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How much improvement do you hear with every next generation of high end hearing aids?

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I’m in the process of finding a next pair of ’s, reason why I ended up on this forum.

Since 1996 I’m wearing HA’s and every 5 or 6 years I got the best ones on the market, because their were key to perform properly in my job as a IT professional.

Every next generation, in 1996, 2001, 2007, 2012, was a big leap forward helping me in social interactions and listening to music. I’m still grateful, without them I wouldn’t have survived in my job.
From 2012 to 2017 it was less breathtaking and now I’m in a trial period of the Widex Moment Smart RiC, wondering if it’s worth spending that much money.

In 2013 I retired the job factor has dropped, my social activity is not that challenging in terms of understanding everything that’s being said.

So far my experience with the Widex is not overall convincing. Listening the music with headphones on sounds some better than with my Signia Pure 7 from 2017. Listening in a home environment in a small group of people has not really improved. I’ve done some trying with programs and settings but in the end the differences are not striking. Maybe my audi can be of help at our next meeting.

All-in all my experience with HA’s is that they are subject to the law of diminishing returns. Their capacity of helping ears is already largely achieved some 10 years ago, thereafter the steps forward are getting smaller and smaller.

What are your thought about this? Maybe it has everything to do with my personal hearing curve.

22 people in this conversation21 min readJump to latest

I have been wearing aids for 20 years, Oticon aids for 14 years now. In the early years I didn’t see much difference. In the last 6 years I have had the privilege to have worn every new generation of Oticon aids. OPN1, OPNS1, MORE1, REAL1, and INTENT1 aids. I have noticed a difference at each upgrade. But so much depends on the audiologist. I am a veteran with service related hearing loss so my aids are from the

I wasn’t allowed for the army, because of my hearing loss, I had since my infancy.
So good, you can get every new one.

For me, a next generation means every 5 to 7 years. Financial compensation by tax reduction and health insurance has become less and less. So it’ll become expensive to achieve some ’s every 5-7 years for $4000 till $5000.

I moved almost 7 years ago to this area. My audiologist is a professor of audiology at the state medical university. I have learned a lot from him and he has taken me from being basically a hermit to being willing to rejoining society. I can hear about 90% of conversations with my INTENT1 aids. I enjoy music, going to lectures, church services, and even volunteer work. The biggest difference isn’t so much the aids but the audiologist.

The next greatest thing is with . So when buying new hearing aids, if the aid doesn’t come with that capability, it’s a no sale for me.

That being said, most of the work on upgrading hearing aids is trying to improve hearing in noise. So if that’s not an issue for you, then you probably are not going to notice much improvement with new hearing aids.

Yes, I did a word recognition test and I have the results. They are much in line with my . Can I upload them to my profile?

No ’s were done. From all my visits to audiologists in the past I remember vaguely that once or twice a test was done to check if the ’s were working properly

I usually don’t find one generation a big improvement, but 2 gens - every 3 years or so - are. My insurance covers new aids every 3 years, so that’s when I get new ones.

In reply to @user990

Streaming
Since a week I’m using streaming audio and it’s superfluous for me.
I never had hearing problems with telephone calls. Listening to music from Qobuz sounds much better from my headphones into my ’s, than directly streaming to my HA’s.

Since my retirement hearing in noise.isn’t an issue anymore.

In reply to @philbob57

I can let it partly cover by the insurance, too. But then I’ll have to pay a corresponding extra premium for it. The insurance companies over here are no charity organizations.

@Ed14

@Ed14 said:

Their capacity of helping ears is already largely achieved some 10 years ago, thereafter the steps forward are getting smaller and smaller.

I agree with you. Everyone seems to want the latest and greatest with all the bells and whistles. (LE Bluetooth, etc). However, for normal hearing I find that my 10 year old ’s are just as good as my new ones.

In reply to @Ed14

@Ed14 said:

Yes, I did a word recognition test and I have the results. They are much in line with my audiogram. Can I upload them to my profile?

I think only in the profile description. Reportedly there will be feature to include them in “” link.

Regarding and that quote:

@Gilbert said:

However, for normal hearing I find that my 10 year old HA’s are just as good as my new ones.

There was article about comparison between “OLD” (1- channel analog) vs. 10 yrs newer “NEW” (HAs best in market available in 2011-12):

The Importance of Audibility in Successful Amplification of Hearing Loss | The Hearing Review5

“10-year-old Siemens Infiniti III analog, single-channel, single-microphone behind-the-ear () hearing aids with no noise-reduction features, programmed to a best NAL-R fitting.”

vs. “manufacturers’ first-fit algorithms were employed in six pairs of the industry’s six largest manufacturers’ premium hearing aids”

REM 2012 HearingReview received_875536604285313

Conclusion: OLD hearing aid fitted with REM was better in noise than 10 yrs newer first-fitted premium HAs.

In reply to @cvkemp

@cvkemp! Hearing Tracker gives out badges for various things. I think they need to have a badge for “most-changed avatar!” I’m just gently and politely ribbing you. I always enjoy checking out a new avatar from you. :slightly_smiling_face: It’s fun to see what you come up with.

@user990 In my former response I said that hearing in noise is not an issue for me.
But what is actually meant by ‘noise’ in the often mentioned subject of ‘hearing in noise’?
Is it any disturbing background sound?

Like when someone is talking to you in a small group of people and in the background other’s are also talking, Many people like it to have the radio or music on at a low level, not meant for listening but for creating a cosy atmosphere. I can’t stand it when I’m in a more of less serious, interesting conversation.

Moving from Bernafon to KS10’s was a big improvement but going from KS10’s to Rexton Reach was even better. The Reach App is also much better than the Easyline or the Easycontrol from the older aids

Moving from oldish Starkeys to Phonak Audéos two years ago was really a big jump in for me- but only when I figured out how to program them myself. I hopped across the border to France to buy them for about half the price. In the Netherlands there are decent mail order companies, it seems. You may consider buying NoahII hardware (connects to HAs from many brands) and trying/self-fitting a model you buy locally online?

Thanks, it’s a challenging out of the box idea. Never thought before I came here on this forum that there are people fitting their own ’s themselves. Maybe later, but now I feel more comfortable with the assistance of a .

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