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Costco cheat sheet

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So far, so good. I again tried Jabra and then Philips 9050. There was no question that Philips was much better of voice recognition in noise. I had the audiologist (not hearing specialist) and my adult son testing in a noisy COSTCO warehouse. My son’s voice was about the same with both , whereas the female audiologist was much clearer with Philips 9050. I suspect this was because her voice had a higher pitch (higher frequency), which is where my loss is greatest.
I ordered the Philips and next week I will be fitted, and two weeks later I have a follow-up appointment. The service could not be better.

The 9050 are very similar to the 9040. There are 7 “programs” to choose four from including “automobile” “airplane” “noise” “speech in noise” “h-fi” “movie theater” and the general. I use the hi-fil most all the time. See my basic review of the Philips 9050 after I returned the 9040 to Costco . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O6GnmSS6uU110

Edited

Thanks for the review!
Did you find that the “intent” feature does much of anything? You explained what it was supposed to do but didn’t say if it was particularly effective.
Also, how do you change the programs if the buttons are set for volume control? Do you need to use the phone app in that case?

Edited

Philips 9050 / Oticon Intent / Bernafon Encanta (they have all the same design and one button on each hearing aid)

button short press (lesser than 1 second) = volume change ,
→ button on the right = volume Up , button on left HA = volume Down

button long press ( about 2 seconds) = program change
→ button on the right HA = Program Up , button on the left HA = Program Down

button very long press (3 seconds) = switching OFF the hearing aid
if HA is Off , then the very long press is switching the device ON.

Many of the Costco hearing specialists have worked at Costco for upwards of 20 years or more (Costco is apparently a generous employer w/ good benefits). That said, I have also known quite NEW specialists at Costco who I found to be excellent. They are very keen and really apply themselves, being very interested in the subject. One definitely needs to evaluate these professionals carefully, as one would do any such person.

In reply to @firenzel

Thanks. How to change programs was not clear from anything I’ve seen elsewhere. I’m sure the Costco hearing specialist will explain it to me but I wanted to know before I go in, which is scheduled for this Wednesday.

In reply to @steve5

I find the “intent” feature on the 9050 (that supposedly adjusts the beam and signal to noise depending on head or body motion) to be subtle but maybe more. noticeable for people who have use earlier generations of hearing aids. If you have volume programmed for the buttons, a slightly longer press changes the programs. The manufacture says they are built to be “set and go” and don’t what user to have to use an app. That explains why the app is pretty rudimentary. I never use it.

In reply to @mystuart

When I asked my Costco hearing aid specialist (who is the lead guy in the department) if Costco or anyone trains them on new hearing aid models like the 9050, he said they have to learn on their own,

In reply to @steve5

They had to cancel my appointment a couple of weeks ago because the fitter I was going to see was out sick.

I had an appointment on the 3rd, which turned out to be with the only actual audiologist at my Costco store.

He was very knowledgeable and passionate about audiology, and has a good “earside manner” as well. He recommended the 9050 very highly and I tried it and found it to work pretty well even without the fine tuning.

So I bought it. I’m going in on Thursday the 17th to get it fitted.

Ok, I went in on Thursday and got it fitted.
The sound quality is fine so far, although I’m sure I’ll want to fool around with the programs.
But my ears hurt almost as soon as I put them in even with the smallest speakers they had to give me.
The audiologist says this is normal because our ears are very sensitive to foreign objects but if I use ComfortEar every night it should go away in a couple of weeks.
I’m wearing the aid for 4 hours a day and using ComfortEar every night. I hope this works.
Does anyone have experience with this situation?

If you’re talking about actual pain, then no. But when I went from KS10 to 9040 I immediately had intense itching from the 9040 domes. I wound up going to Starkey domes, which are compatible with the 9040 physical connection. The Starkey domes are bullet-shaped, similar to the KS10, and are made of a different composition than the 9040s that does not cause itching. Much more comfortable for me.

Itching might be even worse than pain, depending of course on how intense either one is.
If I don’t get any better comfort in the next couple of weeks, the audiologist says there are other possibilities. I expect to try ear molds again at some point if his other suggestions don’t work.

In reply to @GTwo

You can return to Costco as often as desired for adjustments to your hearing device, at no extra charge, for the life of the instrument–essentially as long as you desire. Free.

In reply to @steve5

@steve5 said:

Itching might be even worse than pain

I think itch is related to pain. Typical pain relievers don’t work for itch, typically, but nerve meds like gabapentin can. (I found it useless for my problem unrelated to itch.)

WH

In reply to @Don_B

@Don_B said:

The 9050 are very similar to the 9040. There are 7 “programs” to choose four from including “automobile” “airplane” “noise” “speech in noise” “h-fi” “movie theater” and the general. I use the hi-fil most all the time.

I just purchased the 9050. How do you access all these programs? The fitter at my Costco says they prefer to just provide one program, and that’s all the HearLink app is showing - “General”. My Oticon Opn had Speech in Noise as an alternative. I’m going back for my follow up visit tomorrow and if there are more programs available I’d like to ask him about them. So far the aids are good but I’ve not yet been in the noisy restaurant situation. Thanks in advance for any insights.

Your fitter has to add the programs. Originally my fitter wanted to add only the General and the Speech in Noise, but I told him I wanted the General, Automobile, HiFi, and Noise. So, he put all four in. If you want to experiment with others he can change them at your request and most often can do it remotely over the internet with you instead of visiting a Costco hearing aid center. I don’t know why they want to put only one or two programs in instead of four. It might be that if you are new to wearing them they want your brain to adjust to the new frequencies and sounds and not add confusion by putting in more programs.

Thanks, that’s good to know. I’ve been wearing aids for 2 years so not a newbie any more. Maybe it’s extra work for the fitter to add programs?

I did wonder if there’s somewhere that describes the specific programs and when they are useful? For example ‘Noise’ vs ‘Speech in Noise’?

Watched the video and thanks for the explanation of the programs. I’ll ask for Speech in Noise and Automobile when I see the fitter tomorrow.

In reply to @susanhorizons

It’s really simple to add the programs on the software, but maybe the folks are a bit lazy. The fitter can also choose the order in which they are on your hearing aid in case you want them in a certain order when you push the button to change the program on the hearing aid. And you can have them program it so you can change the volume with the button. The default is not to have the volume work with the button but only change programs.

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