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Signia Introduces Hearing Aids That Tackle the Most Difficult Challenge for People With Hearing Loss: Group Conversations in Noise

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In reply to @Member371

My provider is close by, and any issues that I have with my aids are quickly addressed.So. that’s a huge advantage over Costco. Also, they have a long history with me, my needs (musician) etc. Plus I know they’re very good at programming my aids. And for example, instantly recognize that I meed a custom mold and power receiver on my right ear, at least.
However:

I used to have to go into my provider for bi-monthly wax cleanings. (yeah i produce a lot of wax). No more, as I bought a wax vacuum that works great!! So that service is now on my end.

New hearing aids require follow up, maintenance and a response to sudden failures. If you live nearby a costco, the initial savings may well be worth it. How long does it take to get an appt.? How competent are the HA specialists there? etc. This seems to vary from Costco to Costco. Plus staff moves around a lot. don’t expect a lot of continuity, or familiarity.

but the price at Costco!!! fantasatic!! part of that is based on not hiring real audiologists, in order to reduce cost at the provider end. Still, many here swear by Costco. I completely understand.
I think of buying new aids as being a long term proposition. There will be adjustments, cleanings, servicing, familiarity with my hearing profile and needs and desires all to consider. and more. And so, I’ve shelled out more money up front to take advantage of being able to be seen quickly and professionally over the years.

In reply to @Member371

@Member371 said:

We aren’t currently Costco members because we never really went there. That would only be $325 over 5 years, so that’s not much. D

You will probably save that in the first few months on other products once you become a member

@Member371 said:

Just checking - $1500 for the pair? Or each?

As @tenkan says, that is per pair. Plus Costco gives you six months to decide whether you want to keep them or not.

Just to confirm, the 7IX is the Rexton Reach at Costco (just rebranded under a different name) or, of course, you could get the same aid at Miracle Ear for $7000, but it would be locked so nobody else could adjust it. As noted, Costco offers a three year warranty and unlimited support at no additional charge including hearing tests.

If you don’t want to join Costco, check out ZipHearing which has the same aid (and many more) for around $4,700 including fitting and adjustments for one year by a local audi, plus a 3 year warranty and damage/loss insurance.

In reply to @tenkan

@tenkan said:

Problem is, every single HA manufacturer makes the same claim, in fact they have been saying it since 1960! We’re still waiting for this miracle.

I’d give you 12 more THUMBS-UP for that very observant observation, tenkan! The Signia headlines above actually made me burst out laughing at yet ANOTHER claim to have delivered the Holy Grail to us: speech comprehension in LOUD places.

Thing is, I’d be an excellent candidate to try ALL these make/models: gimme the Intent, followed by the Sphere, now Signia’s magic bullet! I’d be able to report back in one day FLAT if these are all claims of BS. Yeah, I’m getting jaded even as I appreciate the baby steps of improvement.

BS ear protector

Sigh. If only this statement from one of the press realeases was true:
Signia Integrated Xperience is introducing the world’s first hearing aid that identifies and locks on to the voice of every person in a conversation, enhancing their speech and reducing background noise.

To be a bug… EVERY person in a conversation? I’m assuming I’d have to at the minimum turn my head to face them. But would the aids be able to distinguish if I’m trying to hear ONE of these people even when several are talking over each other?

And here:
In a study investigating speech performance in a group conversation scenario, Signia Integrated Xperience provided a significant improvement in speech understanding for the hearing aid wearer. 95%[1] of the participants showed better performance with Integrated Xperience RealTime Conversation Enhancement than without.

Links to a white paper that is not itself linked to, so I can’t understand the statistics or validity of this claim. Not to sound like a BUG, but what does it mean that 95% of participants did better with the Signia aid than without." Like, do they mean without ANY aid? What were the participants wearing?

Ah… I just want it to be TRUE. But I’m frustrated that in 35 years of wearing aids with MY kinda , I’ve NEVER been approached by ANY company to put it to the test. Believe me, I’d be able to give an honest answer. But no. I’d have to BUY them first. How does one get to be a participant testing out aids? D’ya have to work at the company? What are the demographics of these participants and what is their average hearing loss even?

We need details to be able to determine if the Signia aid is worth asking our audis about.

In reply to @1Bluejay

Yes, but baby steps add up over the years.

Here’s an analogy. The Apple Conference used to generate huge excitement. What new marvelous and unimagined device will they come up with next? Now, the ‘innovations’ are pretty much tweaks on existing devices. Incremental change. This is how it works. You can’t revolutionize the world every year. Frankly for my needs, a stripped down iphone is preferable to one that does a million things. Same with my hearing aids. I sometimes suspect that older Widex models, that were simpler, might have been better for my needs as a musician, over newer models that are playing catch up by adding more features that I don’t need.
sometimes simpler is better.
I’d rather use the limited space inside of a body to provide higher quality sound and forgo the various features that I rarely or never use.
But many–maybe most–HA users need or like those same features I can do without.

Beltone’s devices look a lot like ReSound’s but cost more. The ReSound branded Multi-Mic+ is, I believe, $300.

is a standard that aims to allow Auracast devices to interconnect no matter what brand. My understanding is that an Auracast device from ReSound should work with Signia aids (is the firmware fix out yet?), but there are no guarantees. If you buy a Multi-Mic+ to work with aids outside the ReSound family of brands, my reco is to make sure you can get your money back if it doesn’t work for you.

I love the multi-Mic, and I expect the + version to be at least as good. It’s what made me choose Jabra over Philips, even though I liked the Philips sound better.

I just won’t bet a lot on or Auracast keeping their promises just yet.

@philbob57 said:

Beltone’s devices look a lot like ReSound’s but cost more

They are are exactly the same in all but name, yeah strange they actually cost more tho!

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