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Closed dome vs open dome

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Sorry this is a duplicated post, I posted to a wrong subforum first.

After trialing a few hearing aids, I have settled on Unitron Quantum 2 20 HP. During the trial, I had an open dome in the better ear and a in the other ear because, at 1000 hz, my hearing is just a bit below of what can be fit with an open dome. The audi said that the software told her to put a closed dome.

However, when the audi was setting up my new hearing aids that had just arrived, she put an open dome on both ears. I’m sure she did it accidentally. There are both types of domes in the package and I know how to replace a dome, but it turned out to be more comfortable with the open dome, so I left it as is for now. I’m not sure whether or not I’m losing on sound volume as have not been in challenging hearing situations yet (it has only been a few days). Comfort and sound quality are important to me and I find the open dome more comfortable in my ear and my voice sounds better too. So, if it turns out that I only miss a bit of volume, I will want to use the open dome.

Now, the question. Do hearing aids settings (gain or whatever it is that sets the volume for each frequency) have to be different for different types of domes? Does replacing a closed dome with an open dome decreases the volume of sound significantly? I’m certainly going to ask this the audi at the next appointment, just I’m curious now.

Edited

With my brand (Resound) you have to tell it in the software what kind of dome it is, and I think that is true for Bernafon and Rexton. I have no idea about Unitron. You should be fine with open domes. With my loss (signature below) I wore tulip domes, which are open but not as open as open domes, and like you said they are more comfortable than or custom molds (I know some disagree about custom molds).

I use both closed and open domes with my hearing aids, depending on what I plan on doing for the day. If I’m working out in the shop or spending the day on my motorcycle, I switch to so when I have the aids muted my ears are better protected from noise. Closed domes “stop your ears up”, so I don’t wear them on a daily basis, just when I need more protection but still want the option to hear (otherwise I have custom molded ear plugs).

I can’t tell the difference in sound quality or volume between one and the other.

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