I read, I believe on this forum, that most are good. It is the fitting that makes the difference. What is your experience? Can all aids work well in time if the fitting is right? What do you look for when deciding which aids are best for you? My limited experience is that there is a big difference but maybe not? You have a short time when trialing HAs. What do you concentrate on during this period? My best experience with clarity was with Oticon Intent but they were terrible in noise which is important to me. Jabra 30 has wonderful features but seemed to have a very harsh sound. Is it all in the fitting and a determination to make it work?
It depends on your hearing loss as to the amount of power you need. But my belief is that the most important element is the audiologist. Yes I stress audiologist as I have never had good results with anyone less than a doctor of audiology. But honestly you need to be a huge part of the equation by being able to communicate your thoughts, your needs and what is and isn’t working for you. I have been wearing aids for 20 years, and only in the last 7 or 8 years have I matured enough to be able to explain what I really need. And it took my present audiologist which is a professor of audiology to educate me so I can explain my needs, what I hear and don’t hear. It can be an expensive process. I am fortunate to be a veteran with service related hearing loss and I have the Veterans Administration to support my needs.
My recent experience is similar to yours. I tried the Oticon Intents for 30 days. The noise reduction in noisy environments did not work well for me and I experienced a hissing noise that the audiologist said is circuit/floor noise. We tried to make adjustments to remove the hiss but it didn’t work, so I moved on to Starkey Omega’s.
At first, high frequency sounds from the Starkey’s were more pronounced and harsh than the Intents. During my first adjustment, the audiologist lowered the high frequency gain. High frequency sounds were still more pronounced, but in a good way, no longer harsh.
At my next appointment, we did adjustments and now they sound great! My audiologist said that I now have a good match to my hearing loss prescription. I notice the most benefit when using the Omega’s Edge Mode+ in noisy environment. For me, the Omega’s noise reduction is much better than the Intents.
I found that the audiologist can’t make adjustments to fix every problem, but can make adjustments to fix most problems.
Hi PMJ,
Other than the glitchy app on my ancient Android phone, I am very pleased with Signia Pure Charge & Go. (People with Apple phones & newer Android phones say that the app works perfectly for them.)
I very much appreciate that they can have several programs available by pushing buttons on the device. Each program is useful for a different situation. For example, I can push a button on the aid and people behind me are nuked. Or, I can push again and have a sharp, crisp & loud reception for places with loud speakers (such as Church) I have one for narrow straight ahead. And there is a tinnitus distraction setting. The aids have room for several more programs.
With the Signia, I also appreciate that I can precisely aim (as well as narrow or widen) the direction that the devices listen to. On the phone app, there is a circle with a head in the center. With a finger pinch, one can widen or narrow the area that the aids will pick up. It can be anywhere in the circle and any width desired- even straight back for listening to people in the back seat of a car. (Hard to explain this feature. It’s like a piece of pie. You can have any piece and it can be as wide or as narrow as you want it.)
They also do an excellent job of following a moving speaker, ditching background noise and concentrating on voices and cancelling wind noise.
When Things Used To Sound Good, But Now Sound Awful:
Something to keep in mind is that the nerves responsible for hearing (brain and/or ear) will start to adapt when new devices are used. Often new neuropathways develop. The hearing aids might sound perfect for a month or so, then sound terrible. The audiologist will be able to make adjustments as our nerves adapt. Be sure to purchase from a supplier who includes adjustments for low or no cost. Mine were adjusted 3 times in 4 months.
Something else to consider is that the cones or tips (the part that goes in the ear) might also need to be changed for a different style. For example, if some sounds are muffled or if your own voice sounds too tinny, the fitter might swap for cones that let in more natural sounds. Or, it might be needed to swap for cones that let in less or no ambient sounds. This depends on your hearing loss.
I hope some of these thoughts help you choose and enjoy your hearing aids.
Paul
My experience is that both the hearing aid and the audiologist make are very important, but the hearing aid manufacturer more so.
A good audiologist can make a crap hearing aid sound good and a crap audiologist can make a really high end hearing aid sound crap. Not to mention that how well you hear has a lot to do with how well the hearing aid is setup in the first place.
Not to derail the thread - but if your audiologist does not provide , then he is not setting up your hearing aids effectively. You need a good audiologist for a very good fitting - but you need REM to verify the fit as everyone’s ears are shaped differently from the “average” ear. In most cases, without REM people are usually underfit by several DB’s in various frequencies.
However, I believe the hearing aid itself makes a huge difference because Widex, Resound etc have a fitting profile of natural sound which means (in my case) everything is too loud, there is no clarity, in noisy environments I can hear everything except what I am trying to hear etc. Oticon on the other hand changed everything for me (despite the first audiologist for the first set of Oticon hearing aids being crap). With Oticon, I got clarity of speech, I no longer suffered mental fatigue from too much noise (like I used to with Resound), I could hear very well in noisy environments etc.
Were Oticon perfect? No, and this is where having a good audiologist comes in. The Oticon hearing aids are the right hearing aids for my hearing loss. However, I need a good audiologist to fit the hearing aid properly including making the mould properly, recognise that I need fitting prescription instead of the standard Vac+ fitting profile and last but definitely not least an audiologist that can provide REM (to verify fit). In addition, in the very near future when I get my REM done, I am also getting done as well as I think I would benefit.
Most important thing to my hearing loss was the hearing aid - Oticon. Then, second came the need for an excellent audiologist who must provide REM as part of the service at a bare minimum.
So, no I disagree. In my experience, the hearing aid manufacturer mattered a lot more for me than the audiologist. But the audio is extremely important.
My best experience with clarity was with Oticon Intent but they were terrible in noise which is important to me.
Interesting. For me the clarity is what makes Oticon so brilliant in noise. I guess it depends on your hearing loss, how those aids were fit, whether they did as well as what fitting profile is used - Vac+, , etc.
what fitting profile is used - Vac+, NAL-NL2, DSL etc.
Very much this: the Intent is a different beast if you fit it to by default. Unfortunately I expect there’s potentially thousands of them out there that are still on VAC+
Thanks Paul for this thoughtful reply. This is the first time I have heard of the change in neural transmitters. I thought once they were fitted, that was the way they would stay. I believe this very thing may have happened to me with Philips 9050s. I loved them for the first 3 months then they were awful. I thought it must have been the . The fitter made adjustments but I was never was able to get back to the way they sounded at first. I ended up returning them. What a shame.
A good fitting in a good hearing aid is the answer. Oticon, ReSound, Phonak, and Starkey all make top shelf, top quality devices that’ll each fit just about anyone. Signia, Widex, and a host of others are up there as well. Talk to your audiologist.
Keep in mind, there really isn’t such a thing as “background noise”, it is the sound of the world around you. The “hiss” is normal. You’re gonna have to get used to it.
I have a lot of experience with Phonak and Oticon and to be honest it’s a coin flip between which I’d recommend. Basically it’d boil down to what phone you have, Android gets Phonak, iPhone gets Oticon.
Keep in mind that it may take several re-adjustments. A good example is a re-adjustment I had a few weeks ago sounded great for days. Now- Not os good. I’ll wait a month for my brain to adapt and then ask for another fine tuning.
Note that I don’t know if this frequent re-adjusting applies to everyone’s hearing loss. Mine is primarily from the brain as opposed to the ears. Therefore, many new “roads” are being opened.
Keep in mind, there really isn’t such a thing as “background noise”, it is the sound of the world around you. The “hiss” is normal. You’re gonna have to get used to it.
Hi MAJ_Bryan. What you wrote is interesting to me. If you have time, could you please explain more? Is it tinnitus of which you wrote? Thanks.
Basically it’d boil down to what phone you have, Android gets Phonak, iPhone gets Oticon.
Absolutely Signia plays best with iPhone. When I contacted Signia about the app having problems on my Android phone, first it was confirmed that my 2 year old Android phone was too old. Everyone with an iPhone and Signia with whom I’ve spoken loves the performance of the Signia app.
But the Signia technical support person also said flat-out that their app was designed for Apple. Signia built their app based on Made for iPhone () technology. He said that Android was an “add on” & is “hit or miss”, no matter the age of the phone or operating system.
On my Mac laptop, Signia works fantastically with no app. The compatibility is built into the computer. Signia isn’t involved. There aren’t as many adjustments as there are with the phone app, but streaming is flawless. If that is of interest to you, Apple has a list of MFi compatible computers and hearing aids. Use Made for iPhone hearing devices - Apple Support5
The list of compatible Apple devices is at the bottom of the linked page, below the hearing device list.
Paul
I’d have to add that an android phone such as a Pixel 8 to Pixel 10, Samsung S23 to S25, or select 1Plus phones have /, which quite frankly leave in the dust!
But, Phonak doesn’t support LEA, yet, so Oticon,Resound, Signia, Starkey all latest models have it.
Thanks for the response Jenifer. Hearing in noise is important to me. I can usually understand one on one; it is groups that make me throw in the towel. I am new enough to hearing aids that I can’t tell what is the and what is the fitting. But I haven’t tried both at the same time. I think it may be difficult to find a fitter that will let me do two at once but I will try. The obvious solution is two different audiologist but then I’m left asking the question is it the aid or fitter?
Also, if you are working with an audiologist or clinic and they want to test the connectivity themselves, we have a specialized “ Program” that provides a demo kit for clinics. You could recommend they grab one to test with your specific hearing aids: https://avantree.com/collections/hcp-program3
I very much agree with CVKemp! I’m a Kaiser patient. They never anticipated (or prepared for) Medicare paying for . When I finally got a pair, they were set by a new Audiology graduate according to a hearing measuring device. She IGNORED my comments based on a dozen years experience. That graph is a starting point. Proper adjustment requires a knowledgeable Audiologidt willing to listen to YOU, the patient. Your needs, hearing comfort, may not be the same as the graphic depiction!
I returned those Phonak Aureo Sphere i70 because their sound was muffled and could not be adjusted better when synced with my Phonak TV Connector.. I am now trying to decide between Resound (that has an excellent app) and Oticon that, I am told, has a more natural sound.
One more comment before I forget …you mentioned a “short trial period.” Make it as long as you can AND, when you pick up your make sure you can schedule AT LEAST 2 adjustment appointments with at least 2 weeks after the second within the return period.
Kaiser’s return period is only 45 days that is grossly inadequate especially since they are unable to schedule sufficient follow up appointments.
I have ordered five hearings aids in the past 15 years and ended up keeping three. Two I returned because the didn’t work for me. The first if these was from a cowboy dealer who taught me so many lessons about the perils of buying an aid. Lesson 1, find out the manufacturer’s list price from the manufacturer before bargaining over the price with the dealer. My cowboy dealer claimed to be giving me a 20% discount when he was actually charging me 10% more than the list price. Lesson 2, if the hearing aid gives you problems demand that the dealer fix them. My cowboy dealer attributed the earache his hearing aid gave me to my ear. He said there was a breaking in period when I should use my aid for 15 minutes. Then turn it off for 15 minutes. Then turn it back on, etc, etc, etc. He said this could take a week of turning on and off to fix but to have faith that eventually I would have an earache-free experience with the aid. Lesson 3, be firm you want a refund if you’re dissatisfied with the product, The cowboy audiologist accused me of playing games with him. That I was not a serious customer. I would have none of that but insisted on an apology and my legal refund. Lesson 4, expect to wait several months for your refund. I did although it eventually came through. Lesson 5, select a top of the line aid like Resound or Phonak then carefully research local dealers and interview them before deciding to buy. If they pressure you, do not buy from them. As simple as that.
I haven’t had to pay for my own hearing aids. I am a veteran with service related hearing loss. My aids are provided to me by the Veterans Administration. I get only the top tier aids from the hearing aid companies. I wore Oticon aids for 15 years now and my backup aids are the INTENT1 aids. And my primary aids are the Phonak Spheres.
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
England, UK
Wales, UK
