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I hate these! Everything is soooo loud and sounds so metallic

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@Riverott said:

How long does it take to get used to “digital” sound?
I started wearing these KS6 on Thursday. Sorry I’ve been trying to be positive but today I’m having a negative moment - I hope that’s what this is!

Got mine on Thursday also, by Friday morning I was fine. I adjusted the volume to where I wanted it and off I went.

In reply to @Riverott

When I was new to , I was told to adjust to them in relatively quiet environments. I never actually had trouble adjusting, either to my first analog aids or the transition to digital. I love my digital aids, they are so good at pulling out the sounds I need to hear. I can barely understand speech without them. For me, understanding speech is my primary aim, everything else is icing on the cake.

Jeff

I’ve had a pretty hard time getting adjusted; these are my first hearing aids. in the kitchen, dishes on the counter top, the phone ringing, microwave beeping were all so much. I took copious notes on what things bothered me and turned down the volume. one of the hardest things was driving in the car, all I heard were the tires on the road. After a long day at work I pulled them out for the hour drive home. its been 8 months, and things have finally settled down. Its still not easy, there are days when I don’t wear them at all at home, but I wear them everyday to work and I’m doing much better. be persistent; as others have said, make notes that you can take to your Audi so they can be adjusted for your needs. Keep them clean to avoid irritation. and when you feel overwhelmed, take them out and give yourself a break, maybe a whole day, maybe the weekend. Then start fresh again. Slowly slowly things will get better for you. read the forum, there is a wealth of information and many people here for you. Best of luck.

Edited

Thanks for sharing -I feel like I’m trapped inside the Tin Man-so tinny/ metallic sounding.
I have an appointment Thursday -hopefully will get the adjustment I need.
Good luck with your adjustment process.

@Riverott said:

Thanks for sharing -I feel like I’m trapped inside the Tin Man-so tinny/ metallic sounding.
I have an appointment Thursday -hopefully will get the adjustment I need.
Good luck with your adjustment process.

They should reduce the gain in the high frequencies for soft, loud, and . Tell them you want to get them comfortable first, knowing you may sacrifice a little speech clarity (you can always go up again). Some fitters want to give you the biggest “wow” effect, by allowing you to hear a fly scratch his rear end from across the room. That often leads to people yanking them out and then what good are they? If costco gives you 90 days to try them, you don’t have to get it all at once in the first week.

Think of it this way, when you wake up in the morning and walk out into the kitchen where the sun is coming through the window, you squint. Why? Because you haven’t seen light for 6-8hrs. How long have you walked around with a loss before you decided to get aids? Few years if your like most people. It’s not fair to flip a switch and say “He’s all this sound, go home and enjoy it”. It can be overwhelming for some people!

@SteveAUD said:

They should reduce the gain in the high frequencies for soft, loud, and MPO. Tell them you want to get them comfortable first, knowing you may sacrifice a little speech clarity (you can always go up again). Some fitters want to give you the biggest “wow” effect, by allowing you to hear a fly scratch his rear end from across the room. That often leads to people yanking them out and then what good are they? If costco gives you 90 days to try them, you don’t have to get it all at once in the first week.

Think of it this way, when you wake up in the morning and walk out into the kitchen where the sun is coming through the window, you squint. Why? Because you haven’t seen light for 6-8hrs. How long have you walked around with a loss before you decided to get aids? Few years if your like most people. It’s not fair to flip a switch and say “He’s all this sound, go home and enjoy it”. It can be overwhelming for some people!

SteveAUD-are you an Audioligst ? I went for my second "adjustment " visit . He said he adjusted them all the futher he could and they actually sound worse! More tinny- geez - he said I need to wear them more.
I averaged six hours a day.
im not sure what to do now- they are better outside ,pretty awful inside.

Riverott, I’m on day two of my HS6s and, just like you, I feel it is a bit overwhelming at times. My Audi only gave me two settings. One for a quite environment and one for a noisy environment with more to be added as I learn. He set the gain at 70% which will automatically increase about 3% a week for 8 weeks and told me that if the noise was too overwhelming to use the noisy setting which filters a lot of the background noise and to turn the volume down, log it and we would see if the needed adjustments at my follow-up in a couple of weeks.

He said over time I would probably increase the volume on my own as I got use to them. Not everything sounds tinny but there are a lot of things that don’t sound normal simply because I haven’t heard them in a long time and now I’m hearing them all at once. Rest assured, your not alone.

Thank you all for your support and sharing your experiences.
I guess I was pretty naive going into this.
I just never realized what a transition getting used to hearing aids would be.
I hope we all get to a good place with our ’s.

Hearing with aids is never “normal”. There are a number of surprises when you start wearing hearing aids. When I first started wearing hearing aids everything sounded “tinny” like the highs frequencies were over-enhanced. My hearing issue is a little complicated. The left ear is “normal” until 3 kHz. and then the response begins to drop. The right ear doesn’t have any of the higher frequencies. As far as speech, I most likely did not need an aid on the left. There are a lot of sounds that are above 3 kHz. and I was not able to hear them. Cell phone alerts, microwave beeps, etc. I had worn aids for about 10 days with about the same results that you are describing. Everything was loud, tinny, noisy. On the 10th day, I put my aids in and everything sounded “normal”, like the hearing in my left ear without aids. I even took the aids out, put them back in, brushed my hand over the hearing aid cases to make sure they were working. I hope you reach that point soon. Hearing is still not normal. The cell phone alerts that I used to not hear, now are almost bone jarring. I now complain about how loud people set the alerts on their phones. Doors still slam, they never seem to close softly. This whole process is a big adjustment for the brain, but once the brain gets everything figured out it will get better. Just hang in there for awhile.

In reply to @Riverott

@Riverott said:

SteveAUD-are you an Audioligst ? I went for my second "adjustment " visit . He said he adjusted them all the futher he could and they actually sound worse! More tinny- geez - he said I need to wear them more.
I averaged six hours a day.
im not sure what to do now- they are better outside ,pretty awful inside.

I am. Did you tell him they sound tinny? Is that the best way to describe the sound quality? Did you ask what he adjusted?

In reply to @Riverott

When I change the program’s it hurts my ears, because it’s so loud and people s voices echo. I have Kirkland 6.0 and the lady that fit them today was not very good, I told her they were too loud and she said to just use the I phone to adjust sound.
I called another Costco and want someone else to program them and the lady I talked to seem to understand. Said people from my area are also going to that Costco. I was glad to hear that, because I thought it was me. But I can’t get in for 2 weeks and I need to hear to do my job, might have to wear my old ones.
does anyone know what the problem could be why people voices echo. I wear molds and have a vent on them. I think it’s the loudness that is making voices echo, I have to take them out of my ears to change programs or might go completely deaf, I don’t think that’s how it is suppose to be

Edited

Gosh Peggy that sounds awful.
I’m new here and know nothing -hopefully someone will respond and be able to help you.
Good luck.

@Riverott said: (unavailable)

Hi SteveAUD, he reduced the gain in high freq like you suggested. He reduced it all the way is what he said.
These are my first hearing aids-I’ve been wearing them more and working at getting used to them. I am getting more used to the way they they produce sound.
I have another appointment Thursday with the senior Audiologist- I’m thinking of asking her to start over ?
Do you have suggestions for me ?
Sounds still sound metallic,tinny ,echo like a metal tube. Also when I take the HA’s out my right ear has a high pitched whine now-that I don’t appreciate at all .
Thank you very much for responding - I want these to work.
Do you think a different brand would make any difference?

Im still trying to figure out how to use this forum.

In reply to @Peggym777

@Peggym777 said:

When I change the program’s it hurts my ears, because it’s so loud and people s voices echo. I have Kirkland 6.0 and the lady that fit them today was not very good, I told her they were too loud and she said to just use the I phone to adjust sound.
I called another Costco and want someone else to program them and the lady I talked to seem to understand. Said people from my area are also going to that Costco. I was glad to hear that, because I thought it was me. But I can’t get in for 2 weeks and I need to hear to do my job, might have to wear my old ones.
does anyone know what the problem could be why people voices echo. I wear molds and have a vent on them. I think it’s the loudness that is making voices echo, I have to take them out of my ears to change programs or might go completely deaf, I don’t think that’s how it is suppose to be

If I had to take a guess I’d say the gain for loud sounds is up higher than you’d care for.

Thank you for helping me. Really need to get in sooner than 2 weeks to have them fixed, and I don’t want to go back to where I got them, she might make it worst. I live in Victorville and am going to Rancho Cucamonga to have them fixed, it’s about 45 minutes from me
just talked with the fitter from Costco in Victorville and she says she cannot lower it, that I need domes, but I was wearing domes and in comparison with the molds I could hear better. The fitter from Costco in Rancho Cucamonga called her. So now she is a little upset and said I am making her look bad by calling another Costco. I just want them to be fixed and she said she cannot lower it anymore, so wanted to see if someone else can help me, another Costco. If not then will take them back and go somewhere else

In reply to @Riverott

@Riverott said:

Thank you all for your support and sharing your experiences.
I guess I was pretty naive going into this.
I just never realized what a transition getting used to hearing aids would be.
I hope we all get to a good place with our HA’s.

If you have them hooked up to your iPad, did you just use the iPad controls to turn them down or did you get the app?

If you download the app (I’m guessing the Resound app works with these) you have the option to adjust the bass and the treble. Turn your treble down. You may do this now and later on after you adjust it may sound find the way they are programmed. Hope that helps some!

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