Has anyone any experience with specsavers advance elite hearing aids?

Hi glucas… interesting, in that I do have tinnitus unfortunately. I am a first time HA user, so can I ask are the Tinnitus masking features any good, or do you have any experience of them?

Hi Shay,

No - I’m sorry, I have no knowledge on that one. Obviously, I think you should speak to the specsavers audiologist about whether the feature is there and also ask within this forum as I’m sure there are knowledgeable people on here who know something about tinnitus and/or which hearing aids may help.

I had the tinnitus masking on my first set of HA’s and found just as annoying as my tinnitus so I had the program removed. In say that wearing HA’s themselves has been very helpful for my tinnitus, being able to hear high frequency sounds again helps mask the tinnitus somewhat.

Thanks glucas , I will do that.

Hi, if I understand correctly you can hear the caller’s voice through your hearing aids but you have to use the phone microphone to talk back to them?
If this is the case, then it’s quite common across many hearing aids; for example this is how my Widex Moment hearing aids work when I am answering phone calls.

Hi Paul,
I wished that it was that simple. I have a Sansung A33 and I know it sort of inside out! So when this issue arose I threw myself at it , to try and solve the problem. Simply put, the Samsung refuses to allow the phone mic to function…the caller keeps saying I can’t hear you!..its a complete disconnect. I brought the issue up with Specsavers in ChCh…and I have to say, the guy I discussed the issue with was open and frank and confirmed to me that at the moment the Advance Elite units will only perform BT duplex conversations with iPhones ( a range of them) and it will not provide that function with Samsungs. Sadly I chose the Advance units because of their new slim profile, and to get my Samsung operating in Duplex with BT I would have to swop my Styletto type Specsavers Advance clone to a Phonak unit for example.

You have my sympathy on this problem. My Widex HAs work far better with iPhones but I was alerted to this before I bought them.

So I have just been reading through this post re specsavers advance elite aids. I don’t have hearing aids yet but am due to get them and will probable go with specsavers. Do you know if they have any other hearing aid that is compatible with BT as I also have an android phone and this is a feature I would like.

Hi WoodsyP, I purchased a pair of the Advance branded elite aids neraly 3 months ago. They are dear enough for what they are, especially when you consider that without the Govt Sub. they would be more than $4500NZ. I chose them on the basis of their RIE technology which allows you to continue to hear sounds normally along with the amplified version, plus the fact that they are at the moment probably the most discrete behind the ear units available. However they are not perfect…the main issue is that they interface with I phones better that Samsung units…you can’t do duplex…i.e. talk/listen via the BT service that the units offer, so that means I just use my phone normally and not try to BT it for phone conversations. You can however still use the BT app called My Remote…for adjusting the volume in each ear, the tone of it, and the direction of interest…the latter I’ve found doesn’t seem to make a great deal of difference. The units don’t use AI to sort out what sounds are best to feed to you, and while the Specsaver technician was skilled and helpful in the initial setup of the units, the ability to adjust the frequency response to meet your liking , is a feature that these units don’t provide. The units are related to the Signia global brand, and I enquired whether a software/firmware update might be forthcoming to at least fix the BT phone connection, but the answer was no…which I regard as unfortunate.

Hi Y. Can you tell us what phone you have linked to your HAs, please? Fiona

I’ve had them for a couple of years now. Fairly good but they have a recurring issue. They sound like they go to mute or cut out for various periods of time. I had them back to specsavers several times but the issue is never resolved.

I have been trialing them.

Which model do you have? For example, in the UK the advance elite range are either white label GN Resound Vivia 9 or Unitron Moxi Smile (these are the current models).

In any case, sudden muting is often a symptom of ear wax buildup. Did you have the wax guards changed? Also the GN resounds have a filter on the microphone unit that can be replaced, so that might be worth a go.

72R on the back. Have tried all your suggestions but the intermittent issue remains

@Midge69 said:

They sound like they go to mute or cut out for various periods of time

In what environment, a bit noise in the background, sounds like noise reduction kicking in.