Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Hearing Aid Practitioner employed at Costco…Ask Me Anything!

This topic is closed.

524 replies184.3k viewsLast reply

Jump
Link to this topic

In reply to @Doc_Jake

I am interested in iPhone-compatible hearing aids. My Rexton Finesse 2c from Costco are great, as is the service (West Des Moines), but I would love to do without the MiniBlu Remote to connect to my iPhone. I think I saw a similar post, but I didn’t see a reply.

Ed Detlie

I think the consensus is that Costco will probably have a version of the LyNX sometime this year, but there seems also to be a general consensus that at this point one is sacrificing sound quality and speech intelligibility in going for such an aid right now. The manufacturers with the best reputations for speech intelligibility have so far decided that bluetooth is too much of a battery drain and that their proprietary streaming systems are better suited for hearing aids. I’ve resigned myself that I will have to make this generation’s purchase based on sound quality and look for direct phone integration in my next aid in 3+ years.

In reply to @carol_hawkins_aud

Thank you so much for your insight, Fuhgett,

I visited an Au.D associated with my today and she demonstrated a Phonak costing $6,200. Problem is, I do not know which model and therefor do not know how to compare it to what is being sold at Costco. As I recall there were four models in the brochure that she showed me but that I did not leave with. I believe that the model was a “something -70”, but it might have been a “something -90”. In any case, one characteristic that differentiated it from the next mode down was side microphones as well as front and back microphones.

Now that I research the Phonak website I see that there is a relatively new line called “Audeo V”, with a new “Venture” platform and “AutoSense OS.” The next line down (judging from the Phonak consumer website) appears to be the “Audeo Q” line.

Like many industries, the manufacturers in the hearing aid industry appear to change the model names for the same or very similar products in an effort to maintain as many simultaneous sales channels as possible, making it very difficult for the consumer to compare.

I am an EE, and with such an expensive purchase, I will probably opt for the product line with the latest and greatest digital signal processing () algorithms as long as the latest does not cost too big a premium over the previous generation.

With all of that long-winded background, is the Costco-sold Phonak “Brio R-312T” () the latest and greatest Phonak “Audeo V” or the previous generation “Audeo Q”?? And which would the ENT’s doctor of audiology have demonstrated to me, costing ~$6,200, given that it was a “-70” (if I am not mistaken) of four different models, with side as well as front and back microphones for better 360-degree coverage?

Many thanks!
Bruce

P.S. Anyone else with a knowledge of these answers, please feel free to chime in.

PPS. And if Costco is not currently selling the Phonak Audeo V, with the “Venture” platform and “AutoSense OS”, do you anticipate that it will in the near future?

From my research it looks like the Brio uses the same processor as the Audeo Q90 but has slight differences in the software to differentiate it from the Q90. It is not based on the Venture platform.

In reply to @The_Latinist

@thelatinst said:

I think the consensus is that Costco will probably have a version of the LyNX sometime this year, but there seems also to be a general consensus that at this point one is sacrificing sound quality and speech intelligibility in going for such an aid right now. The manufacturers with the best reputations for speech intelligibility have so far decided that bluetooth is too much of a battery drain and that their proprietary streaming systems are better suited for hearing aids. I’ve resigned myself that I will have to make this generation’s purchase based on sound quality and look for direct phone integration in my next aid in 3+ years.

I don’t think you would be sacrificing sound quality or speech intelligibility by getting a Made for iPhone hearing aid. The devices currently on the market are excellent hearing aids first and most importantly, with direct audio streaming a second and optional feature.

In reply to @BruceH

@BruceH said:

Thank you so much for your insight, Fuhgett,

I visited an Au.D associated with my ENT today and she demonstrated a Phonak costing $6,200. Problem is, I do not know which model and therefor do not know how to compare it to what is being sold at Costco. As I recall there were four models in the brochure that she showed me but that I did not leave with. I believe that the model was a “something -70”, but it might have been a “something -90”. In any case, one characteristic that differentiated it from the next mode down was side microphones as well as front and back microphones.

Now that I research the Phonak website I see that there is a relatively new line called “Audeo V”, with a new “Venture” platform and “AutoSense OS.” The next line down (judging from the Phonak consumer website) appears to be the “Audeo Q” line.

Like many industries, the manufacturers in the hearing aid industry appear to change the model names for the same or very similar products in an effort to maintain as many simultaneous sales channels as possible, making it very difficult for the consumer to compare.

I am an EE, and with such an expensive purchase, I will probably opt for the product line with the latest and greatest digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms as long as the latest does not cost too big a premium over the previous generation.

With all of that long-winded background, is the Costco-sold Phonak “Brio R-312T” (RIC) the latest and greatest Phonak “Audeo V” or the previous generation “Audeo Q”?? And which would the ENT’s doctor of audiology have demonstrated to me, costing ~$6,200, given that it was a “-70” (if I am not mistaken) of four different models, with side as well as front and back microphones for better 360-degree coverage?

Many thanks!
Bruce

P.S. Anyone else with a knowledge of these answers, please feel free to chime in.

PPS. And if Costco is not currently selling the Phonak Audeo V, with the “Venture” platform and “AutoSense OS”, do you anticipate that it will in the near future?

The Brio is based on the Q90 platform, which is fantastic and more than enough to address most hearing losses. You will not get $6200.00 worth of better hearing by going with the “new” V platform. Please don’t get sucked into the marketing.

The V90 platform is real and not just marketing hype, but buying any aid for 6200 is just crazy. Just like buying a new car you need find a dealer that’s going to give you a good deal on the the product to make it worth your while. I personally did months of research on products and pricing to try to get the best deal. I wanted the V90 or 7BX platform and found a way to get what I wanted for a reasonable price. Trial the aids from Costco then do the same for the V90 and make your own decision, that’s the only way to know for sure.

Edited

Go to the top of this page and click on FORUM in the upper left corner. You will see a list of subject areas. Click on the subject area that you want to post in. At the bottom of that page is “Post New Thread” button. Click and start your post.

In reply to @touches

Hi,

Costco does not have access to Oticon software at this time, so there staff can not help with any programming. Yes, custom molds can be purchased through Costco.
You say: “I have some issues with my audiologist not listening”. If you want to ask me any questions I will do my best to anwser to help.

In reply to @newarrior

The short anwser to your question is that there is no BEST hearing aid for tinnitus.

The vast majority of tinnitus sufferers never hear their tinnitus when they are wearing their hearing aids. For the hearing aid users that don’t find this relief they may benefit from selecting a hearing aid with a tinnitus masker. A tinnitus masker, or zen program, will simply mask the sound of the tinnitus by introducing another sound that is hopefully a more pleasant annoyance than the tinnitus you hear.

Most brands have hearing aids with tinnitus maskers being an option.

@newarrior said:
  1. Who do you choose to help us ? So nice of you !
  2. What is the best aid for tinnitus ?

Thanks man !

I have a mild hearing loss mostly in my right ear. I also have a high pitched tinnitus in both ears and a low pitched tinnitus in my left ear.
The past 3 months I have been trialing hearing aids and audiologists.
So far I have tested phonak audeo q30, oticon nera pro and phonak audeo q50 currently.
My audiologist at the moment claims that a great issue in correct programming and settings of my phonaks is to find a way to cover the tinnitus without using phonak’s masking settings. Is this true?
I have been told that my tinnitus makes my speech recognition more difficult and it has to be dealt with if I want to have a chance in a successful fitting. My latest audi gave me custom earmolds for my , in order to treat the low frequency tinnitus by physically excluding it (if I express it correctly), which partly seems to be working. Also, he has mentioned that I need dirty sound, meaning that environmental background noise should be active in my HA settings in order to cover the tinnitus. He says using the tinnitus masker feature all of the time, would be too tiresome.
Do the above sound logical or is this a way to distract me from the fact that we don’t seem to be able to achieve non-mechanical sound from the HA we test?

Right ear

0.25 0.5 1 2 4 6 8
35 35 50 45 40 35 40
Left ear audiogram
0.25 0.5 1 2 4 6 8
30 35 35 35 35 45 50

How is it possible to get a acturate hearing test done when my high pitch tinnitus in the left ear is going full blast??
Also once a person is fitted with new - should a hearing test be done again with the aids on to confirm the new aids are set up correctly?? In 40 years this has never been done on me! Is this the norm??

Edited

Tell them about the tinnitus and ask for the warbled or “broken up” type of test (can’t remember what they really call it). Instead of a solid chiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrpppppppp that can get lost in the tinnitus they can do it so it is chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp and it is much easier to hear that kind of tone with tinnitus.

Then, once you are fitted with hearing aids they can do a test (Real Ear Measurement). They put a long thin tube in your ear, and it tickles a little, and then put your hearing aids in. The long thin tube is a microphone. Then they play some strange sounds through the speaker in the room and the microphone in your ears picks up how the hearing aids are working. My place does that every time there is any change to the physical tips or molds, or any major change to the programming.

Now that Linx2 has been released, when do you think Costco will be updating it’s Resound products to the Linx 7 and 9?

When do you think they will release the Kirkland Signature 6.0 (made by Resound)?

Active discussions

What the forum has been talking about this week.