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My Phonak Sphere Infinio I90 vs Lumity L90 Shootout

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Edited

Posting your might help here - we’d have a better idea about the nature of your hearing loss, at least.

What kind of domes (or molds) are you using? Are you triggering Spheric mode manually, or just letting AutoSense run the show? And has your provider been of any help? (There are lots more variables - but that’s a start.)

Almost identical like mine in the better right ear, except that my drop on the starts right after 500 Hz instead of 1500 Hz.

I am preparing to leave, so have little time to discuss now.

Please go to your profile avatar in the post, click then again on your nick and then click/tap “My audiogram”

In reply to @johnecho65

Here is my booth . My Phonak Ultra Spheres were set up by phonak online hearing test @ Wholesale direct where purchased a 60 day trail from. I am unenthusiastic with the sphere chip speech in loud noise setting. It really has little effect in lowering background noise and hearing table conversations I am with. I really think I need a live cam target adjustment with Matt my audiologist. I sent him my booth audiogram pictured here to compare with what presets he did from there test online before shipping them to me 10 days ago. In reading this forum I am learning how important a ear measurement & tuning could be the missing link I am experiencing with my Phonak Ultra Spheres. My HA were ordered with the latest firmware installed atleast. The REM will cost me 325.00 from local clinic familiar with Phonaks . With them I can send Matt the results if that will help .? The local clinic price was 3 k more than I paid online. Couldn’t justify that price even though I have to pay a fee for servoce for a REM result. I hope I am proceding correctly and would appreciate any feedback on the steps I’m taking. Thanks Much. John

20251206_122515

Edited

In reply to @johnecho65

@johnecho65 said:

I am underwhelmed about speech in loud noise also

Which domes do you have? Open domes? That may be a issue. Your high frequency loss requires more closed coupling to achieve better audibility without acoustic feedback.

I have power domes. Changing domes requires changes in fine tuning of .

@johnecho65 said:

I am unenthusiastic with the sphere chip speech in loud noise setting. It really has little effect in lowering background noise and hearing table conversations I am with.

Did you adjusted Noise Reduction in myPhonak app to max? Do you have manual Spheric program?

@hh1 said:

Phones medium Phonak med Power-domes I think

As @DonRadlauer mentioned, posting your would be helpful to give better advices. Perhaps M receiver is too weak and it can’t provide proper to achieve understanding in noisy conditions?

Here are articles about too low MPO:

New to hearing aids and this forum questions on Phonak receivers, domes
Additional thoughts: These articles emphasize the important role of a sufficiently high MPO, especially when hearing in noise. Note that theemphasize the important role of a sufficiently high MPO, especially when hearing in noise. Note that the first article presents a situation with an SNR of +15 dB speech in noise, so quite favorable, but with too weak receiver intelligibity can be poor.
Edited

In reply to @JordanK

From you previous remarks does not seem like an issue but you saying the people around you were very clear, could that interfer with who you actually want to listen too, with my Lumity’s in noisy environments my main frustration was I seemed to be able to hear the people clearer from behind & on different tables better than the person I was facing, even with narrow set which was crazy annoying & bizarre. I had some Audeo B’s before & the lumities were meant to be 25% better in noose etc etc. I found no improvement really & barely from my v.old UK NHS aids, I hope this time it really is more than a tiny itteration.

@Bignose2 said:

with my Lumity’s in noisy environments my main frustration was I seemed to be able to hear the people clearer from behind & on different tables better than the person I was facing, even with narrow set which was crazy annoying & bizarre.

What is your receiver wire length? I found that “standard” “2” wire length is too long, so I have “0” (zero). There are (for adults) 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 length with ~5mm differences.

Inserting your after clicking in your profile avatar could help to provide better advice.

Hi, thanks for your reply, will try & find my

I have never thought about that in all the years, with the length they are tucked far down behind the ear. Now you mention it amazed they work as well as they do forward.

Audio has never ever mention this. Will look into that, can pull forward & test next time in noisy environment.

Its one reason I could not understand why “In Ear” ’s are not the best option as one would think having had thousands of year to perfect itself, collecting sound & direction but appreciate getting enough tech & battery inside but would have thought that could be behind the ear and microphone & receiver still in the ear canal. I digress!

Edited

Completely by accident, today Matthew Allsop released a video about the length of the receiver wire:

Here are my guide about getting proper earmold (in is for titanium, but they are pretty universal - for acrylic, silicone also). There are part about choosing proper wire lenght.

Advices before purchasing titanium cShells / titanium earmolds
EDIT: This is continuation of my topic about my experiences with titanium cShells: END OF EDIT DISCLAIMER: Titanium cShells are not a cure for anything. Please have mercy on your HCPs and don’t insist on titanium if you don’t have experience with acrylic earmolds/cShells (you used domes only) and you don’t have an allergy or a narrow ear canal, because in case of discomfort the waiting period for remake will be too long. Make sure you’re comfortable with acrylic/silicone ones previously. I…
@Bignose2 said:

Its one reason I could not understand why “In Ear” HA’s are not the best option as one would think having had thousands of year to perfect itself

The (In the ear) are pretty good in pinna directivity effect. The same is true of or .

Edited

In reply to @Bimodal_user

Hi,

Just a follow up & big thank you for making me think about recevier length.

I measured my ear for phonak sizing & got 20mm so well within size 0 so why in all these years & several audo’s they have never notice or mentioned, quite disgusting really, was first Boots then Specsavers (for huge discounts on my life’s) I have explained so many time & made huge fuss last time wanting good explaining cannot hear person in front etc etc. I feel stupid now as so obvious but perhaps in 10+ visits never once been mention or looked at, I took a photo of myself & the old ones were pretty much vertical at the back of my ear. Got some 0’s from connevans & whilst little testing, positive going to make a huge difference as now pointing almost forward. Really angry as spent many years probably struggling much more than I needed to, I know will still not be great but expect a huge improvement from before.

Great to “hear” about improvement! Glad my advices could help! Keep us informed if you notice any other differences!

Just for completing the topic of wire lenght:

Providing Some Direction – Beamformers Explained -Article 262606

Directional microphone technology in hearing aids is a common method for improving hearing in noise in the near-field. This paper describes the various possible behaviors of directional microphone and how these provide benefit to the wearer, as well...

https://journals.lww.com/thehearingjournal/fulltext/2007/12000/new_rite_aid_is_found_to_provide_consistent.5.aspx4

Totally agree! So important to get the wire both the correct length and (at least aesthetically) the right breadth - so that they stay curved up along side the ear. After many years I finally ran into an Audi who showed me how to safely heat up the wire and permanently put a different shape into it.

image

I’ve tested this “theory” and it didn’t make any noticeable difference that I could tell (obviously it does in the Lab set up, but in real world use it didn’t unfortunately) but a couple of things I did notice was they got in way of my glasses more plus they tended to flop off with sudden movement, I settled on size 2 which is a bit off the vertical plane with good fitment, hopefully you’ll get better worthwhile results.

I have just purchased a pair of Phonak 190 Sphere to combat background noise in pubs & restaurants where I have struggled for years. I trialled them first, with limited expectations, expecting to hand them back with a ‘thanks- but no thanks’.

I must say I was impressed - I found I could clearly hear the conversation around me. The mobile (cell) phone app. is great with four choices of programs Automatic, Restaurant, Music or TV. I can easily switch according to the situation. I have purchased the TV connector as well which far smaller than the Oticon TV Dex and easier to install, it’s great watching foreign movies with the dialogue in my ears. The Mobile phone use is great too.

I have previously had expensive from Siemens, Widex and Oticon - but these are vastly superior. The chunky size allows for a lot of extra high tech and is worth it.

@Cheltman said:

The mobile (cell) phone app. is great with four choices of programs Automatic, Restaurant, Music or TV.

You may want to add (or have your provider add) a manual program for Spheric Speech in Loud Noise, so you can trigger this mode in situations where your aren’t doing it automatically. Another thing that a lot of Spheroids have done is have the threshold for automatically engaging Spheric Speech mode lowered - especially since the “Ultra” update has reduced the battery drain of Spheric mode.

There’s also a way to create the manual Spheric program on your own without involving your provider or being an “official” maniac - it involves getting into an environment where your Spheres will automatically go into Spheric Speech in Hell mode, then using the “adjust” feature to create a manually-triggered version that you can then invoke at will. I can search for the detailed procedure if you want. (The second suggested adjustment - lowering the noise threshold for automatically triggering Spheric Speech mode - is available only through the Target fitting software - so you need your provider or a DIY setup for this one.)

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