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Oticon Xceed UP vs Phonak Naida Paradise UP

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[Similar to a post in another thread but I wanted it to be searchable by thread title here.]

I have been trialing the Oticon Xceed and Phonak Naida Paradise UP. I had Oticon Agil Pro P.

The Xceeds were terrible. The had an electronic sound at the end of every consonant. They were bad in noise and terrible for music. My first Audi, @ Kaiser, adjusted them once, by apparently just turning them down , so that reduced the “power” advantage.

Btw, I tried another Oticon power aid years ago, Chili(?) and it was also bad.

I then got another, better Audi. The Naida Paradise are a huge step up from both my Agil Pros and the Xceeds. I can hear better in restaurants than I have for several years. There is less wind noise. Music and TV are better. Bluetooth calls and music from the phone work well.

Hearing in quiet and in the car does not seem that much better. Also, like the Xceeds, they have a sound at the end of consonants. But here it is mainly an exaggerated “sh” sound. So everyone sounds slightly drunk or like Jimmy Shtewart. ( It is not a sibilant sound.)

The app is pretty good. It has four modes and while a bit slow, does work well to switch programs and adjust them with either more “clarity” in speech or more bass in music. It will revert to the main program when you otherwise adjust it, so that is annoying.

Kaiser just got Resound in and I am considering their UP but it seems Phonak puts more attention and resources to UP than Resound or Oticon.

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which version of Paradise have you tried? 30, 50, 70 or 90?

The 70 and 90 have a Stereo zoom option, for better listening in noise, it directs the microphones to the front, to better hear the person you are talking to. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m hoping to buy a Naida Paradise 70.

I have the P90. I’ll ask the audie about that feature but how would it help in quiet or in the car?

A year ago I purchased the phonak naida marvel which are super powers. Than the paradise 90s came out which I have been trialing for the past 10 days. Unfortunately I go back to the Audi to return the paradise. The ultra power paradise are the best hearing aids I’ve ever worn. Clear strong great stereo. And in situations where I have face to face conversation I’m able to communicate. Cars are a problem unless I turn my head towards the speaker. Maybe the Audi can set up a specific program for that. I agree that connecting to the app is a little slow. My naida marvels connect faster. I’m hoping my Audi through phonak can help me out because I can’t be shelling out that kind of money two years in a row and the ultra power paradise weren’t available. But as far as I’m concerned the phonak paradise ultra 90 are amazing

Good to hear I’m not alone in liking the Paradise UPs on the important features.

And we have the same two issues: slow app and hearing in cars. Someone on another thread said Phonak has a standard mode for hearing in cars. I wonder if it has to be turned on by the audi.

Yes it does have a standard mode for cars and if I get a decent price on the paradise I’ll ask my audi exactly how it works. What I do know is if I’m driving I can’t understand what the person sitting next to me. If I turn my head a little to the right it helps. This is in the USA. But I can’t drive like that for long. I don’t know why my audi can’t set up a custom program specifically for when I’m on the car so that the mics are weighted to the right side and the rear. But then again I don’t know if that would make any difference because my speech comprehension stinks. But there are other areas that the paradise have improved things and since they sound so clear I am curious. I’m waiting for a price for the paradise. I bought the naida marvels last year in super power because that was all that was available from phonak at the time and I liked how they sounded. But the paradise for my loss all but left me speechless. I’m hoping phonak will cut me a deal since my marvels are only a year old and I can’t be shelling out that kind of money a year after the marvels. I should know soon

@hass5744 said:

Yes it does have a standard mode for cars and if I get a decent price on the paradise I’ll ask my audi exactly how it works.

Think it’s the Speech in 360 you’re asking about. Most people use it in the car. Used to be called Auto ZoomControl.

I have it on my Phonak’s and love it in the car. Haven’t used it in other places tho.

Edited
@Lalo said:

Kaiser just got Resound in and I am considering their UP but it seems Phonak puts more attention and resources to UP than Resound or Oticon.

Certainly not lately when Phonak stopped support in the B line that I have, screwed me over, and said eff you on batteries in subsequent versions (I need my hearing aids with batteries to live - no other option is feasible). So now I can’t use CROS at all. Screw Phonak!!

I suspect there might be a conductive component in that right ear that would mean a would be basically out of the question. If there isn’t and that’s a sensorineural loss… It might be worth trying a UP custom tip again if it’s been a while and there aren’t physical reasons it won’t work, but even then it’s hard for a RIC to match a for low frequency gain and overhead, and long term BTE users don’t like losing what they’ve become used to. I don’t blame them.

Edited

Thank you michael1, and Neville - once again, all of these other choices have been ruled out by my audiologist as not being powerful enough for my loss. And this was done a long, long time ago when I first got hearing aids. There is no point in revisiting this. I know you are all trying to help, but keep in mind I have had this hearing loss my whole life since age 3. Nothing we do now is going to change what I have to live with.

That being said, there is no conducive component to my loss. It’s all sensorineural in both ears and permanent, albeit quite stable at least.

Hearing aids have changed since you were 3.

But there’s no reason to go out of your way to try to stay with phonak if you don’t want to when there are other options. :slightly_smiling_face: Especially if you weren’t all that happy with the belong anyway.

But I’m not trying to stay with Phonak. I am so angry with them that I am actively looking for another audiologist and have an appointment this coming week with someone who actually works with all brands (finally). I’ve communicated this elsewhere in the past couple days.

You guys, however, were suggesting other types of receivers than straight ear molds like I have now, and hearing aids for conducive losses that would not help me at all, even with today’s tech. I was just setting the record straight that none of my loss is conducive.

Yes, I got that. The result is that a with a UP receiver (which was not an option that existed 15+ years ago) is more likely to be acceptable for you than if you had a conductive loss, and explains people saying “actually, you might be able to fit that with a RIC”. You might now. It’s a possible option whereas in the past it wouldn’t have been.

But that’s neither here nor there because it’s not what you want. I’m excited for you to try something else. Do you have an idea of which device you want to try first?

Oticon’s Xceed is first on the list. I was also looking at Oticon’s Real but it may not have enough power.

It’s likely that my new audiologist may give me multiple hearing aids to try. But I wanted to try Oticon last time. But my current audiologist is married to Phonak. Ooohh that still makes me salty just thinking about it. I don’t think it’s fair to anyone when an audiologist is married to a single brand. Especially when that brand has continued to decline in quality with subsequent hearing aids. And when trying different brands is critical to finding what works for your hearing now.

You made a good point earlier that may cause me to lose some of what I have expected from the sound of an ear mold. And you’re right - I don’t like losing anything. :slight_smile:

Is it out of your previous provider’s control though? That is, are they owned by Phonak? That’s said, I’d thought that even audiologists who worked at manufacturer-owned clinics were allowed to fit other manufacturers in cases where they needed something specific that wasn’t available in their owner line.

I think the Xceed is a nice choice. Also, if your original clinician wasn’t consistently doing , good to make a change anyway.

Yeah while my provider does they won’t perform it on me. They say that it won’t do much good because of my level of loss. Well, why don’t we just try it and see considering everyone else raves about it and makes sure that their audiologist does it?

And after some research, they are…dunh-dunh-dunh…owned by Phonak (Sonova). No wonder they don’t advertise brands other than Phonak in their offices and on their website. I’ve approached the subject of using other brands before but was heavily discouraged from doing so the last time I tried 4.5 years ago before I got my NAIDA B’s.

Even after using my NAIDA Q hearing aid for the past couple of days, I don’t think Phonak improved on the Q with the Bs much (if at all). I was never really all that happy with the Bs in the first place…

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