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Costco Jabra Enhance Pro Frequency Lowering

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In really loud situations i use the Resound Mini Mic. I lay it on the table and it works much better at localization of nearby speech while filtering background noise. You can use Resound devices with Jabra and can buy a mini mic or multi mic on ebay for under $30. I also use the Resound TV streamer that works excellent. I use custom domes and when i changed over from closed power domes it was like night and day. Like molds turbo charged my aids

Update…a bit new topic, but related.

Still frustrated with the Jabras…so bid on a pair of Phonaks on ebay…were listed at M30’s (direct programmable). Got them yesterday…turned out to be almost brand new P70-R’s! Excellent condition with M receivers (fine for me). Spent an inordinate amount of time programming…starting with the Costo prescription, then used the Phonak Target Direct Audio (a bit of a change)…then tweaked. Bottom line: For 1/5 the price of the Jabras (got an incredible deal on ebay) I am very happy:

  1. Sound Recover 2 settings make a discernable difference (used my wife talking as a benchmark).
  2. Really nice balance between amplification and noise control. Rattling dishes don’t bother me!
  3. Excellent streaming music…far far better than the Jabras…almost as good as my Bose Earbuds.
  4. Excellent phone…I could not really tell where the sound was coming from! Could hear extremely well. Adapted in the truck as I sped up…OS 4?
  5. Bluetooth is a bit sketchy to set up…but now working really well.
  6. Lion batteries in great shape. Charged to 100%…all day with lots of streaming…and plenty of juice left.
  7. Inexpensive option to add a battery to the charger case…$75 new…Jabra/Resound wanted over $200…and I could not actually find to buy…
  8. The Phonak Target software is really easy to use…after lots of study…and seems to be an excellent fitting software…did use the Phonak auto settings…then tweaked the Sound Recover 2 with wife talking. I could discern a very significant difference with it on or off…like going from her talking in a paper bag, to a bit clearer.

I have the 70…so am missing some of the niceties of the 90…but don’t miss yet…any thoughts? I assume these are the same hardware as the 90…anybody have a hack to unlock a 70 to 90?

The Jabras go back next week.

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Ethan

@user92 said:

Bottom line: My speech recognition score (using the above test) is NO different with 1) No HA, 2) A set of old Ovation Excel HA (old school, not programmable) and 3) the new Jabras.

No amount amplification can fix your speech recognition scores…

There are 2 type of hair cells, you need to understand, inner hair cells which is responsible for understanding speech, and outer hair cell which acts like an amplifier of the incoming signal… When the inner hair cells are damaged, you lose speech understanding but when the outer hair cells are damaged, you lose sensitivity to the sound.

I have good speech recognition with moderate to profound loss. Inner hair cells are functional but my outer hair cells are damaged… I hope this makes sense… a young engineer (me) to retired engineer

In reply to @ssa

Thank you. Makes good sense.

The frequency shifting is somewhat unpredictable I expect because of the physical situation you describe. I hypothesize that the way to handle this is to use a methodology of repeated testing with real world words while iterating through many of the available features of an advanced . For example with my P70s, with 20 frequency bins, some control over the frequency shifting (ie the Sound Recover) and other features might result in a modified sound envelope that uses whatever physical recognition I have left. I know how I would do it…I need a HA with some pretty good to relatively consistently shift certain word sounds into a envelope that I can actually differentiate…this along with training, should allow a pretty good increase in speech recognition. I already know two things that help…cupping my ear toward the sound…which I expect makes good use of our highly evolved evolutionary ability to sustain damage and lousy hearing environments and recognize a wide variety of sounds dependably, and secondly, concentrating more on the speech to kick in higher order cognitive processing. I want an HA that helps that along…semi intelligently.

One specific way to do that now is to program a semi automatic repetivie test that makes HA changes, tracks changes to word recognition, then uses AI methodology to more quickly optimize available help from the HA. The current methods are too crude…just use one or two tests…then spread out the iteration over days weeks or months. I would speculate that about 30 minutes a day for a couple weeks might be sufficient…the allow that to soak…then repeat in a month or two. This is kinda like what happens now…but far to few test points and iteractions…and the changes may be to subtle and counterintuitive to allow real optimization by us ordinary mortals…

At any rate, by fitting with the P70’s (starting from the “pro” fitting) has already resulted in some perceived improvement…I will see how it goes over the next few months. I will keep repeating the same word recognition test with the same physical controls (volume, location, spatial arrangement, etc) as I make changes over time.

Perhaps someone out there with far better programming ability than I can hack a HA fitting program to include such a testing regime?

Ethan

@user92 said:

The frequency shifting is somewhat unpredictable I expect because of the physical situation you describe.

I found the freqency shifting on oticon hearing aid made things worst in a situation so i had it completely off. I have a Cochlear Implant on the other ear, like it was causing interference. I used to have it on before i had the surgery it was great to hear things that I could be aware of but that about it. I now have it off because provides the full bandwidth of sound of 188 hz to 8khz… My theory is interference because it is putting signal that isn’t what the brain expects so it gets confused…

Update. I just returned the Jabscos to Costco. No issues. Great service. I had a very nice chat with the fitter. He was not aware that the Mic option in the receiver made the Sound Shaper not available. He appreciated the comment and had another high frequency loss customer using the same receiver and may revisit their fit. Very professional response to my comments.

Fitting comment with my new (used P70’s). I tried a number of domes…none seemed to work as well as the ones I got with the Jabscos. I put them on the P70’s…with very good results. Of special note: The M& (Resound/Jabsco) receiver fitting recommends a Surefit 3 “closed” dome. It turns out this dome is different than the other Resound Surefit 3…ie Open, Power and Tulip. The S3 has two small holes in it…so not totally closed. I found that this specific dome works really well with the P70’s in the better right ear. I use the Resound (Surefit 3) power dome in the left…not much difference than the other power domes I have. I ordered a bunch of the Resound S3 domes.

I see a lot of comments about the important role the domes play…now see that it is likely worth it to try other manufacturers domes with a specific .

At this point quite happy the the P70s. I changed the program so a long press gets me mute. From my previous post about HA wish list:

  1. Ear Plug Mode. around 30 db plus or minus. WITH THE MUTE AND POWER IN LEFT AND CLOSED IN RIGHT I GET A DECENT EAR PLUG MODE. NOTE 30DB BY ANY MEANS, BUT USEABLE.
  2. Speech Comprehension mode… Shift s, th, f, t, k to improve comprehension significantly. THE P70 DOES A DECENT JOB…MUCH BETTER THAN I HAD BEEN EXPECTED. I MAXED OUT THE SOUND RECOVER 2 SETTINGS AND GET A DISCERNABLE IMPROVEMENT IN COMPREHENSION.
  3. Music Mode. Like a nice pair of Bose Headphones. Music sounds great with these. I keep the volume pretty low. No signal processing needed. THE P70 IS PRETTY GOOD! NOT UP TO BOSE EARBUDS…BUT PRETTY DANG CLOSE.

Overall the P70s, using mostly the Target calculated fitting, is working pretty well. I admit to being impressed. I actually have been wearing the P70’s all day and forget they are there.

I think Costco will eventually lose HA business if they don’t make up with Phonak.

Thanks so much for all the great comments. Keep them coming.

Ethan

Hi Ethan, glad you like the P70’s and managed to program them to your liking, pitty you didn’t end up liking the Jabra in the end, but at least you can call your a hybrid (ReSound Dome, Phonak Body)
As for Costco not selling Phonak, I actually see this as disappointing as well, it would be fantastic if they could make up and sort the issue out, it’s possible but would potentially cause someone to have to swallow a dead rat!

Good point. But clear that my Costco fitter was not even remotely familiar with that limitation. As a rank, but hard working amateur (afa go), I figured it out myself… with lots of help from commenters at this forum! Not any different than what I find in my own (retired) Engineering work…sigh.

Ethan

In reply to @user92

I would like to emphasize that the Resound Surefit 3 domes fit REALLY well to the Phonak Paradise receivers. They are NOT going to come off without real effort…I see from some other posts that domes coming off when taking out the can be a problem. Some generic domes I bought are relative junk…ie slip off the Phonak or Resound Receivers pretty easily.

I would highly recommend the Resound Surefit 3 domes for any receiver that they might fit…the receivers all seem to have a pretty similar mounting geometry (?). I also noted that the Resound S3 domes have a series of small holes rather than just one…appears good for wax infiltration…and I imagine also has an effect on coupled acoustics between the receiver speaker and the ear canal (?).

Ethan

I am just searching but I see 2 models with Paradise in their name.

Virto Paradise
Naida Paradise.

I will keep searching. Most manufacturers have the professional information online.

I also see an Audeo Paradise.

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