Are Costco hearing aids actually better than mid level ones from bigger names like the Widex 220?

@prodigyplace: Far be it from me to comment on the medical uses to which the additional data points might be put.

I was prompted to post because you are using this minor action of questionable aetiology as a selection criterion for audiologists: my point is simple - I wouldn’t read to much into it.

Well, “750 and 1500 Hz should be tested if there is more than a 20 dB difference in thresholds between the adjacent octave frequencies”, per Kramer. So the Duke(?) clinician may well know exactly what they’re doing, surprise, even if they extended this to other frequencies, and used other criteria to trigger additional testing. Don’t know why non-professionals would think they know better.

@x475aws said:

Don’t know why non-professionals would think they know better.

@x475aws: No statement was made that such testing should not be performed. Rather, a question was asked as to the significance/value of such a test to actual hearing.

This question remains unanswered by the flippant comeback.

Perhaps it is being overly optimistic. After 20 years of hearing aids and exhausting the reasonably local audiology choices, I am grasping for a ray of hope. I currently see a large personal and business impact from my current situation.

Did you read something he’s written, or learn of something independently, or have a similar experience of your own that leads you to distrust the university clinic he’s going to? In the absence of any of that, dampening his hopes seems quite unhelpful and unjustified. Harmful, in fact. Simply not understanding the reason for some non-invasive clinical measurements doesn’t justify what you’re doing, in my opinion.

@x475aws said:

Simply not understanding the reason for some non-invasive clinical measurements doesn’t justify what you’re doing, in my opinion.

Thank you for your support.

None of us really know. They are supposed to see if they can adjust my KS8!aids tomorrow but I do not hold much hope in that. I expect I will end up choosing a new set of aids which they would need to order.

joke here deleted upon better reflection.

As @WhiteHat mentioned Costco models do have the tinnitus features just as any of the others sold from the clinics, unfortunately they won’t offer to provide programming the tinnitus features for anyone, but any other clinics could still do it for you,Widex do have a good controller, they also offer “notch therapy” as well, no one really talks about it, does it work… I doubt it, but anyways both ReSound (Jabra) and Signia
(Rexton) also offer very good tinnitus features, so Costco could still be an option if your prepared to find another clinic willing to sort through your tinnitus issues.

With more recent hearing aids there is the possibility of remote adjustments being made.

Turing on the tinnitus feature requires more training than most Costco fitters have, at least in some states.