Frustrating experiences with music (Starkey Edge 16 in-the-ear)

I’m testing a new pair of Starkey Edge 16 in-the-ear. I listen a lot to ‘fast’ and ‘loud’ music, like dance music or punk rock. Also often to songs with breaks that shift from nothing the one second to all the next (like the Foo Fighters do a lot in their music). When I listen to music in the music program, what I often get with such shifts within the song that there’s something like a brief crackling sound when the music goes back ‘on’, or something like the volume briefly being much louder before settling back. It’s unpleasant and actually makes me scared of the music flipping back ‘on’.

I discovered that the normal program doesn’t have this problem, or at least not to a serious extent. When I made a custom program based on the normal program with the noise distortion turned off, music actually sounds better than in the music program (it pops out more). However, I then learned when there’s a sustained wall of sound, the program seems to turn down the volume after a while. In quieter part of the songs, after a while the volume seems to turn up again. So I’m having constant noticeable volume changes throughout songs, volume going down in the middle of loud sections and volume going up in the middle of quiet sections. Again, it’s very unpleasant.

It occured to that this might be related to the overall volume of the music, but I have these issues at a volume that’s below the safe limit, as indicated by my phone. When turn down the volume even more the issues seem to diminish, but the music is so quiet it’s not that easy to tell. I don’t really fancy listening to music at that volume either. It’s maybe fine for radio music, but not for the kind of music I listen to.

I also experience that in dance music the beats sometimes sounds unsteady. When a crowded section of the song end and there’s just the beat, it gradually seems to become much more audible, which again is distracting.

I had tried out Starkey Evolve before this I don’t recall having volume shifts or a crackling sound with those (though I had other problems with them). Same with my old pair of Starkey Muse.

So what I’d like to know, before I discuss this with my audiologist: does everyone experience such problems? Are they unavoidable with the current generation of hearing aids? Or is this maybe just specific to this model or the settings of my test pair? Would it be worth trying out another model?

PS: I was born with a hearing deficiency and my hearing has remained stable over the years.