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My Phonak Sphere Infinio I90 vs Lumity L90 Shootout

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I don’t think you have a choice with phonak with traditional bluetooth. If you use the headset mode for your phonecall, you will be using the mics. You can enable isolation mode on iOS. But that is about it.

WH

In reply to @Emile030

@Emile030, during or before call you need to disconnect from Bluetooth for a while. Then swipe one or two times from upper edge of the screen. If your phone is new enough, there will be mic options:

Screenshot_20240930_224627_Call

Screenshot_20240930_224659_Call

Translate:

Microphone mode

Standard
Highlighting voices :heavy_check_mark:

You can then reconnect via Bluetooth for more convenient calls.

Another update…

Went to the audiologist for the first time since I was fitted with the new Infinio Sphere hearing aids three weeks ago. Spent some time before I went to make a good list of the questions that I wanted to ask him along with some things that I wanted adjusted. I’m very happy with these hearing aids but I did feel there was some room for improvement. Here is my list along with his recommendedations:

  • Do I need to start looking at custom molds or are the double domes ok for my hearing loss? Response: He indicated that he had no issue setting up and doing the test with the double domes. He said this is one of the nice things about Phonak hearing aids. They can be fit for a really large range of losses. He said the double dome are more than ok for someone with my loss profile.

  • Review of the settings for the “Calm” program - I lose speech clarity when Autosense switches to this program. Seems to be worse with women speakers.
    Response: Turns out he has the same issue. He took at look at the program and he thinks that Phonak has changed the compression for this program vs Lumity. He noted that the compression was higher and he was able to adjust it down by reducing the gain in the lower volume sound profile. He felt that the slightly wider dynamic range would help with the soft vowels and consonants. Seems better since I got home.

  • Review the Music program settings: My Lumity L90’s have much more bass when listening to music. Not sure if my audiologist turned on a bass boost setting with my Lumity’s and it is off by default with the new Sphere’s. I’m going to ask him to review the entire Music program. Apparently you can setup different listening profiles with the new Infinio hearing aids. In other words, different settings for listening to music through the microphones vs streaming.
    Response: He said the Phonak has definitely lowered the bass with the Sphere’s on the initial setup. He made some changes to the music program to boost the base for both live and streaming music (Sphere as two streaming programs - speech and music. He also confirmed that all the other noise reduction and other processing stuff was off. Seems better since I got home but will continue to test

  • Windblock settings. Separate program for bike riding or high wind situations.
    Response: He created a separate “Outside” program which has the Windblock cranked up. He asked me to try it out and see if this was better. I will test it on a bike ride later this week.

  • Experiencing some crackling when streaming. Only in the right hearing aid.
    Response: I personally think this is Bluetooth radio interference from other stuff in my house but he wondered if it could be distortion. He made some adjustsments. I’m still experiencing this since getting back home and jumping on a call.

None of these things are big deals but I want to make sure I’ve optimized my settings before making a final decision on purchasing these hearing aids. I’m still very pleased with their performance and the Spheric noise reduction and massive increase in battery life are game changers for me. I’m still finishing up my days with 60% battery capacity after 17 hours of use and 3-4 hours of streaming.

Next appointment is in 2 weeks.

Jordan

Edited

Thanks Jordan!

Tonight I had my first ride on my brand new e-bike. I’m happy.

I bought a number of new . My brand new warranty replaced hearing aids now have the new 5.0 power receivers. I change wax guards often. And domes too. The lady told me workman’s compensation is going to further degrade the program. For instance my second set of hearing aids had to be one of three brands. And they were B70s. They were replaced early(A Miracle) because I couldn’t hear behind me And was almost hit 3 times.

Magic again my P90s were the best model in Paradise line.
edit: my hearing aids are provided by workman’s compensation due to exposure to loud noise at work. However, this program is changing. I was informed that there are severe price constraints coming. I was told today by a Hearing Aid Professional that there will be major changes in the workman’s compensation program in Ontario Canada.

In reply to @markoo355

I agree, and music is not the driving force behind me ordering the Spheres. My wife and I entertain clients frequently in noisy restaurants. If the Spheres work as well as the reviews indicate, it will be a massive improvement for me.

I gave up on the idea of my hearing sounding natural or normal after I got my first pair of about 12 or 13 years ago. That being said, in my experiences with Phonak, Bernafon, Oticon, and Signia, playing music has sounded noticeably better on the Phonaks. I realize all HAs work similarly, and as such we should be able to achieve similar results from one to another. I personally feel that the programming differences within each manufacturer’s fitting software tends to sort of ‘steer’ their HAs in a particular direction, soundwise. Like each manufacturer has their own ideas as to what the ideal HA should sound like, and the software is geared toward achieving that end. I hope that makes sense. I’ve experimented quite a bit with the Phonak, Oticon, and Signia fitting software, and in each case have been able to improve upon the Audiologists’ settings. For my ears, Phonak has consistently been a better match. Others’ ears will want different tonalities, which is to be expected. I don’t know that the Spheres will sound better than my current Oticon Mores for music, but I’m hopeful that to my ears they will.

One of my biggest frustrations with the Oticons is their feedback suppression, which shifts frequencies by plus/minus 10hz from the original pitch. This causes a warbling effect on sustained notes, which drove me absolutely insane. My Audiologist could not hear it, nor could I make her understand, despite explaining how it works. That’s what led me down the path of modifying her settings in the fitting software. Once I turned off feedback suppression on the music program, the problem was solved. I left the feedback suppression turned on for the general program, but since the Oticons don’t automatically change programs like the Phonaks do, I generally listen to radio, tv, etc on the general program, and it’s really annoying unless I manually switch to the music program.

I got the call today that my Phonak Spheres have arrived. I have an appointment on Wednesday for my fitting, and I’m seriously excited to get them. I have a client dinner later that evening, so they’ll need to hit the ground running! I’ll report back after I’ve tried them.

In reply to @AlexE

@AlexE said:

At C$7,000 you could fly over to the UK, buy some here while having an holiday and still have some pocket change

Use your 7 k$ for a ticket to France and buy TWO pairs of spheres, fitting included…

Audeo Infinio Sphere I90 R - Laboratoires Unisson42

Venez tester gratuitement l'appareil auditif Phonak Audeo Infinio Sphere I90 R dans l'un des centres auditifs Unisson. Prenez RDV dès maintenant

@RobHooft said:

Use your 7 k$ for a ticket to France and buy TWO pairs of spheres, fitting included…

@RobHooft
Untill now the cheapest ones I saw in Europe on the internet although you have to add €285 for the not included charger.
What a price- differences!

I myself bought in the UK and had to pay the 9% VAT extra €283,77 (which on not medical things is 21%). Import was free as import of medical devices is free in the Netherlands. So these would have cost me an extra €383 less in France. (Paid at Wholesale UK €2.975,95 a pair charger included which was the cheapest at that time. 1jr worldwide and an additional 4 years UK warranty).

In reply to @HomerSimpson

Good suggestion.

This is the method used in the headphones made for pilots. I bought noise compensating headphones many years ago and used the headphones with a Walkman so I could listen to motivational tapes while doing chores such as vacuuming.
Isn’t this technique used by Sony in their Over The Counter Hearing Aids recently announced?

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