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Phonak Audeo Sphere Infinio (I90) Review šŸ

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would love to see photos of them on ear :hear_with_hearing_aid: if you can share at some point?
And thank you for the excellent details in your review!

Edited

In reply to @HearKay

Of course! I was told they look relatively similar when comparing both on my ears, which is good news. The velvet black is my preferred colour choice as it matches closely to my hair and blends a little better. I will have to wait until later in the fall as that colour is apparently not a popular one, and Phonakā€™s prioritizing the other 4 colours (e.g., silver, etc).

When the sphereā€™s are on my ear, they feel more ā€˜ergonomicā€™ in the sense that i can locate the buttons a little easier.

lumity-on-ear

sphere-on-ear

In reply to @wkroeger

Wow, golden cShells! Beatiful! They were galvanized due to allergy? I find this difficult to imagine, as titanium is one of the most biocompatible materials.

@wkroeger, why do you have a titanium cShells? Do they provide better retention or sound quality than e.g. acrylic?

I was in to see my audi yesterday, and she showed me the Phonak Sphere Infinio, which I laid side-by-side next to my rechargeable Lumity Life aids (well, my dear 312 Precious Pinks are in the SHOP, so Iā€™m back to wearing the rechargeables). I was bugeyed to see the new Infinios are about 20% larger than my rechargeable Life aids, which, in turn, are about 15% larger than my little 312 Lifes!

You can kind of get a sense of the LARGER Infinio at Phonakā€™s site here95, but seeing is believing. Itā€™s a BIG BRUISINā€™ BEAN! Honestly, I think this large of an aid has finally crossed the line for what I can comfortably wear. I already have comfort issues with the Lumity Life 312s + sunglasses + hairband + sunhat which I wore together almost every day for 2 weeks in Greece. I got an earache with so many things pressing on the bean, which then seemed to pull on the speaker in my ear, making that ear canal sore, too. The earache was so bad it throbbed all night even with my aids out. It completely resolved about a week after I stopped hanging so many things around my ears.

My audi explained that the larger chipset is whatā€™s adding to the real estate of these Infinios, and of course that extra speech processing power is what makes the battery drain in 3 hours if set to the dedicated speech clarity program (like my "Speech in Loud Noise program on my Lumity Life aids).

Um. 3. Hours. I suppose I could wear my 312s on a long international flight, then, after disembarking, step to the side to swap in the Infinios (assuming I owned a pair) and be able to hear Customs in all the noise and fracas of a busy airport?

Iā€™ve been pining away for 3 decades on the speech-in-loud-noise Holy Grail, but there seems to be too much of a tradeoff here for me to consider THIS particular offering. I think Phonak is on to something, and perhaps there will be incredible miniaturization gains in hearing aids like thereā€™ve been in semiconductor chip manufacturing.

My audi said that somehow, the Phonak rep was able to rig up a ā€œdemoā€ for a roomful of audis, so they could ā€œhearā€ the difference in the Infinio. They put headsets on, and I guess simulated the experience, so the attendees could grasp the improvement in speech clarity.

If these Infinios are as good as professed, perhaps sales of Roger mics will go DOWN. And tangentially, perhaps thatā€™s why Phonak threw the doors open for the Roger V3 to work with as many pairs of hearing aids a person has! Too bad I missed that generation with my V2 ā€¦ and got snookered into having to buy TWO (redundant) Roger V2s so I could have each one dedicated to each of my TWO (redundant) pairs of Lumity Life aids.

Still, good news for us who continue to rail about the Holy Grail! Now Iā€™m daydreaming about how Phonak could get around the limits of low battery life with rechargeables. Is there any kind of wireless rechargeable battery pack out there?

Edited

In reply to @1Bluejay

@1Bluejay said:

Um. 3. Hours. I suppose I could wear my 312s on a long international flight, then, after disembarking, step to the side to swap in the Infinios (assuming I owned a pair) and be able to hear Customs in all the noise and fracas of a busy airport?

Read that topic, things is more complicated than that ā€œonly 3hā€. Perhaps it isnā€™t so bad. It is described in the first 8-10 posts:

Phonak Infinio Sphere 90 review
Hi New to the group but here are my thoughts on the Sphere 90 version. I have been using the trials for a few days and have been testing them everywhere I can. They are hands down the best aids I have tried. I am currently using power domes to get the full effect. I have been wearing them about 14 or 15 hours a day and still have 50% battery life left. Give them a try I think for those that are in loud environments a lot it will really help. Below are some of the comments I sent to my Audiā€¦

In reply to @PeterH

WOW that is a GREAT IDEA!!! You should contact Phonak Product Development. They could slim down the Infinio, release Roger V4 (or rename it!), improve sales of both aids and the mics.

YEAH BABY, YEAH!
Yeah Baby

In reply to @Bimodal_user

@Phonak Infinio Sphere 90 review said:

I have been wearing them about 14 or 15 hours a day and still have 50% battery life left.

That is very interesting! Geez, I know Iā€™m a power user (snake belly sucks it up!) but maybe it could work? I get 15 hrs daily max from my Lumity Life rechargeables, with 2 hrs of streaming at night. My audi did mention that the super speech clarity is also SUPER minimal: just the speech when its present. So itā€™s like thereā€™s an algorithm to NOT have background noise diminished unless there is SPEECH. Really efficient cut to the chase and no doubt to preserve battery life.

In reply to @AudioBlip

@AudioBlip said:

I just tried to see if the titanium cShells (lumity life) can fit in the new Sphere case, and at least mine do. Iā€™m sure the experience may be a little different for others with larger molds.

In reply to @AudioBlip

@AudioBlip, thanks for the pics of the titanium cShells, they are exceptionaly elegant. The one photo with viev in the case is particularly interesting as itā€™s the first time Iā€™ve seen them so long and double-bended :hushed: The right cShell is probably 1,5 cm?

Iā€™ve only now read your edit, I hadnā€™t seen it before, thanks for adding it.

@AudioBlip said:

My cShells have 3.1-4.5mm vents and it has the M Receiver / AV. Iā€™m not entirely sure if they are AOV, but if I had to guess, Iā€™d say yes they are?

Quite large diameter! Given the hearing loss and the very deep earmold, both should reduce the effect of occlusion, so I am surprised.

How to recognize the vent is AOV? In Target (and probably on your cShells) you should see 6-digit code:

Where to find the AOV code


.

If you do not have an AOV, then the name ā€˜cShellā€™ is on the surface instead of the code.

Why you transitioned from acrylic? Due to ear irritation and shallow insertion? They are better from acrylic despite the same shape and depth insertion?

Iā€™m sorry for asking so many questions, but before I buy Sphere, I need to get a proper mould to make the most of its features, and I spend much money to try each of them.

Currently I am after the 4 skeleton:

  1. zero vent
  2. pressure vent and too long cable
  3. AOV with M (D shaped inlet and outlet)
  4. AOV with P, but cable break

And most current canal cShell:
5. AOV with P (round inlet and outlet diameter 2,5 mm(!))

Edited

In reply to @Bimodal_user

Iā€™m actually encouraging you (@Bimodal_user) and any users from this forum and in general, who are remotely interested in getting a pair of Sphereā€™s to get the proper molds before testing. The reason is because while the Spheres are focused on denoising capabilities, itā€™s very difficult to test that without getting proper sound clarity. I didnā€™t realize how much of the sound clarity was contributed by the titanium cshell molds, which is why I put my trial on ā€˜pauseā€™.

The audiologists did leave me to enjoy the trial pair of Spheres until I get my new orders of titanium cshells (8-pin) that will be coming in this week. In the meantime, they have set up the Sphere for , but it wasnā€™t enough. Iā€™ve decided to leave them in the case for now, and wear my lumity as they sound clearer than the Spheres only because of the difference in molds.

Regarding your question @Bimodal_user, I could see on my titanium cshell there is an acoustic code imprinted on my titanium cshell, so thereā€™s my answer :blush:

I transitioned straight to titanium for 3x main reasons:

  • less itch = more wear time

  • WAY more comfortable = more wear time

  • more robust and durable = lasts longer

The other benefit Iā€™m assuming is because the titanium shell is thinner than acrylic which gives the technician more freedom to fit components more freely and come up with a more custom fit for my case (deeper).

It might help to know that it took 4x-6x iterations of my titanium cshells before i got my perfect fit, and it was well worth it!

Have you thought about trying the activevent? You can use titanium slimtips with them (not the same as cshells, but still nice) and get full isolation when in loud noise or streaming. There are some cons, but I love them.

Iā€™ve been wondering if Iā€™ll need new slimtips to go over the new activevents or if I can continue with my existing ones. Itā€™s time for new ones anyway, I guess. Two and a half years. I feel a little leakage on the right.

WH

Speaking of receivers, how do the Sphere receivers compare to the equivalent power of the previous ones, size-wise? Would they be basically interchangeable in soft silicone molds with some give to them? Iā€™m seriously thinking about upgrading once these things start hitting ebay at reasonable prices, but Iā€™m not eager to mess around with new molds. Though Iā€™ve noticed the cheapest online ā€œretailā€ prices now are quite a bit lower than they were for the L90s at the same point after their release, so thatā€™s an encouraging trend. (For the consumer, at least. Probably not so great for the independent audis who are getting shafted by Phonak.)

@CombatWombat said:

Would they be basically interchangeable in soft silicone molds with some give to them?

Canā€™t see why not, but the receiver isnā€™t interchangeable between platforms, itā€™s supposedly a new 8 pin design.

In reply to @AudioBlip

@AudioBlip said:

Iā€™m actually encouraging you (@Bimodal_user) and any users from this forum and in general, who are remotely interested in getting a pair of Sphereā€™s to get the proper molds before testing.

Thatā€™s what I suspected. I once bought espensive SmartLink+ (Dynamic ), which did not bring me any benefits because a dozen years ago I did not know about the important role of ventilation in the transmission of noise and I didnā€™t informed about this.

@AudioBlip said:

Regarding your question @Bimodal_user, I could see on my titanium cshell there is an acoustic code imprinted on my titanium cshell, so thereā€™s my answer :blush:

So you apparently have AOV :slight_smile:

@AudioBlip said:

The other benefit Iā€™m assuming is because the titanium shell is thinner than acrylic which gives the technician more freedom to fit components more freely and come up with a more custom fit for my case (deeper).

I recently discovered that applying slight pressure to the mold dramatically reduces occlusion and significantly improves sound quality, so your description seems promising.
Yesterday I looked at my last silicone impression and realized that it do not have the second bend of my ear canal. So clearly I have to get new (deeper) impression.

Why do you have such large vents, despite your quite significant hearing loss in the lower frequencies and deeply seated earmold? Doesnā€™t it let more noise into your eardrum?

@AudioBlip said:

It might help to know that it took 4x-6x iterations of my titanium cshells before i got my perfect fit, and it was well worth it!

Thank you for letting me know about this experience. Itā€™s important to always try to improve. Why did you make so many iterations? Was the fit too shallow? Was there occlusion? Was every iteration necessarily paid for? I plan to get an acrylic version, and if itā€™s good, then titanium.

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