Phonak Infinio Sphere I90 Review (Another One!)

Thanks for the detailed answers. It does really help giving me a much better idea of how well the Sphere mode works. Thanks again!

Maybe one final question for you Jordan. You’ve clarified before that the Sphere feature is most effective if you use a closed dome or custom mold and not an open dome, which makes full sense. I wonder if somebody is using a bass dome with a small single or double vent, how much less effective it might become? Judging from your audiogram, you’re probably already accustomed to, and also probably benefit the most, from wearing a non-vented fitting dome or custom mold. So it’s probably not a fair question to ask you if you don’t normally wear a vented fitting in the first place. But if you’re aware of some information that Phonak or your HCP might have and might have shared with you on this, it’d be great to get some kind of quantification about the level of effectiveness on this if some kind of vent is introduced into the fitting.

Or maybe a better question is whether the Phonak proprietary active vent type is compatible with the Sphere so that you can have a slightly open fitting normally, and when AutoSense enters the Sphere mode for you, it’ll also close up the vent on the Active-vent fitting? That would be the ultimate combination in my opinion, especially for folks with only high frequency ski slope
hearing loss who can benefit from the vents.

Also, I remember that you found it working much better for you when you upgraded to a more powerful receiver as well? Is it specifically about the Sphere feature working better for you with the more powerful receivers, or is that just in general for overall sounds with a more powerful receiver?

@Volusiano said:

Maybe one final question for you Jordan. You’ve clarified before that the Sphere feature is most effective if you use a closed dome or custom mold and not an open dome, which makes full sense. I wonder if somebody is using a bass dome with a small single or double vent, how much less effective it might become?

My experience is that the Sphere AI program works best with a very closed fitting. Open fittings are designed to allow people with a mild loss to have some natural sound to pass into the ear through the open fitting. This is great for stuff you want to hear but it also allows noise to enter the ear and this really interferes with speech recognition.

My audiologist started with M (Medium) Receivers on the Sphere with double domes which is what I was using with Lumity. I immediately noticed issues with speech clarity and music sounded stinky. We were able to determine that there was some issue with the new M Receivers and Sphere. They didn’t seem to have the same headroom after REM testing that the M Receivers had on Lumity. This was causing extreme compression which was interfering with speech clarity and music. We were not sure if it was the M Receivers or the way the fitting algorithm (in Target?) was setting up the Sphere’s when matched with the M Receivers. My audiologist decided to swap out the M Receivers for Power Receivers and all my problems went away and the Sphere’s now sounded equivalent or slightly better than Lumity. I will say that the P Receivers are physically larger than the M Receivers in your ear canal and this has definitely increased the occlusion in conjunction with the double domes. My personal theory is:

1. The extra headroom of the P Receivers has lowered the compression dramatically and this has improved clarity across all programs
2. The extra occlusion (from the larger P Receivers blocking more of my ear canal) has improved the performance of the new Spheric AI noice program.

Phonak’s Activent Receivers might be the perfect way to go if they work with Sphere. People with mild to medium losses will get all the benefits of an open fitting along with all the noise reduction benefits of a closed fitting and the Spheric AI program. Sounds like the perfect combination.

For those who already are using closed fittings or custom molds, the Sphere’s will give you a huge improvement in noise. As I have always said, the best approach is to work with a really good audiologist who will allow you a decent trial period and is prepared to do REM testing with multiple rounds of adjustment. As others have stated (including me), it took 3-4 rounds of adjustments to get the Sphere’s working really well and I’m not convinced that someone who mail ordered the Sphere’s and self fitted them at home will end up with the same outcomes.

Just my opinion…

Jordan

@JordanK said:

Phonak’s Activent Receivers might be the perfect way to go if they work with Sphere. People with mild to medium losses will get all the benefits of an open fitting along with all the noise reduction benefits of a closed fitting and the Spheric AI program. Sounds like the perfect combination.

I did a quick search on Google AI and it says that the Sphere is compatible with the ActiveVent receivers. I wonder if there are Sphere wearers here who have normal hearing on the low end with a ski slope loss that are using ActiveVent receivers on their Sphere? If yes, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this combination.

@JordanK said:

I immediately noticed issues with speech clarity and music sounded stinky.

I have M receivers. In quiet situations, being in a user-defined Calm program sounds much better to me than going with AutoSense (which also on the Program Options tab, bottom center, shows I’m in Calm mode, too). My only thought is that when in AutoSense mode, maybe there’s a whole lot of AutoSense processing/evaluation that’s muddling things up a bit more than just being in a fixed Calm program. I’m wearing totally occlusive cShells and the Sphere sound is marvelous, IMHO, even with M receivers. Perhaps the M vs. P receivers really only applies in your particular case for something about your hearing or your fitting?

True, I was referring to the Phonak’s published fitting ranges.

Hi Ryan,
Thank you for your review. As a newbie to the forum I learnt a lot from the review.

Jordan, I have been trialing the Spheres for two months now, and I have tried open, vented, and now power domes. In each case, I have not been able to hear voices in noisy environments, like restaurants, which is why I wanted the Spheres. Can you tell me which domes you are using? My audiologist typically sells Oticon, so maybe she is not familiar enough with the Spheres and isn’t setting them up correctly.

@viffer said:

Can you tell me which domes you are using?

I’m using double domes. Here is a picture. My sense is that your audiologist doesn’t know what they are doing and the Sphere’s are not setup properly. Just a guess.

Jordan

I have had great success with the Phonak cShell molds with my Spheres. I also used the slimtip with my Lumitys. Like Jordan, I fine the Spheres a game changer in noise.

@viffer said:

I really want to get the Spheres to work (especially since the hands-free works great with my Android phone).

I have the Starkey Edge AI 24 and will change to the Phonak Spheres. The Starkey would randomly cut out either one or both hearing aids. The Bluetooth would do the same. I know Phonak will work with my Samsung S22 and Phonak should give me better hearing in noise.

Not trying to be rude but do where you dispensed Phonak Infinio Spheres? I know when I pair with my older marvels the Sphere option is not on the menu. If I pair with my new Spheres the Sphere option appears right next to autosense. I found it interesting that the app appears to know which aids its pairing with.

If your not hearing voices using the Sphere’s something is wrong. Just recently got mine and the difference for voices in background noise compared to my Marvels is huge. I do think if your not using custom molds you are leaving some of the benefit on the table. Also if your audi does not usually dispense Phonaks then perhaps they are not the best person to fit you. I do think an audiologist’s expertise with a particular manufacturer’s fitting software can make a huge difference. I would not expect an expert Ford mechanic to be as good working on a Chevy.

Great review! I recently got my Spheres to replace my aging Marvels, Speech in background noise not unexpectedly has been my biggest challenge. Had a bit of a rocky start as the the initial pair I was fitted with had a malfunction. A few days after getting them the sound quality deteriorated and subsequent REM showed that they were not producing sound as initially set. Started over with a new set and have had those for a few days. Still getting used to them and testing them out. What I’m curious about and did not get a chance to fully discuss with my audiologist was how to measure (if possible) how well the Sphere mode is working. REM measures how close they can get to your prescriptive target but how is the Sphere feature measured? When I first was fitted with the defective pair my perception was that the background noise was greatly suppressed in Sphere mode. With the replacement devices I don’t perceive background noise as being suppressed as much,it seems as though the voice I’m listening to is amplified. Same desired result, I can hear voices in background noise better. Curious about others experience with this.