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Background noise vs listening accessories

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I’m a college professor and am need of assistive accessories to hear my students.

I’m looking at the Phonak Roger equipment. As far as I know, they are the major assistive device leader. Are there others? (Phonak even has a school division - although it’s focused on students hearing, ot the instructor’s hearing.)

Now, it’s time for new hearing aids.

Is there really that much of a difference between the various manufacturer’s performance in word recognition in challenging situations such as distance from the speaker, noisy environments or with soft-voiced speakers? (Every manufacturer has a different technology, but are any of them really superior?)

IF the performance I just mentioned is similar across the board, I’ll buy the Phonak lumity l90 with and use them with Roger assistive devices.

If there’s a big difference in overall performance, I could buy another brand of hearing aid and then use a Roger receiver for the Roger assistive devices.

I’ve looked at audiologist reviews of Phonak, Widex. Oticon, Signia and Starkey - the reviews talk about the technology, but none talk about which perform better or how to decide which is better for you. – That’s why I wonder if all the major brands aren’t actually pretty much the same in overall performance.

Audiogram

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Edited

@BorisBleu Welcome to the forum Professor (I hope you are not Professor Nefario); If you could post a picture of your latest if you have one, so that the good people on this forum can give you their best advice, that would be very helpful.

Not sure if there is any better than Phonak’s Roger Assistive Listening Devices, but here is a link to their education accessories, which I think you can get through the college:

Assistive Listening Devices for the Classroom | Phonak3

Classrooms are a dynamic place and to fully participate, every child needs to hear not only the teacher, but also classmates and multimedia devices. With Roger for Education, there is a solution for every situation.

Maybe worth checking Phonak Roger ON:

Thank you for the link.

I know I mentioned their school program,but it’s really focused on students hearing rather than the instructor hearing.

I do have assistance in acquiring the equipment.

I’m looking at whether I should buy Phonak lumity L90 hearing aids to use with the Roger equipment or whether there are other hearing aids that are so much better than Phonak for speech and word discrimination in quiet and noisy environments, that it would be worth the hassle of buying the Roger receiver or neck loop to use the Roger equipment with those hearing aids.

I’ll post my , but it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

Is there someplace in particular I should post my audiogram?

With Phonak’s new platforms (Paradise & Lumity!) you don’t need any extra roger receivers, as the platforms has got them built in - But you do need licenses.
The will tell people here if Lumity L90 is suitable for your hearing loss or not.
You could just add a picture below your comment, that’s easiest way.
I think the pass around mic is still useful for the teacher as it transmit the student’s voice straight to your hearing aids () or to the Digimaster.

Roger ON can be directional or pointing mode, not sure what’s the maximum distance it can pick up voices.

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Thank you for the audiogram.

I understand the Roger equipment.

I’m asking if I should look at other hearing aids that would require a Roger receiver or loop because the other model’s speech processing performance is so much better than Phonak that it would be worth not having the Roger receiver builtin like it is with the Phonak.

@BorisBleu said:

the other model’s speech processing performance is so much better than Phonak

No one can tell you as we all hear differently even two people with identical hearing loss.

In reply to @BorisBleu

Hi @BorisBleu (You aren’t Johnson aren’t you? :scream:)
Not sure if other brands have a better processing performances, it’s only YOU who can make that decision by trialing them, online reviews aren’t a fit for all.
But everyone is different, what might work for you, may not work for others, it’s relative.
I would try them and see how they perform, bearing in mind that you will need to give your brain time to adjust.
Also, size of classroom and type of walls and ceiling play a great role in channeling sounds to different users, so maybe worth exploring what can be done in that department.
Also, adding a roger receiver to hearing aids is cumbersome and isn’t as good as roger signal or Bluetooth signal.

Purchasing the Lumitys is a reasonable choice. There is no aid that is universally agreed to as “better,” and certainly nothing else will be as easy to use the Roger tech with.

In reply to @Baltazard

I already know which Roger equipment I will use and how I will use it. I teach in 3 classrooms this semester. It could be the same classrooms or different ones next semester, so I use equipment that is easy for me to bring with me and doesn’t require setup in the room.

The is not for the classroom. it is for loop systems installed in various venues where I attend performances or other events.

I’m going to make a bold statement: If any particular manufacturer’s speech processing was significantly better than everyone else’s, we’d know about it.

I was looking for reasons to try another manufacturer and having to adapt my hearing aids to Roger or just buying Phonak lumity L90 and having them properly programmed.

I would stay with Widex, but they seem to be falling behind at the moment and won’t have a next generation platform until after I’ve already purchased my new hearing aids.

In reply to @BorisBleu

@BorisBleu No worries.
Some in here like Widex because of their music processing, some like Oticon because of their spatial sound and Opensound paradigm…
I do like fish and chips, but Rayman doesn’t, so it is relative.
How easy for you to try different brands, so you can make up your mind?
Costco have Philips, not sure if they have Jabra, which are affordable.

Edited

I have an ent and audiologist I trust.

They have all the major brands.

I was specifically asking about speech in quiet and noisy environments. I really don’t care if they sound more natural or more open. I want to understand speech in a wide variety of settings.

I think my hearing loss is not odd or unusual, so any of the major brands would work for me.

I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that no one has hearing aids that put other brands to shame, so I see no reason to not buy the Phonak.

No one here has given me a reason to try any other particular brand.

I understand that there’s some personal taste involved, but I’m looking at assistive devices - which I definitely need and the ability to pair my hearing aids with the bluetooth on my laptop for conducting online classes.

If I’m wrong about my assessment, I’d like to know about it.

I wasn’t able to make my Phonak P-90s directly use Zoom or Google Meet for headset use. I can listen to music, videos, youtube all day. But the equivalent of a call gets disconnected. I use a TV Connector now. They are a little more than a $100 on ebay. I use a behringer U-control dongle to provide a TOSLINK port and use the TOSLINK with the TV connector. This way the connector doesn’t disconnect during periods of silence as it would with the analog input.

Best wishes.

WH

In reply to @Baltazard

Until the new Bluetooth becomes mainstream, you cannot use Bluetooth or “Roger signal” with a looped venue or to interface with or Infrared receivers. For now, you need both and t-coil.

Personally I think Oticon is at least as good as Phonak and costs less, but you need to get microphones in front of your students and Phonak allows you to network mics.

I made two attempts earlier to post a video link about the Starkey Table Mic. Hopefully successful this time.

Go with Phonak for everything and consider getting Type 2 receivers. That opens up the entire system without compatibility issues. Thinking ahead not just right now. Contact Phonak educational support.

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