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Unitron hearing aids

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I was invited to a research study by Sonova. About a month ago I had my first session with a hearing test. Today I was there to trial/test the Unitron hearing aids. I was given a pair to wear for two weeks and report back. Well, after about 5 hours wearing these, I have now gone back to my old K10s for the rest of the day. The Unitrons which they gave me for this trial are very difficult for me to wear/use. It’s extremely difficult to “hear” anything. They sounded just ok at their office, but out in the world and at home, it’s really difficult for me to wear them. I will use them again tomorrow to see how it goes then. Does anyone have any experience with Unitron hearing aids??

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I would imagine they may need some adjustments. It’s rare for an audiologist to get settings correct the first time out. Also, your brain still has to get used to the new hearing aid, and this requires time (could be weeks for some, and months for others). Even between manufacturer brands (and even though Unitron is basically Phonak), different aids have different signals. I have worn both Unitron and Phonak in the past and I did need some adjustments on both even with Phonak before I could really hear correctly when everything was dialed in.

One of the things I do is keep a journal for the next time I see the audiologist. You sound like you’re not a stranger to wearing hearing aids, so you may already do this, but I’ve found it helps to write down things that you feel are too loud, too soft, and how the overall sounds sound in comparison to your old one. This can serve as a guide for your audiologist to make further adjustments from there.

I hope I haven’t regurgitated what you already know!! :smile:

Unitron are exactly the same as Phonak, which is exactly what your KS9 are from Costco, so as mentioned it’s all in the programming.

Not if he’s just done a pre-release test on the Unitron ‘Sphere’ model, which is bang on for timing - 6 months after the Sphere release.

In reply to @tenkan

I asked her, the audiologist, about looking at my K10 programming against these Unitrons, but she said that was not possible because they don’t match exactly. Have to remember this is the audiologist at the Sonova Research facility in Aurora, Illinois. She also told me the the app for these that she gave me is “not ready” yet so there is none at this time. I emailed her this am re how terrible they were yesterday, but I am trying them again this am since I’m in their “study” and I suppose it’s important to at least keep trialing them and giving them feedback. One thing this am, I couldn’t find any markings on these aids to say left or right. Couldn’t see any red or blue! Waiting to see what this Sonova audiologist advises.

In reply to @Um_bongo

I had no idea these Unitron could be related to the “Sphere” model. This Sonova audiologist did not mention that. I was fortunate to get her to tell me these were Unitrons as they don’t usually reveal the model to the person trialing them in their research studies.

In reply to @codergeek2015

As for a journal, I was given a 5 page questionnaire which I have to complete and return at the end of this study (2-week study). The questions refer to any and all things going on with these aids as I’m wearing them. Re my own K10s, I do keep a list of things as they happen for my next visit for readjustment. Have to say though, last time I was at Costco for cleaning, that tech told me she not only cleaned them but she changed my receiver to an “upgraded” one! What a difference that made! Hearing was so improved I was actually astonished. I mentioned this to the Sonova trial audiologist and she checked and told me the receivers were “power” receivers so she changed the ones on these Unitrons to “power” receivers!

In reply to @ggreenone

NDA means Non Disclosure Agreement, you’ve agreed not to share, publish or talk about the product, trials and any associated information related to your trial, otherwise they wouldn’t have given you a trial of a product in development.
This is standard practice in most if not all industries.

Really, any concern you have about the product, should be fed back to the person who gave you the hearing aids.

Good luck with your trial

Unitron is a solid manufacturer overall. When I was working with Unitron more frequently I found quality control to be consistent, and customer service was great. Although Unitron is the “little brother” to Phonak, the biggest variable it seems in your case is the lack of opportunity for follow-up fine tuning of the Unitrons. It is vogue to call Phonak and Unitron exactly the same, and although there are certainly similarities, there are definite differences if you dig deep enough (or not even that deep). Some of these differences are weakeness for Unitron compared with Phonak, but at the end of the day, users will most likely benefit from follow-up fine tuning (as is the case with users of other manufacturers).

In reply to @ggreenone

Yeah well she’s haft right, remember the Unitron your trialing is not the same as the older KS10 (Paradise platform) so that’s the main reason why, but quite easy to manually enter if she really wanted to, but your in a “study” trial so they’ll want feedback on what they set up for you, not what was set up in your old models and as to why the App is not ready for the Unitron sphere models that’s a bit slack, would be nice as part of the study to get feedback on this.

In reply to @PaulC

Those differences you mean in the software, as in different names for features that do the same things using the same chip/circuit receivers etc, different UI in TrueFit for sure, same goes for Hansaton, Audicus, Amplifon etc all from the same parts bin at Sonova, I donno but your right they are not and can’t be “exactly” the same, just a little too close for comfort I guess.

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