bear tremolo effect. The Jabras have differences in their capabilities, not just calibration differences. The Jabras incorporate the changes in the research paper I listed, which refers to the research of Dr. Chasik and others. No, I did not try the Widex. They are much, much more expensive than what Costco offers, and Costco’s Jabras (which are made by Resound) solve all my problems. I have severe to profound hearing loss in the most crucial frequencies of my cello, and yet these hearing aids allow me to now play and hear the overtones which were previously lopped off on the input of most other hearing aids. And no tremolo effect. Try them. Costco gives a 6 month free trial during which they can be returned. (I have no connection to Costco except as a satisfied customer).

That pdf is an interesting read. Music is a big part of my life and it is important for me to get the best out of a music program. I am being fitted with philips 9040’s next week, I had read many people having positive experiences with the way they handle music however there seems to be occasional mention of the vibrato effect. If I run into similar problems I will have a go at the jabras.

The researcher I meant to refer to is Dr. Marshall Chasin. You can find his research online about on music and hearing aids, but the article I have cited sums up the important points. Higher decibel input, lower compression ratios, wider frequency range, and a specific feedback programs that does not interpret musical tones as feedback. I rarely endorse products, but it took me a long time to find this research. And the Jabras have made such a difference for me, that I thought it was important to share my experience as a musician and save time for others who may be experiencing similar problems.

In reply to @Calgary_Consumer

@Calgary_Consumer said:

This includes: an increase in the peak decibel limiting level to 106dB (since music is unlike speech)

I’m surprised to hear this. 106 input dynamic range is not that impressive. I googled the input dynamic range for hearing aids and the ReSound LiNX Quattro is said to have 116 . I know Oticon has 113 dB SPL. Phonak probably has the same 113 dB SPL as well, IIRC.

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In reply to @Bingo_wings

I have Philips 9040s (my first and just got them in December so quite new to all this) and hated them for music when I just used the general program - had that vibrato effect you’re talking about whenever listening to a sustained note, and a lot of suppression where there shouldn’t have been. Getting the audiologist to install the Philips music program (they call it “hifi music”) and then also fiddling about with the equalizer settings in the phone app was a game-changer for me.

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