@Milkshake

I think you need either slimtips or c.shells. You aren’t getting the high frequency gains you need. In Target, slimtips and c.shells allow some higher gains over domes (at least they do with Marvel and Paradise)
Peter

@Neville said:

How do you know your hearing aids are doing that if you don’t have them connected by Bluetooth to your phone?

To correct: Bluetooth is always on, or cannot use APP. However I was not using the phone and any of the Bluetooth functions. I initially didn’t know, but since I found the hearing aids sound very loud and weird, I checked the APP and found they were at Bluetooth program. Now every time after I charged my aids, I checked the APP and it’s at Bluetooth Streaming. I have to manually switch to Automatic.

You have to be careful. These folks are quoting in Canadian dollars which is 1 CAD to 0.73 USD. So in USD, is closer to $4,800.

I ordered a set of i90 Spheres from directhearing.com4 today (not yet shipped). More on that later.

I will see my audiologist about custom molds. I plan on DIY beyond that via in situ audiograms (I know the “REM is the gold standard” bit). A la carte with an audiologist if needed. I’ve always worn silicone molds before with my Resound HAs, which’ve been very comfortable. Searching on the Internet, though, I found advice that said that although silicone molds can be more comfortable, they’re less durable, often don’t fit the ear canal as snugly as hard acrylic molds, and the material provides less occlusion to sound transmission than hard acrylic. I want good occlusion, which is better for Spheric noise reduction in tough situations.

Would any provider like @Neville or @Um_bongo care to offer an opinion on silicone vs. hard acrylic? Looking in Target, I only saw the option for cShells for molds for the i90, not silicone (maybe as a newbie to Target, I don’t know where or what to look for…). Thanks to anyone if there’s a link to a good discussion about the different types of Phonak molds somewhere on this forum

@jim_lewis said:

Source: Internet Sales Policy | Phonak

It’s pretty scary and seems to have changed in the last few days when it previously listed just three online retailers that Phonak stated were unauthorized.

Actually, I was looking at a different Phonak web page on Internet sales before, and that web page still lists three online resellers that have been declared unauthorized by Phonak:

Sonova USA Brand Standards – Why They Matter (phonak.com)13

Given the carte blanche nature of the statement on the Phonak Internet Sales Policy page cited in my quoted previous post, I wouldn’t rely too much on whether Phonak happens to formally list a retailer as unauthorized on its Sonova USA Brand Standards page, but if you want to find out who the three declared online sellers are, scroll down to the heading on the brand standards page until you reach:

Online Retailers Not Currently Complying with Standards

Since they’re declared, it’s probably a good idea to avoid them for sure.

Actually you don’t need to be connected to check, you can manually enter and get this.

It’s all scaremongering by a poor old cartel member, did you notice the “may be counterfeit” a totally spurious claim, but gave me a good laugh anyway.

Humm, but what sounds do you have turned on on your phone? Android or apple? If lock/unlock screen sound is on and keyboard clicks, is it possible that when you go to look at the app the very act of doing that is flipping the hearing aid into streaming mode because your phone is making little sounds that it is trying to stream through? Some phones manage these things better than others.

@Neville is right. I also found that I was often affected by the muting of environmental sounds for a sort time (maybe 10-15 sec) due to the streaming notification sound. I even have to turn off the notification vibration to improve this issue.

How to improve your experience with Bluetooth (phonak.com)14

How to disable Notification Sounds and System Sounds on an Android Smartphone? (phonak.com)7

Another update…

Just got back from the Audiologist with an interesting update. I’ve been having a few weird issues with my Sphere hearing aids.

The first issue is a lack of clarity when the hearing aids are in the Calm Program within Autosense. Voices sometimes sound compressed and lack clarity. This is kinda odd given the speech enhancer is supposed to fix this. My audiologist thought it was related to too much compression so he lowered the levels slightly in Target to decrease the compression (I think I described this correctly). It helped a bit but still not as good as my Lumity hearing aids. Seemed weird to me that I was having issues hearing speech in “Calm” situations. This should be easy for any hearing aid.

The second issue I was experiencing is that I am getting distortion in some programs. I notice it the most when streaming TV shows using my TV Connector 2 but it also happens when streaming work meetings on my laptop and watching videos on my iPhone. I thought it was maybe Bluetooth interference but it turns out it wasn’t.

Turns out some of the levels in a few of the programs were very close to the headroom limit (black line in Target) of the M receivers on the Sphere’s and the sound was starting to compress and distort. My audiologist thought this was weird because I’m wearing M receivers on my Lumity’s and there is much more headroom available and Music sorta sounds better wearing Lumity.

When he compared the graphs for my fittings of Sphere and Lumity hearing aids in Target, the headroom limit of the receivers on the Sphere’s (the new Phonak 6.0 receivers) was a fair bit lower than Lumity even though they were both M receivers and supposed to have the same specs. He then replaced the M receivers on the Sphere’s with P receivers and the distortion issues went away. I also noticed improved clarity in the Calm and Music programs too. I think having more maximum headspace allowed for lower compression and higher clarity.

It looks like the specs are either different or off on the new M receivers that are now standard on the new hearing aids and the distorted sound and compression may have been the hearing aids trying to fit the sound into the lower limits of the new M receivers.

Does this make sense? I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed a similar difference between the old and new receivers. At least I now know I wasn’t imagining the distortion/compression issues. Just sharing in case anyone else has this issue or can shed some light.

Jordan

@JordanK, I’m not entirely sure, an expert would have to comment, but it sounds like a peak clipping phenomenon:

EDIT:

I don’t see much difference in the datasheets. Maybe the distinctions are in the slightly changed earmolds and therefore remained free ear canal?

Another issue for my new Sphere hearing aids is having feedbacks when Bluetooth streaming is on like using social media and TV connector. I had feedback test and REM when I got the new aids, not sure why there are still feedbacks? It’s worse on left ear(main for Bluetooth).

I also noticed last week that the program was at Speech In Car, but I was sitting in my quiet office not moving, no car around. There were some air vent noises. I am not sure what criteria makes the hearing aids switching to Speech In Car, basing on noise levels or motion?

For Speech in Car, I used to be able to hear the music and radio in my car better using Lumity, but with new Sphere, both music and radio are very muffled. I could hear the person next to me in the car talking. Maybe AI treated music and radio as background noise?

You are not the only person that has had their HCP install a higher power receiver and said the sound issues where much better.

Yes, they can be changed for the RIE (receiver in the ear) type of hearing aid for sure.