Jabra Enhance v KS10?

The Jabra Enhance Pro hearing aids at Costco sound appealing, but I haven’t seen much discussion about them. I have KS10s (Phonak) and they work pretty as hearing aids. But I’m an iPhone user, and I find “regular” blue tooth inferior to (I had KS6’s made by Resound before the KS10s). Also, the Resound TV streamer is far superior to Phonak’s TV streamer – it stayed connected to ~30’ (i.e., I could see & HEAR TV in my kitchen), reconnected seamlessly, etc.
I don’t care about hands-free calls, texts, etc (a feature of the KS10 that I don’t think the Jabra has yet).
As an iPhone user, I’m interested in comparisons about the KS10 and Jabra devices.
Thanks!
-kate.

Northern Virginia

I’m wearing the Jabra Enhance Pro aids, and have worn ReSound aids for years, including the KS 6. I recently demo’ed the KS10s and did not like the sound compared to the ReSound Preza aids I was wearing at the time.

If you liked the sound of the KS 6, I would expect that you would really like the sound of the Jabra aids. If you have the ReSound TV Streamer 2 you will be able to use it with the Jabra aids, saving you a few bucks and mitigating the cost differential between the KS10s and Jabra aids.

HOHKate Author

Sierra Foothills, CA

Appreciate your input, @jay_man2. I actually like the sound of the Phonak better – the Resound sound is quite sharp to my ear. But getting used to the Resound sound again is a minor inconvenience compared to benefits of . Thanks for writing!
-kate.

Northern Virginia

I found the KS10s mechanical sounding, and they didn’t seem to allow me to hear sounds all around me like ReSound and now the Jabra aids do. I’m sure that I’m biased, but I just didn’t like the sound. Being able to use all my ReSound accessories with the Jabra aids also tipped the balance for me.

I’ve had my Jabra’s for 1 full day, so I’m hardly an expert. But they work very well with iPhone seemliessly. Put another way, it just works. All audio goes directly to the aids and calls are clear.

My only issue is I hate the domes my fitter gave me. I have my follow up on July 30th, so I just have to deal with it until then. Their open domes and have a split down one side and are shaped like the birdie for badmitton. When I chew the left one makes a clicking noise that drives me nuts.

Other than that I like them, even though I went in wanting the KS10’s. I still don’t fully get why they said the Jabra would be better for me than the KS10’s but I’m satisfied for now.

Northern Virginia

With your loss I’m surprised you’re wearing an open dome. I have the new that’s vented with two tiny vent holes and they work well for me. I do have the standard medium power receivers and not the M& receivers.

I was fitted with the standard receiver as well. I would like to try a , preferably with the regular dome shape. In day two I still find the Jabra’s all good, but still hate the domes.

I have some other domes from an amplifier I used for about a year. Do the domes on the Jabra just pull off? If so I may try and see if other domes I have will fit. I gave the Jabra dome a gentle tug, but it did not come off, so I am hesitant to pull harder.

MDB Central California

If you do try other domes on your own,make sure they are secure. Having a dome come off in one’s ear is not particlularly pleasant to deal with.

Northern Virginia

The domes do pull off, and with the new receivers are more secure than with the old ReSound receivers. I would not try a dome from another device. Admittedly I’m paranoid, after having three of the old domes on the old ReSound receivers come off in my ear. Luckily I was able to remove one on my own, but the other two required a visit to Urgent Care.

In reply to @Fig

What you are describing is Resound/Jabra’s Tulip Style dome which is actually considered to be a . I would try rotating the dome on your receiver between 1/4 and 1/2 turn and see if it alleviates your chewing issue. Also consider using sport locks if you don’t normally use them, they may help by holding the receiver more firmly in your ear.

Just a general comment, I upgraded from Resound Quattro 9s after three years to the Jabra Enhance with M&. There seems to be some misinformation out there that people are parroting that M&RIE receivers cause squeal/feedback. IMHO this is an over generalization, but depending upon your proscriptive targets and preference for an open dome you may have feedback that is insurmountable. Do yourself a favor and at least try the M&RIE receivers (over fitter’s recommendation) with either the closed, tulip, or power domes before opting for the traditional receivers.

The M&RIEs have significant benefits:

50% more microphone coverage
Dramatically superior directionality/spatial cues.
Wind noise is non-existent
Better performance using on-eartop headphones (WFH), cell, and traditional receivers.
Ultra Focus program uses beam-forming and lifts voices ahead of you directly into your ears.

Pros over Quattros:

Uses existing Resound Accessories (except deluxe Quattro charger)
Noise reduction capability improved
Sound classification and responsiveness improved
Feedback attenuation is greatly improved with or without M&RIE
are compatible

Cons over Quattros:

Quattro Deluxe Charger not compatible
Domes (non-M&RIE) not compatible with M&RIE receivers
Special mic wax guards are required
Special sport locks required

HOHKate Author

Sierra Foothills, CA

@BearInStPete Thanks, John! Appreciate your pro/con list. Do you (or does anybody) have any experience with M& & custom earmolds? Thanks again!
-kate.

Northern Virginia

In reply to @BearInStPete

I at first thought that the OP was describing a tulip dome, but if you look at a badminton birdie, the head of it looks like an open dome, but the “splits down one side” seems to infer a tulip dome.

Northern Virginia

I wore tulip domes with my Preza aids, and found that the optimal position was with the large flap centered on the 12 o’clock position, and the small flap at 6 o’clock. After a day or so of wearing them, they would conform to the oval shape of my ear canal. Any other position seemed to result in comfort or feedback issues.

When in the proper position, the sports lock tail was lined up with the 6 o’clock position, and the small flap centered on the sports lock’s position.

Northern Virginia

In reply to @HOHKate

As I described in the original Jabra thread, I demo’ed the aids with the M& receiver, with tulip, closed, and power domes, and could not eliminate feedback from the left aid. We tried standard MP receivers and and the feedback was gone. That was all in the sound booth.

I’m tempted to try custom molds with the M&RIE receivers to see if that eliminates the feedback, but so far I’m satisfied with the performance of these aids.

I was disappointed that my Preza charger doesn’t work with the Jabra aids, and I’m waiting for the Jabra premium charger that I ordered to arrive at Costco. I will probably schedule an appointment to order custom molds when I pick up the charger.

It will be awesome if you can keep everyone informed of your success with the Custom ear-molds with M&. The technology will likely have some benefits for you and others.

Mixed results from the Jabra over the weekend. Works great, when it works. The problem is it changes settings on its own. I will set things on the app, but after a while it changes the settings to some random setting and I have trouble. I close the app after use, and in one case the phone was completly off.

I will be hearing everyone pretty good, all is well. Then I will notice that I’m not understanding what is said, open the app and see some random setting. I then change to a program that works and all is good again for an hour or two then it changes to another random set up that is not on any program. Often when it does this the app shows it cannot connect to the right side (even though the HA is working, just different settings) and I reboot the phone and it then connects.

Between this issue and the domes, I’m starting to go negative on it, and I don’t want to do that. Since I can’t really do anything until June 30th, I’m going to try to stay positive and attempt to work through it. Perhaps I’m doing something that is causing the problem and will experiment to try and figure out what is happening.

Anyway, when it keeps the settings, it’s good and I understand a alot more of what people are saying.

Settings Changing Randomly - if you set up a custom program, and on the “pancake” or settings tab on the bottom right, and have “Auto-activate favorite locations” set to “on” the app will change the settings associated with a GPS location. You may have inadvertently setup 2 custom settings for your home, it will fight between them and switch unpredictably. This feature works great if you manage you custom programs and have one for home and one for the office it will change automatically.

If you are on an iPhone, the phone itself can control the programs independently of the app so you might want to review the phone-centric settings to make sure they are what you want - for example if you have the phone set to adjust your hearing aids independently, you make a change that accidentally only applied to the right, it can get out of sync with the Jabra App, and you may have one set to all-around, and another set to restaurant, etc.

FWIW mine have been very stable, but can be finicky, especially if you are in a multi-BT device environment.

Great advice, but mine does not change to a program, but to a completely random setting. For example, I was talking with my son (visiting from out of town) who talks loud. All was fine, then suddenly everything was so loud it actually hurt my ears. Opened to app and sure enough the volume was on max. Other times treb or mid will be drastically changed. Litterly completly random things.

Yesterday at church the phone was OFF. All was good, then I noticed I was not understanding things. After mass I check the settings, and several things were changed. Because the phone was off, I assume the issue is in the aids and not in the app.