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Speech in Noise test: Phonak Sphere i90 vs..... Apple AirPods Pro 2?

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I just got Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio I90 hearing aids today. Speech-in-noise is a big issue for me at work events, and I thought they’d be worth it if they’re really 30% better than other hearing aids in noisy environments.

Now that I have them, I tried to test them against the hearing aids I’ve been using recently: Oticon Opn 1 (8 years old) and Apple AirPods Pro 2. I was inspired by @DaleM1 's test comparing the Phonak Sphere to Oticon Intent using quantitative word recognition testing.

To nobody’s surprise, the Spheres outperformed the old Oticon hearing aids, allowing me to recognize 34% more words. More surprisingly, the AirPods were almost as good. Here’s a summary of the percent of words I recognized (out of 25) with the different aids across noise scenarios:

Oticon Opn 1 AirPods Pro 2 Phonak Sphere
-7.5 24% 36% 24%
SNR -2.5 36% 48% 68%
SNR +2.5 68% 76% 80%
AVERAGE 43% 53% 57%

I’ve been impressed with the AirPods ability to quiet out noisy environments using “Ambient Noise Reduction”, but I was still surprised they were so close to the Spheres. This is making me question my purchase, considering they’re maybe only helping me recognize ~8% more words despite costing many multiples more. Has anybody else tested the AirPods in noise? Also I’m wondering if the Spheres would improve if I’d adapted to them over days/weeks rather than a few hours?

A bit about the methodology: I played a YouTube restaurant noise video3 at 90° and 270° at 3 different sound levels (60, 65, and 70 ) while playing a YouTube Speech Discrimination Hearing Test5 at 0° (directly in front of me) at 60-65 dB. I also had a fan running at 60 dB at 0° for added challenge. I used the Oticon Opn 1 in “Main” mode with vented domes, the AirPods Pro 2 in Transparent mode (set up with Hearing Assistance) at 75% Ambient Noise Reduction, and the Sphere in “Spheric speech in loud noise” with vented domes. I didn’t score any of the tests until I’d completed all the tests, to avoid memorizing the list. I’m not sure if this is a great setup for the test, but I was trying to replicate typical scenarios I face at work events.

I’d love to hear what I did wrong here so I can feel better about my big purchase :rofl: I like the Spheres a lot so far; they even sound better than the AirPods when listening to my home audio system (although they’re much worse streaming). I’m just not sure they’re worth the price unless they’re significantly better than the AirPods in noise.

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I believe the AirPods are completely occulting, whereas you used open domes on the others. The Sphere’s speech enhancement/noise reduction do not work as well with open domes, because the noise enters your ear directly. Do a test with power domes, which are occulting. I expect that the difference with the AirPods will be much greater. Also, streaming music should be much better with occulting earpieces, because the bass frequencies do not escape through the vents. If your testing goes well but you don’t like the fully occulting earpieces, ask your Audi for custom ear molds with small vents. I have silicone molds with 0.7mm vents I think. Streaming music is great with them if you also mute the to ambient sounds.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions, DaleM1! I got the Phonak Power Domes a couple days ago, and was able to redo a modified speech-in-noise test. This time I had the restaurant noise playing louder (74 , 72 dB, and 69 db) since I thought the Spheric mode might work comparably better above 70 dB noise level based on user reviews. I also used a different YouTube clip3 for the spoken words, since I still remember a lot of the word from the other one. Due to the higher noise level, I turned the speech level up to ~72 dB. Also, I’ve learned about Apple’s “Conversation Boost” which is their version of a Speech-in-Noise program for the AirPods, so I turned that on for the AirPods this time around.

The results actually turned out better for the AirPods overall this time, although the Spheres did a bit better again when the signal-to-noise ratio was around -2 dB. I’m guessing the Conversation Boost was a bigger factor than the power domes vs. I used before.

% Words Correct
Noise Level Airpods Sphere
74 dB 48% 52%
72 dB 62% 56%
69 dB 72% 66%
AVERAGE 61% 58%

I’ll test the two in a real world situation before I decide whether to return the Spheres. Maybe something with my test setup is giving an advantage to the AirPods somehow.

Thanks for an interesting post @artrockunicorn and for the link to the post by @DaleM1

I’ve currently got a pair of Phonak Spheres on trial as outlined in High frequency hearing loss & Phonak Spheres

Like you speech in noise is my main concern and so far I’ve not been experiencing the benefits of the Phonak Spheres that others have achieved. But I have noticed some improvement by placing the earpieces further into the ear and by rotating the body of the so that the microphones are more horizontal (this improves directionality). Also I think it takes time to become accustomed to the Phonaks and I’m hoping the audiologist will help in the search for the best earpieces and settings.

Following that if, as I think I will, keep the Phonaks I’ll probably get a Noahlink to use the Phonak Target PC program to continue with some adjustment of the settings.

Interesting testing. Would be interesting to see somebody with different hearing disability (high frequency loss) repeat the test.

What is your view on long time wearing comfort for the Air Pods? I find them difficult to wear.

𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐬, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢’𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨 2 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨 3 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲.

As this is a very recent testing, vs the only other comprehensive use review I could find, when the Spheres appeared, I was very interested to see the comparative notes.

And then I looked at your .

Sigh…

At your level, I was still some years away from wearing any form of hearing enhancement.

I’ll not pollute your thread, but the PASI I90 seems to me to be well overkill, unless you somehow scored a monster price reduction, in which case, “who cares?” If so, good on you - but tell us how you managed that, if it’s somehow generically (not related to a work or other modification to general availability) influenced by outside impact due to your personal circumstance…

MY best, so far, is about $5K…

And, I dunno about your circumstance, but mine would require full molds, perhaps all the way to Titanium (I now wear silicone Beltone-made full molds)…

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