Jabra Enhance Pro – initial experience

After watching several movies with the streamer and able to understand the dialogue, I ordered a second one. Great to be able to watch TV again. Now I realize what I have been missing due to my hearing. Not that I watch much TV but nice to enjoy it when I do.

Another four hours on the road yesterday. She fitted my new molds which seem a bit tighter and have a much smaller vent. She ran a “feedback test” that sounded like gravel coming out of a dump truck and said all was good. After I got home I noticed that feedback still exists on the left ear but seems better. I lowered the left side volume a tad with the app and that appears to fix the issue. I guess I can live with that as long as it doesn’t feedback while in a vehicle. I must say molds are so much more comfortable than the power domes I had as a temporary measure.

I have a new set of this Jabra. Early days, but an experienced wearer of other brands. Am excited to realize that the tech paired them with my Multi-Mic (in a ‘5th spot’). Haven’t tried it yet. Experiencing some general feedback, so will talk to tech about it. (Only in smaller spaces, with walls.) Lowering volume helps that problem.

pckretz,
I can relate to your report because I went into Costco intending to purchase the Jabras to replace my KS9s, but in my case the fitter/audi gave me the opportunity to first be retested, which reflected a significant drop in almost all frequencies since I was last tested, at which point I asked that new results be first applied to my existing KS9s, and had a power receiver added to the right ear and I was blown away with the results! I could hear just about everything with great clarity, in the store and back at home! I then brought my Phonak app up to the latest Android version and for the first time I began experiencing virtual perfection with my phone, a Pixel 4a, a bonus being that Phonak appears to still do a better job with Android than Jabra 2023 and the other do.
So for now my “new” hearing aids are the ones I already have.
(Updated Audiogram to follow)

@berettadm1 said:

I have a friend who happily walks along with his aid screaming feedback for everyone to hear while he is blissfully unaware of it.

Oh no, well I hope you have informed him!

Yes I informed him…it was more like an intervention. He had difficulty understanding what we were complaining about. Super human being, but very hearing impaired.

I accompanied him to his next VA hearing appointment to be sure he had it corrected successfully.

Thankfully i can still hear feedback. But before i got molds, my daughter asked why she can hear her own voice through my aids while talking yo me. They were leaking and at such gain were beaming everything at high volume that other’s could hear.

My old KS8s were programmed from the same hearing test in May of this year as were the Jabras. The KS8s have no feedback whatsoever. While I understand that adjusting the Jabras to eliminate the feedback might help, this will probably be at the expense of highter frequenciess and will only make my speech comprehension worse.

My audiologist has experienced particular frustration in dealing with feedback in current ReSound aids.

It may be true, but in the fitting software you can turn the fitting algorithm up, so to speak, so it more aggressively targets feedback. It’s not just about reducing higher frequency gain.

Yes I understand. I don’t think they would make them “slightly larger” because that is too imprecise a description.

Even well fitting moulds aren’t necessarily the whole answer though. I had moulds remade about 6 times and it didn’t help the feedback issue in my case. In fact I find power domes better than moulds in terms of improved feedback performance.

As I said before, there are many different adjustments that can be made in the fitting software. It’s not just turning the volume down so it doesn’t whistle. That’s why I think it’s worth having the feedback issue looked at sooner rather than later.

Anyway I hope you get it sorted out.

I have KS8s with click domes. I had a feedback issue when my ear came too close to the car window when driving, also, just opening the refrigerator door, if my ear passed too close. My fitter made adjustments and stopped the feedback. Another time I had feedback in my right ear and it was due to wax buildup. I have click domes. I don’t know if wax buildup applies to moulds as well.

Maybe you could include a pic of your molds? Its possible you just need a different type of mold. Something like the “skeleton” that keeps the mold fully seated?

@PhotoCasey said:

I would much rather correct the feedback issue by getting molds that fit properly.

Presumably, the Costco fitter is running a feedback test on your setup. You should know if the HCP is doing this because it will make a loud buzzing noise in each ear. Essentially, the receivers are made to emit a spectrum of noise. Your HA mics detect how much of it they can hear at various frequencies, and your gain is automatically limited accordingly. I don’t know the fitting software rules, i.e., the limits to how much gain can be constrained to control feedback vs. eating into the required gain to correct your loss at various frequencies. But if your fitter only did this initially and has not since calibrated your settings for feedback control, that could be the source of your problem.

The image below shows my fitting using NAL-NL2 for mild, moderate, and strong sound amplification in my left ear after a feedback test and calibration adjustment. If the sound were amplified into the gray region, I’d have a feedback issue, but my prescribed fit, after adjustment, does not enter that region at any frequency. The solid blue-purple regions are amplification regions that my M&RIE (MP) receiver cannot amplify sound sufficiently to reach (if my loss required that amplification, I’d have to switch to a higher-powered receiver).

Your HCP could humor you by showing you the equivalent for each ear before and after they recalibrate feedback at your next visit. The HCP would have to do this sort of test to properly set your HA’s up with new molds and see how you’re doing w.r.t. feedback, anyway.

I wear an occlusive fit; you probably should, too, for your low-frequency loss. But I’m wearing M&RIE receivers (microphone in the ear), but you’re not. So if my feedback can be controlled, yours should be controllable, too, IMHO.

Edit_Update: Definition of “Above FOG,” thanks to Bing ChatGPT

In ReSound Smart Fit, “above FOG” stands for “Above Full On Gain.” It is a term used to describe the hearing aid’s output level when the input signal is at its maximum level. The FOG level is the maximum output level of the hearing aid when the input signal is at its maximum level. The “above FOG” level is the output level that is above the FOG level.