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What New Hearing Aids Would You Like To Try?

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Hey all!

My name is Ben Thompson, and I’m a Doctor of Audiology. Some of you may know me from my work creating YouTube videos for my telehealth company Treble Health9. I wanted to share a new exciting initiative I’m working on!

I’ve recently started to make video reviews of different hearing aids. My team and I are reviewing hearing aids like Phonak Paradise and Oticon More, but also interested in reviewing direct to consumer hearing aids as well. I’ve reviewed the Costco, Bose, Eargo, Lively, and more. Check out all my video reviews here28.

The main reason I wanted to drop in here was to find out which hearing aid products you all would most like to see reviewed? Are there any product comparison videos that you’d like to see? I’m here to help, so please let me know and I’ll take notes for my team at Treble Health to get started!

In Good Health,
Ben Thompson,

Link to the Treble Health YouTube Channel

Link to the Treble Health website

10 people in this conversation10 min readJump to latest

Well said @hass5744… That brought a smile to my face, perhaps it was the heavy dose of sarcasm in your comment :rofl: :upside_down_face: :rofl: as always, brutally honest… As it should be, I wouldn’t expect anything less :+1:

In reply to @hass5744

Well I’m guessing the same way they do reviews on headphones, and hi-fi systems, it’s not just how they sound but other features as well that can be reviewed, i once brought a pair of headphones that every review gave at least 8/10 for, to me they sounded terrible and felt very cheaply made…but so expensive to buy.

When it comes to hearing loss and aids we are all so different. For me it is the sound that I am most interested in, the bells and whistles are much less important. Everyone seems so interested in Bluetooth connectivity now and I find it still very disappointing. Why should I care about steaming music when I struggle to understand speech. I do wear aids that give me much better speech understanding, but I still find music so so. But I have felt that way my whole life.
You get my drift. We are all different we all have different hearing issues and needs.
I personally don’t care about looks or of anyone sees them. They know I struggle to hear just in talking to me.
18 years a go when I had mild to moderate loss, I still struggled with word recognition. Due to my cookie bite hearing loss.

My point with this is hearing aids sound differently to each user. Some will say a particular aid is great in speech with noise. Others will say it stinks. Some say it sounds great streaming music some say it’s awful. Aids are a very individual thing. No two people hear out of them the same. So how do you rate them. A hearing aid with all the bells and whistles may seem superior but it’s not to a person who doesn’t need those features or consider them a priority. So when you get your test results the audi tells you these 3 or 4 aids fit into your particular range so you try them and you decide which aid you like best. That doesn’t mean that aid is the best aid out there. It means it’s the best aid for you. When people rave about how great their aids are in really happy for them. But it doesn’t mean anything other than maybe I should give them a try. So what makes an aid the best aid out there. What’s the criteria.

In reply to @cvkemp

@cvkemp said:

disappointing. Why should I care about steaming music when I struggle to understand speech. I do wear aids that give me much better speech understanding, but I still find music so so. But I have felt that way my whole life.
You get my drift. We are all different we all have different hearing issues and needs.
I personally don’t care about looks or of anyone sees them. They know I struggle to hear just in talking to me.

@cvkemp: Exactly! Exactly, Chuck! Bang on! Well said! (That having been said, INCOMING!!!)

In reply to @hass5744

Doesn’t this site review hearing aids?
I don’t get the hostility to this thread. Most on here complain of audi’s that could care less. Here is one that is trying to inform the general public of aids that many may not be aware of, and seemingly try to be helpful. It’s almost like many just like this forum to feel superior while trashing others for their efforts to assist the hearing loss community. This site reviews all of the major aids, so why slam this guy and not this site?

What I see is that people are being honest about their experiences, I don’t see anything wrong with that. Like I said hearing aids are an extremely personal thing. As an retired IT Professional and trained electronics technician I do very little reading reviews and more researching technical data. The odds that anyone’s review will even come close to my experience is slim to none.

Your interpretation is wrong. I’m asking what the criteria is to rate hearing aids because everyone hears differently with them. So if he says for instance that phonak paradise is the best hearing aid how does he explain why some people hate them. It’s very difficult to review hearing aids since every single loss is different. And an audiologist should know that better than anyone. And most people on this forum tell you what hearing aid they like the best or hear the best with. They rarely say it’s the best hearing aid for everyone. I think people more than anything get frustrated when someone asks, what’s the best hearing aid for me. The answer is the one you like the best

Yo don’t seem to get it do you if you find lets say one hundred people with the same hearing loss you will get one hundred different opinions of what the aids sounds like. Now some will agree on options some will not. Hearing aids should not be rated like earbuds or headphones. And to be honest I am personally glad they don’t look like them. Earbuds are ugly to me.

The only thing that gets people upset about this thread is that an audiologist thinks he can review hearing aids and he of all people should know that when it comes to aids one size doesn’t fit all. I don’t see where anyone was rude.

I don’t think I claimed anyone was rude. I used the word hostile. To slam someone trying to help seems odd. Most people don’t know squat about aids, so others opinions may help them narrow a choice down for a trial. I also don’t understand how specifications or researching tech data helps one find aids that work for an individual any more than the ones that feel reviews are helpful. Wouldn’t those specifications also be individual to each users hearing loss? Wouldn’t someone that sold hundreds or thousands of aids possibly have useful insight? I never have an issue with to much info, so keep those reviews coming and thanks for your efforts Dr

Edited

When I was new to hearing aids, I was mislead by the experts.i believe the audiologist was more interested in the sale than the correct fit.
I have been lucky since that terrible experience to be accepted by the Veterans Administration, even there I have seen audiologist that recommended what was convenient for them instead of what the really needed.
But since 2007 I have had two audiologist that have truly listened to their patients and treated them as such and not customers. But me being me, I took it on myself to get the self education I needed to be able to talk to my audiologists and to explain my needs and likes.
I know from this forum that so many here see audiologist as car salesman. Unfortunately that is a fact too much of the time.
Also, we trust the experience of hearing loss individuals more than a lot of audiologists.

Edited

I stand corrected on the rude remark. I don’t see where anyone was hostile. It’s funny. My audiologist is always interested in hearing what someone thinks when they are trying new aids . Because he knows he can’t tell what someone is experiencing. So I stand by what I say. If you’re reviewing aids what are you basing your reviews on. I assume most major manufacturers make quality aids. But if you want to watch hearing aid reviews from someone you know nothing about, on you tube, be my guest

In reply to @hass5744

Wouldn’t many good reviews for a particular devise show that many are pleased with the results from that devise? I am not claiming that reviews are the end all to making an aid decision, far from it, but that they can be helpful to narrow down the choices available.

In reply to @mr.smithster

I am not saying he isn’t. I guess for me my audiologist will tell me anywhere from 6 months down to about 6 weeks that I am due new aids. He knows I prefer Oticon hearing aids. I have worn them for the last 12 years. Yes I have tried others but keep coming back to the sound I truly prefer. I value how well I hear with out Bluetooth streaming over and above it. Yes Bluetooth is important to me but I don’t stream all the time but I do hear all the time.

Edited

And that’s exactly it. Cv and I have similar losses. He loves his oticon and I hated them when I trialed them. So how does a third party interpret that information. Oticon is a great hearing aid, for some. Or let’s take it a step further. Those that love their aids will tend to respond more often than those that don’t like their aids and think they made a mistake. Now what,? I take reviews of aids with a grain of salt. And people, especially new people, should understand that a good review doesn’t guarantee a good experience

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