Majority of time I am in the main “All Around” default program. It works great for everyday one on one situations in a mostly quiet environment. Where I am struggling is in restaurants to the point where I just give up and take the aids out. I have a “Restaurant” setting but it does not seem to help. Seems like all the noises from all the tables around me are just amplified to the point of bombardment. I was expecting that the program would cause the aids to reduce all the background noise and just focus on speech coming from the few people sitting at my table. I thought aids these days were smart enough to detect “noise” from “speech” and adjust accordingly. What am I missing?
On the screen where you selected the “Restaurant” program, if you tap the upper left corner, that should open a window where you can select “Sound enhancer”. If you tap that, you should be able to adjust “Noise” and “Speech focus”.
If you don’t have the sound enhancer option, go back where you bought them and have it turned on.
I have the party program too. My audi gave me that one so she could turn on all 3 sound enhancer functions for me (noise, speech, and wind). I use that one in my pickup to minimize background noises. The same instructions I posted above would apply, but it sounds like you may already be doing that.
I’ve got the Party program, but not the restaurant. The results with Party are less than spectacular for me. I have an adjustment tomorrow and was looking forward to getting the restaurant program, hoping being able to narrow the focus may help. We’ll see…
When I got my Cala8’s a few weeks ago the audi put on restaurant, but only the “comfort in noise” program was activated. I saw her yesterday and asked her to put the “speech focus” feature on that. Also had her add the Party program so I can compare the restaurant and party program. I need this badly in my work setting so am keeping my fingers crossed. If I find good combinations, I’ll save them as favorites. She showed me how to do that. TexasBob, I’m going to have her put the “wind” feature on. I have that only in the “nature program.” I had her take off music until I get the other things sorted out. So far the only thing that worked somewhat was having the “comfort in noise” turned all the way up and the sound all the way up.
Fyi, by turning up the “comfort in noise” it dampens the extraneous sound. Also, the speech focus has both an automatic setting and one you can set manually.
One tip in restaurants is to sit with your back to a solid wall or high back booth so there is not a lot of sound behind you. Friends are very willing to accommodate if I am open about this.
I took your advice and had the audi give me the Party option and turn on the speech focus option (was not available because audi had set the speech focus to always be set to narrow.) I also now better understand the iphone settings and that the number of red dots represent how much background noise is being let through…for lack of a better description. I am going to try this and hope it improves. I like the idea of sitting with my back to the wall to reduce some of the noise automatically. I find though that with the speech focus narrowed, I can hear the person at the table behind the person I’m listening to at my table. I guess my expectations were that the hearing aid would automatically dampen the sound past 4’ or so.
gdba, when I get the chance, I’m going to a local restaurant that is pretty noisy by myself so I can spend a lot of time fiddling with the different options. When I go with friends, I want to socialize, not play with an iPhone. I’m going to try and find the optimal balance of volume, noise reduction and speech focus, just fiddle around with both the restaurant and party settings while having lunch. This is a restaurant with good food, but I ruled it out because it was unbearably noisy. I’ll post here if I have any revelations. Of course, everyone will have their own combinations of what works. I also wonder if there are different levels of noise reduction that are set by the audi. I know there are different levels of volume.
Dash- I am very interested in hearing what you learn with your experimentation with the noise and directionality settings!
I did some tests yesterday. I went to dinner with friends but went about 1/2 hr. early to do some testing. I had determined that the best way for me to hear speech in noise is as follows:
set the speech focus to narrow. This helps pick out the particular person I want to hear. Of course, I have to turn toward the person speaking, but that’s usual anyway.
set the comfort level to max (fewest dots, all the way to the right)
Then I tested the two algorithms: Party and Restaurant. I set the following the same with both, in order to see the difference.
set the treble/bass to the center position.
2 set the volume to the center, halfway, position
What I found was that the Restaurant program was easier on my psyche. It was more mellow and relaxing. The Party program was a bit harsher it seemed like I was picking up speech better. But these differences were not huge. Then I played around with the volume, setting it to about 1/4 and 3/4. The audi had adjusted the volume up on my last visit because I had it set to max much of the time on the initial setting and could not always get it loud enough. For me, the 1/2 way setting was best, but this is highly variable.
This wasn’t a great test, because the restaurant was not all that noisy. I will be on the lookout for some noisy ones next time I get the chance. But I did determine the first two settings were best (speech and comfort level) for this type of setting. I also am using the restaurant setting in the car when I listen to audiobooks. I haven’t determined best setting for that yet.
There is an auto setting for speech focus that I’m going to test out eventually.
In any case, all this made a discernible difference from the old settings that did not include speech focus. I was with only two friends, but only said “what?” once or twice the whole evening.
I’m also testing in my classroom setting when I have small group discussions. I may post about that once I figure it out.
I’m glad to see you’re making some progress, Dash. These aids are capable of a lot, but you have to play around to see what works for you.
The noise suppression works better with a constant noise as opposed to a sudden noise. The A/C fan on my truck makes a low-level but annoying noise when it’s on high. It sort of sounds like the very tip of fan blades just brushing a piece of paper or something. I have set up a favorite which consists of the party program with speech focus set at it’s widest (so I can hear all passengers), comfort in wind maxed out, and noise suppression maxed out. When I first change to that favorite, I can still hear the fan noise for a few seconds before it fades into the background.
I agree TexasBob, it is taking some playing around with them, each person is different, but they are already much, much better in several challenging environments.
Thanks for your observations about the truck. So, you also have wind reduction on the Party setting. That’s good to know. My audi did not add that one in, though there is a space for it there, but grayed out (not activated). Audi doesn’t seem very up-to-date on the software. Willing to figure things out, though. Luckily, I come here and find out more. I’m going to experiment with mine, the /Heat fan is annoying in my car.
I set a favorite for my workplace and used the location function for it. I was surprised, when the next time I got there, the ’s automatically shifted to those settings. Forgot I’d done that.
About the sudden noise, those newer “jet-powered” hand dryers are the worst. Maybe I should have a favorite for them, where everything just shuts off :rolleyes:. The mute button, would suffice, I guess. My guess is they are hearing-damaging loud without amplification of HA’s.
I’m glad to see you’re making some progress, Dash. These aids are capable of a lot, but you have to play around to see what works for you.
The noise suppression works better with a constant noise as opposed to a sudden noise. The A/C fan on my truck makes a low-level but annoying noise when it’s on high. It sort of sounds like the very tip of fan blades just brushing a piece of paper or something. I have set up a favorite which consists of the party program with speech focus set at it’s widest (so I can hear all passengers), comfort in wind maxed out, and noise suppression maxed out. When I first change to that favorite, I can still hear the fan noise for a few seconds before it fades into the background.
I described to my audi the issues I was having in my truck and how I wanted to use the sound enhancer functions to attempt to adjust for it. She suggested the party program and said she could turn on the wind control for me in that program. I specifically remember that because I commented that not all parties happen indoors, so “wind” should have been enabled by default. She agreed, but had to turn it on so I could control all 3 settings.
So far, my home is the only location I have set to come on automatically. While driving, I’ll have the “truck” location enabled. About 3 doors away from my house, they will automatically switch back to the default “All-Around” program I normally use.
At my first follow up appt the HAS dropped the Noise program and replaced it with the Restaurant program and added the Comfort in Noise function. Already had the Comfort in Wind. I asked about the focus function but she had already set it to the most narrow focus setting. I had expressed that I still was having issues in noisy environments. She also boosted the voice range some. I can hear in noisy places better now, but there is some harshness added as well. I’ve found if I decrease treble just a bit it helps. I’m going to ask her next trip to decrease the voice range a small amount to see if that helps on the harshness. My first ’s so I don’t have experience with other models, but so far I’m pleased.
Can you clarify for me the extent to which you can do that on your own with custom programming via the Smart APP? I do already realize that your custom programs will not be saved to the ’s themselves, but just to your phone.
My HAS has me set up with only two programs, All Around and Restaurant. All I am able to control is Bass and Treble, and Sound Enhancer which has Comfort in Noise and Comfort in Wind control. She has set the focus to the most narrow setting. So I really don’t have a lot of control, and actually was hoping to have more programs and be able to try lots of settings. However, I’d also like to have things good and not have to change settings. With the way my HAS has them set up now, I’ve found it beneficial to lower the treble control, which softens some the harshness that I get since she increase the voice range. Not sure if this answers your question.
North Texas