So lithium ion batteries is actually harmful to discharge them. They dont get battery a charging pattern like older battery tech. its actually better to have them charged than drained. 80-90% is where they like it the best.
And I dont know why companies start making rechargeable swappable battery units. I mean how hard is it to make a slight extension on the BTE models that replaces the battery door… Like 100 bucks more for each(cause this is hearing aids we are talking about. … then again you can find plenty of deals for button batteries.
I don’t know about rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries for , but for laptops and electric cars, they like it best at around 50% charged. And you don’t want discharge too deep or charge too full and/or leave them at these states for too long.
I think it’s been established that rechargeable swappable battery units (which are only available in NiMH form, not lithium ion form) are not economically viable compared to zinc-air disposable batteries. They only hold about 1/8 of the charge of the zinc-air battery (meaning you have to swap out 8 times more often), and they only last about a year, and they cost the same as a year’s worth of zinc-air supply.
Rechargeable Lithium ion rechargeable batteries last longer than the NiMH rechargeables but they’re not available in swappable button form like the NiMH or the Zinc-air as far as I know. The mfgs who sell LiIon rechargeables want to leave it in and just have you park the HA overnight in the charging base to recharge. The main appeal of having rechargeable batteries in HA is for the convenience of people who have dexterity issues and don’t want to fumble with batteries taking them in and out. There’s never an appeal to save money on rechargeables in the first place, so that’s why swappable rechargeables are not popular.
Well It seems I have to fight my insurance company on a lot of things. So its not always rainbow on my end. It took 2 months to get a pre auth on double the max dose for estrogen patches.
So if I get a pair, I really want to see if the audiologist has a cheap demo pair I can test drive for a few weeks just to see the level of improvement I can get. I know that the cheap pair wont offer as much as the mid or high end, but it can give me an idea of the benifit. to see if I really am ready for them.
Like Ken P said, you can’t walk out of Costco without having paid for the first. But it’s no big deal because Costco has a very generous trial period (180 days now?). So just pay for HAs, try it out for as long as you need, and return it within the trial period if you decide it doesn’t help you as much. In this regards, I wouldn’t just try out a cheap demo pair. Try out a pair with all the features you would want to have if you decide to keep it. That way, you only have to try it out once.
As far as your insurance goes, however, I don’t know if Costco is willing to work with your insurance company or not. I think their model is that you pay them in full and you try to get reimbursement from your insurance company afterward yourself. If your insurance company is OK with doing this, that’d be fine. But if your insurance company requires direct claim submission from the dispenser instead of the patient, then you’ll need to ask Costco up front if they’re willing to do this for you or not. If not then you may have to go to an independent dispenser who’s willing to submit claims to your insurance company.
I don’t know about your insurance but mine has different levels of coverage for in-network providers (95%) or out of network providers (60%). So in my case, there’s a big incentive to go with an in-network provider.
Well the only thing that matters in network is the visit, not the hardware. But I believes its going to be a fight for coverage. I will have to see how I could swing it at Cost co.
So I have vestibular migraines, which includes lots vertigo and other issues. Like mild loss in my case, which I should say is atypical. But the attacks are always the same. Super predictable, I am completely used to them. I had one tonight. No biggie. But yesterday, I had a terrible new vertigo attack, Sudden and violent. and I am headed back to the super specialist neuro/ next week. If it is what I suspect it is, meniere’s disease, will definitely be needed in the future no question. And its known to be comorbid with my type migraines, So I am now super stressed. Its a deaf sentence for your ears. ha. Well maybe not always deafness but a lot of loss. and it starts with low end loss, Which I have some of that.
lastly, If worse comes to worse, Pick up some from ebay have them programed or program. Try it out for a month or so then sell them on ebay. And go in for the kill.
So only thing that urks me about all the hearing aides I see, is that the larger sized are for Moderately Severe to a Profound Hearing loss. I am a big lady 6’1 and 180lbs. I am an amazon, so I dont want no tiny little thing that I feel like I am going to break. And to me HAs are like a badge of courage, “I went to vertigo hell and back; and all i got was these badass hearing aids.” A proof of my condition. A few people question my permanent loss and my more temporary fluctuating loss. Its so frustrating when I live with this stuff and people dont believe. So I want to show the damned things off, not hide them. Make them a fashion statement like glasses. “Look at my awesome new ears”. My digital Ears, My E-ears. Ok sorry I got a little ranty.
Sounds like you’ve got more than your fair share of challenges. I think the worst part of any challenge we face is what we do to ourselves in our own head. The actuality may not be that bad, but we can truly torture ourselves given half a chance. If you like to read, I’d encourage Jon Kabat Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living. It describes a stress relief program that has given a lot of people their lives back. Regarding making hearing aids a fashion statement. That’s already begun. Signia and Resound offer red hearing aids and perhaps others. If you want a somewhat larger hearing aid, you could go with one with a size 13 battery.
Don’t test drive a cheap pair - UNLESS whomever fits you is confident they will perform optimally for your loss curve. To try out a medical device that may sound HORRID could actually turn you off to ones that could work beautifully! I say this with experience, having tried out a Resound and Widex model before ending up with my new Oticon Opns. For my kind of loss (and the quality/kind of hearing I wanted from an aid) the Resounds, in particular, were SO BAD I wanted to HURT someone at their factory. They were about as useful as sticking a small straw in each ear - no kidding. So obviously, that model was not the one for me, even though it would’ve been cheaper than the ones I ended up with.
Well It seems I have to fight my insurance company on a lot of things. So its not always rainbow on my end. It took 2 months to get a pre auth on double the max dose for estrogen patches.
So if I get a pair, I really want to see if the audiologist has a cheap demo pair I can test drive for a few weeks just to see the level of improvement I can get. I know that the cheap pair wont offer as much as the mid or high end, but it can give me an idea of the benifit. to see if I really am ready for them.
… I say this with experience, having tried out a Resound and Widex model before ending up with my new Oticon Opns. For my kind of loss (and the quality/kind of hearing I wanted from an aid) the Resounds, in particular, were SO BAD I wanted to HURT someone at their factory. …
I just cannot believe you were not able to find comparable Resound and Widex models to OPNs. Not all models are created equal. Obviously you picked wrong models and then you blame brands. It is like blaming Honda because their Civic is so different to your Chevy Suburban that you like so much
I just cannot believe you were not able to find comparable Resound and Widex models to OPNs. Not all models are created equal. Obviously you picked wrong models and then you blame brands. It is like blaming Honda because their Civic is so different to your Chevy Suburban that you like so much
I just read 1Bluejay message differently than you do. My takeaway from reading it is “don’t try out cheap because it may give you a bad taste in the mouth and turn you off to HAs altogether”. But I agree with you that mentioning the brand names without naming the specific models she had may make it sound like a brand name generalization and may cause some folks who wear those brands to take offense. But I’m sure it wasn’t the point of the message she wanted to bring across.
I just read 1Bluejay message differently than you do. My takeaway from reading it is “don’t try out cheap HAs because it may give you a bad taste in the mouth and turn you off to HAs altogether”. But I agree with you that mentioning the brand names without naming the specific models she had may make it sound like a brand name generalization and may cause some folks who wear those brands to take offense. But I’m sure it wasn’t the point of the message she wanted to bring across.
You are so positive. I apologize if that was the case
I am a 70 year-old pianist who has recently purchased a pair of KS6 aids from Costco. These are my first aids and have improved my ability understand conversations greatly. The have also shown me how much I have been missing while listening and playing music. The highs just slipped away without my noticing over the years and not I see the possibility of having them back. Unfortunately, I am having a great deal of trouble getting the aids optimally adjusted for music listening and particularly for my piano playing.
Piano sound is unique in that it it is part percussion and part sustained tone. Each note typically has a beginning (attack) that is much louder than the sustained tone that follows the attack. The better the piano is, the greater the difference can be between the attack volume an the following sustained tone. I have a really nice big grand piano and this effect is very pronounced. This effect is removed from most recorded music by compression. It is less pronounced when listening to a live performance by someone else as I am sitting further from the piano. BUT when I am playing it is at its most extreme and the aids are just not coming through. AS I said, my choices are practically no highs or lots of distortion at the leading edge of each note.
I am frustrated with the process of coming into Costco, adjusting the aids and going home and trying them while playing. Although my Costco technician is quite accommodating with appointments, it would be far preferable and faster if I could tweak the aids while at the piano. I am an engineer by training and quite confident that I could successfully use the Aventa software at home. This seems to be something Costco is not willing to facilitate and unfortunately they just don’t have any nice 7-foot grand pianos in their fitting rooms!
Suggestions? I am certain there are many other musicians in my situation.
I am a 70 year-old pianist who has recently purchased a pair of KS6 aids from Costco. These are my first aids and have improved my ability understand conversations greatly. The have also shown me how much I have been missing while listening and playing music. The highs just slipped away without my noticing over the years and not I see the possibility of having them back. Unfortunately, I am having a great deal of trouble getting the aids optimally adjusted for music listening and particularly for my piano playing.
Piano sound is unique in that it it is part percussion and part sustained tone. Each note typically has a beginning (attack) that is much louder than the sustained tone that follows the attack. The better the piano is, the greater the difference can be between the attack volume an the following sustained tone. I have a really nice big grand piano and this effect is very pronounced. This effect is removed from most recorded music by compression. It is less pronounced when listening to a live performance by someone else as I am sitting further from the piano. BUT when I am playing it is at its most extreme and the aids are just not coming through. AS I said, my choices are practically no highs or lots of distortion at the leading edge of each note.
I am frustrated with the process of coming into Costco, adjusting the aids and going home and trying them while playing. Although my Costco technician is quite accommodating with appointments, it would be far preferable and faster if I could tweak the aids while at the piano. I am an engineer by training and quite confident that I could successfully use the Aventa software at home. This seems to be something Costco is not willing to facilitate and unfortunately they just don’t have any nice 7-foot grand pianos in their fitting rooms!
Suggestions? I am certain there are many other musicians in my situation.
Bob Kridle
First off, you should post your here (like most people do) just so that people have an idea of your hearing loss first before they know what suggestions to give because this is highly dependent on what kind of hearing loss you have.
It looks like you have a very particular requirement there in wanting to adjust your aids SPECIFICALLY for your piano playing, and you want to be able to adjust your KS6 to have a setting optimized for piano playing.
Even if you can have access to the adjustment program and hardware so that you can do this at home while playing your piano, I think you’ll need to have the right hearing aid in the first place that can handle the very demanding dynamics of the piano sound. I think a very critical component you need to look for is that you need to have an that can tolerate a very loud input level without clipping the input loud levels off, causing distortion, yet still be able to also keep the sound quality of softer input levels intact as well for softer passages of a song. Otherwise, compression may set in too soon and cause the piano sound to become less dynamic like you already mentioned in your post. Basically you need to look at more detailed specs of different hearing aids to see what kind of input dynamic range they can handle. The ones that have very wide dynamic range will provide the fundamental capability that can support your demanding need for a great piano playing experience. If you start out with an HA that doesn’t have a wide enough dynamic range, no matter if you can program it in your own home right at the side of your grand piano, it’s still not going to cut it because you can’t program what’s not there in the first place.
I don’t know what kind of input dynamic range the K6 has. I tried looking at the K6 marketing material online but don’t see any mention of it. The marketing material of the Oticon OPN HA that I’m wearing shows a 113 input dynamic range from its “Clear Dynamics” feature. This may be used as a starting point in your search for the right HA that can handle the dynamics of your piano playing.
What you should also be looking for is an HA with simple programming requirement and fairly automated setup so that you don’t have to be dependent on multiple trips to the dispenser trying to get it to perform properly to your grand piano in a particular setting. In this respect, the Oticon OPN also fits the bill because the manufacturer right out of the gate already suggest that their single default program should be able to handle all listening environments, from simple to complex, from noisy to music listening, etc. The OPN will transition automatically and seamlessly between all these environments so that you don’t need to have multiple settings programmed in, and have to fiddle with which programs you want to be in for which listening environment when you move from one environment to the next. But more importantly, it’s not about avoiding your having to fiddle with different program settings, but it’s about having only one (or at least very few) fittings with your audi and be able to walk away and be done with it. After all, it’s one thing if you can do the programming yourself (on a capable HA) right by the side of your piano to your heart’s content. But if you can’t do this, then the next best thing is to find an HA that has a “set it and forget it” strategy so that you don’t have to become reliant and frustrated with endless audi visits to get it right for you, which is not a sustainable process in the first place in your particular case with the difficult piano setting requirement.
Also, you cannot self-program earlier model Kirkland Signature (KS5 and KS6) with normal Aventa fitting software because they are locked to the Costco-only version of Aventa fitting software. This does not apply beginning with KS7s which can be self-programmed with Connexx fitting software.
I think Widex is still claiming the highest ceiling on their A/D converter.
That being said, if you are willing to try a rougher solution. . . put a few layers of scotch tape over the hearing aid microphones and then crank up the hearing aid gain. The tape will reduce the volume of the piano coming into the hearing aids and therefore reduce the chance of clipping-related distortion.
Although, depending on how severe your hearing loss is the distortion might actually be in your cochlea.
I read up on the Widex 440 brochure and they show 113 for their input range. This is the same as the Oticon OPN input range. Maybe this is the upper range standard that our pianist poster should be aiming for.
Scotch taping the mics may help reduce the chance of clipping-related distortion, but it’ll affect the sound quality of the soft input levels for sure. This approach is not the same as expanding the input dynamic range to as wide as possible. I’m sure pianists have demands on both ends, they want to hear the loud attacks but they also want to hear the soft sustain equally well.
First off, you should post your audiogram here (like most people do) just so that people have an idea of your hearing loss first before they know what suggestions to give because this is highly dependent on what kind of hearing loss you have.
It looks like you have a very particular requirement there in wanting to adjust your aids SPECIFICALLY for your piano playing, and you want to be able to adjust your KS6 to have a setting optimized for piano playing.
Even if you can have access to the adjustment program and hardware so that you can do this at home while playing your piano, I think you’ll need to have the right hearing aid in the first place that can handle the very demanding dynamics of the piano sound. I think a very critical component you need to look for is that you need to have an HA that can tolerate a very loud input level without clipping the input loud levels off, causing distortion, yet still be able to also keep the sound quality of softer input levels intact as well for softer passages of a song. Otherwise, compression may set in too soon and cause the piano sound to become less dynamic like you already mentioned in your post. Basically you need to look at more detailed specs of different hearing aids to see what kind of input dynamic range they can handle. The ones that have very wide dynamic range will provide the fundamental capability that can support your demanding need for a great piano playing experience. If you start out with an HA that doesn’t have a wide enough dynamic range, no matter if you can program it in your own home right at the side of your grand piano, it’s still not going to cut it because you can’t program what’s not there in the first place.
I don’t know what kind of input dynamic range the K6 has. I tried looking at the K6 marketing material online but don’t see any mention of it. The marketing material of the Oticon OPN HA that I’m wearing shows a 113 dB SPL input dynamic range from its “Clear Dynamics” feature. This may be used as a starting point in your search for the right HA that can handle the dynamics of your piano playing.
What you should also be looking for is an HA with simple programming requirement and fairly automated setup so that you don’t have to be dependent on multiple trips to the dispenser trying to get it to perform properly to your grand piano in a particular setting. In this respect, the Oticon OPN also fits the bill because the manufacturer right out of the gate already suggest that their single default program should be able to handle all listening environments, from simple to complex, from noisy to music listening, etc. The OPN will transition automatically and seamlessly between all these environments so that you don’t need to have multiple settings programmed in, and have to fiddle with which programs you want to be in for which listening environment when you move from one environment to the next. But more importantly, it’s not about avoiding your having to fiddle with different program settings, but it’s about having only one (or at least very few) fittings with your audi and be able to walk away and be done with it. After all, it’s one thing if you can do the programming yourself (on a capable HA) right by the side of your piano to your heart’s content. But if you can’t do this, then the next best thing is to find an HA that has a “set it and forget it” strategy so that you don’t have to become reliant and frustrated with endless audi visits to get it right for you, which is not a sustainable process in the first place in your particular case with the difficult piano setting requirement.
Hi Voluciano. I agree 100%, My background in Audio and building exotic HiFi amplifier and speaker combo’s taught me that piano is the most difficult instrument to reproduce for those reasons (Maybe about as bad as voice). May I add though, that when we listen to some music …like piano, it is the strings and the other strings around about that have NOT been played, that add harmonics which give the piano its sound or tone. When upper hearing range is reduced, those harmonics are no longer heard and no longer support the note that was played, causing harmonic distortion in the brain. Sounds like a loose paper cone in a speaker can be quite common and I suffer just that phenomenon now. Unfortunately the audio technician I saw, (never met an audiologist actually) did not understand a word of what I said so he cannot understand my needs and what I am lacking. I hope to be able to ‘tune’ my aids to the best compromise but I do not expect my recorded music collection to get much better. Cheers and thanks for that long post.
Several years ago I bought a pair of ReSound aids from the local Costco and liked them. About a year ago I thought maybe I should ‘upgrade’ so I went back to Costco and purchased a pair of Phonak aids. They seemed to work OK, but I was never satisfied with the way the tubes stuck out, and I was finding it hard to hear and understand people on tv. I put my old ReSounds in and the tv voices improved. I went back to Costco and asked them to program the Phonak like the ReSound but they said they couldn’t transfer the program, since they were different manufacturers, but they did do some reprogramming, and the sound improved somewhat (with the ReSound I could plainly hear the clicking of my computer keyboard, but not with the Phonaks). I’ve been continuing to wear the Phonaks, but the left one kept popping out of my ear. Today I went back and she put different tubes on (said they were shorter) and smaller domes and told me I needed to ‘shove them into my ear canal with my little finger’. I came home and spent a good deal of time trying to do that (no one ever told me to do that in the years I’ve had aids)…without success. Now the right one doesn’t come on at all…I’ve changed the and dome and battery and it still doesn’t come on. Trying to put them in the way she described is harder than putting in my first pair of contacts!! After spending the better part of an hour trying to put them in ‘her way’ and the right one now not working, I’ve gone back to my old ReSound aids and I haven’t had to ‘shove them’ in with my little finger, and I’m hearing the keyboard as I type this. I’m thinking I’ll just cut my losses and use the old ones.
I actually do that with my / as well, shove them into my ear canals with my little fingers, haha. The whole idea is to make sure the receivers are seated deep enough inside the ear canal that they won’t fall out. It can happen if the dome is too big as well, probably why the Costco changed to a smaller dome for you. But of course if your little finger is bigger than your ear canal then that’s not going to work. You can probably use something smaller than your little finger like a Qtip, but I wouldn’t try to push the receiver in too far anyway. Just snug enough only so it won’t fall out. That’s why your little finger is about the smallest thing you should try to use. That advice to use your little finger to seat the receiver firmly may sound a little odd, my audi never told me to do that, but I instinctively do it anyway.
The right one is probably broken and needs to be repaired. Unlikely that shoving them into your ear caused that. Probably just a coincidence.
I don’t know why you can hear better with the ReSound. You should keep pushing them to open up the Phonak amplification range some more at the right frequency range (where your keyboard clacks) until you’re happy with it like you do with the Resound. I’ve had to do this with the Rexton Insite+ I had from Costco, too. I had them open it up a little more at a time at the frequency range I wanted (the mid) and it took a few tries until I’m satisfied with how I could hear things. Don’t just cut your losses and give up and go back to your old HAs after you’ve paid good money for your new HAs, unless what you mean is that you decide to return the new HAs.
Going back in at 6:30 tomorrow to find out what’s wrong with the right one. I asked her if they could put the same program into the Phonaks as is in the ReSound and she said yes. When I asked when I was in before, the other lady said no. We’ll see.
I think the new lady said yes because she’ll probably just try to map the Resound settings into the Phonak settings manually as close as possible. But the other lady was not wrong when she said no because she meant that she cannot load the file format of the Resound setting into the Phonak program because the Phonak program doesn’t accept the Resound file format since they’re different mfgs.
Whatever works…as long as the Phonaks can work as well as the old ReSounds do. I’ll keep trying to put them in the way she wanted…I finally got the hang of contacts.
I went back in Monday night and she said the right receiver that she had put in Saturday was bad, and she put in a new one. She also reprogrammed the Phonaks. I came home and tried them with the tv. I alternated the Phonaks with my old ReSounds on the same news stories, and the old ones were head and shoulders better. I’ve finally decided to leave the Phonaks in the box and continue to use the old ReSounds. The next time I go to Costco I need to pick up some fresh domes and and sport grips for them, since I replaced the ones I had with the ones for the Phonaks. When the ReSounds finally quit, I’ll have to decide what to do to replace them.
