'Hiss burst' after words end? Phonak SMART IX

@EnglishDispenser said:

Hearnow listed the changes needed … he is my bestest ever friend for that!

• Upgrade the Target fitting software
• Upgrade the firmware in the hearing aids - there is an option for this.
• Delete any fine tunings - there is a menu option for this.
• Recalculate the targets - there is a menu button for this.
• Re-run the feedback manager
• If the problem still persists reduce hf 40db input gain 2dB. [I haven’t needed to do this]

Do NOT be tempted to miss any of the above - you MUST do EVERY step, except maybe the last one.

In fact when you do all the above you can see that the fitting graphs somehow seem smoother and that the user seems immediately more comfortable with the aids.

I can get rid of the “hissburst” by just resetting the Noiseblock to the Target recommended settings, but I need a higher Noiseblock setting than the Target settings for my work environment and noisy restaurants. After you have accomplished the above corrective procedure doesn’t the “hissburst” come back when you increase Noiseblock?

@EnglishDispenser said:

Hearnow listed the changes needed … he is my bestest ever friend for that!
…

My audiologist went through the steps listed, and although it improved this some, it did not resolve it completely for me. The noise/hiss following the endings of words is reduced, but I still hear noise/hiss during words at times. To me it sounds like this update adjusted the compression release times, so the noise/hiss is quickly attenuated, and thus isn’t as noticeable after words.

The hiss to me is low frequency (in audio terms like brown noise). My audiogram is normal at low frequncies, and I think it is possible I’m hearing the noise floor of the device in that region. It seems like the fitting program doesn’t allow setting the TK directly, so I’m not sure we can prevent those frequencies from being gained up, but that’s what we will try next.

Regarding the comments about the noise block program, in my fitting, we could only select weak. The middle/stronger options could not be selected with the slider. I don’t know why.

Lastly, the one thing that DID help was to turn off sound recover. In that section of the fitting program the diagram for sound recover showed half the spectrum disabled. It looked like the 4-5KHz range was the “sound recovered” region, and above that there was nothing output. When that was disabled, the sound recover diagram changed showing the the entire spectrum up to the max (9.5 kHz?) was now working. I noticed significant improvement in speech intelligibility.

These devices are by far the most comfortable and discreet I’ve worn. I truly want them to work well, but the noise is a real distraction in a lot of use cases.

taz

The Starkey Wi i110 also suffers from distortion of word-endings and pure tones (i.e. music); in the case of the Wi, however, the problem goes away when using a music program (presumably feedback suppression is reduced/eliminated). This is a lot better than the Phonak Smart S’s, which sound terrible with music at all times (at least to my ear). So far, the Oticon’s are the only aids that don’t significantly distort music in ANY situation, or generate the buzz/hiss issue.

Marc

My audiologist was ultimately able to eliminate the hiss for me. He spent a lot of time experimenting with me listening while he made adjustments. At least in my case the hiss is only audible in the frequencies below the 1.8K band. It’s important to note that my hearing begins to approach normal in that region, and it may be that I can hear the noise floor in the HA at those frequencies. So, he ensured I had no gain in the low bands, and gained up the higher frequencies where I need it. I don’t hear hiss at all. Hiss may be present at the higher frequencies, and I may just not be able to hear it. As counterintuitive as this is, it worked.

That said, I did try several other manufacturers, and never heard hiss. These phonaks also distort (clip) at high input/high frequency, but that’s not a common occurance.

The bottom line for me was that these phonaks are the most comfortable to me by far, and I rarely feel like I need to take them out for a break. I’m now very pleased with them.

@HIP_Matt said:

Also, many people may find no increased benefit with Sound recover regardless.

Sound recover enabled had a very negative effect for me, but turning it off did not eliminate the hiss/echo. Still, disabling sound recover allowed more of the high frequencies to pass through amplified at the correct frequency (e.g. not modulated down) and improved speech intelligibility for me.