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Issues after update with Phonak Audéo Lumity 90R – anyone else?

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Hi everyone,
I’m looking for feedback from other users of Phonak Audéo Lumity 90R because I’m facing a very frustrating situation.
I got my devices in June 2024. After a few adjustments, the sound quality was excellent and I was very satisfied.
However, since around October 2024 (after what seems like a software update), the sound processing changed significantly. The rendering now feels unnatural, less clear, and much more difficult to tolerate in daily situations.
Since then, I’ve tried everything:
multiple audiologists
dozens of fine-tuning sessions
different domes and receiver sizes
Nothing has solved the issue.
Today, these hearing aids actually make my daily life harder, especially at work (speech understanding and fatigue).
I’ve seen similar discussions where users report:
imbalance between ears �
Forum Appareils Auditifs
strange sound processing or distortion �
Forum Appareils Auditifs
difficulty in noisy environments �
Mayo Clinic Connect
So I’m wondering:
:backhand_index_pointing_right: Has anyone experienced a clear degradation after updates?
:backhand_index_pointing_right: Could this be linked to Autosense / sound processing changes?
:backhand_index_pointing_right: Did switching brand or model solve the issue?
I’m currently considering changing devices because this situation is no longer sustainable.
Thanks a lot for your feedback :folded_hands:

Sorry to hear about your hearing issues.

Was this update your phone, the hearing aids or the Phonak hearing aids app? I assumed the aids but not sure.

A couple of thoughts. Your does not show any measurements between 500K and 6000K. I assume that your audiologist adjusted fittings between these points.
The latest firmware update for the L90-RL is 1.0.9.0. Your audiologist should make sure that you are on the latest version. If you noted the problem shortly after the last firmware update, I would have your audiologist re-reload the latest firmware version in your aids.

Now, you’ve got me wondering… I took my KS10s in to Costco to have them simply increase the gain in the Automatic Premium (general) program by 2 to 3 of the increments in the EasyLine app (I guess that’s about 4 or 5 db). They sounded “different” in the sound booth than they did when I increased the volume in the app by 3 steps, but I didn’t say anything. When I got home, I found I could barely hear my wife and couldn’t understand her more than 50% of the time. I wonder if there was an across the board update that rolls out when ever a Sonova/Sennheiser/Kirkland device is connected to the Costco fitting software. (I haven’t been able to catch anyone on the phone at Costco Hearing yet, but I’ll see what they say. (at this point I’d have trouble hearing what they might say).

Thank you all very much for your replies and for taking the time to help :folded_hands:
To clarify, the change appeared after an update on the hearing aids themselves (done by the audiologist), not on the phone or the app. Since then, despite many adjustments and visits to different audiologists, I haven’t been able to get back the original sound quality, which was initially excellent.
Regarding the firmware, my audiologist told me that it is not possible to roll back to a previous version, which limits the options on that side. I will still double-check that I am on the latest version and discuss it again with them.
Your feedback about sound changes after updates or adjustments is also reassuring — it helps to know I may not be an isolated case.
Thanks again for your help

To check out all fronts: get a new and compare it to the one you had when the Phonaks sounded GREAT. You never know … could there be some degradation in your hearing?

I also have the Lumity Life 90s (rechargeable and battery) and have never had issues after an UPDATE, but I DID have a months-long problem where one of the aids squealed all the time. Turns out, my audi had not done the feedback management successfully on that RIGHT aid, and in the meantime, the settings for that pair were copy/pasted over to my 3 other pairs of Phonaks.

GROAN!

Once we figured out how the squeal came into being, she just had to run the feedback management on my 4 pairs of Phonaks and voila - problem solved.

Could it be your audi has done something in the settings to cause this distortion. That’s the second thing you should check out. Have that audi compare the current settings line by line to the setting before the update. In a pinch, RESTORE the old setting and go from there, updating the aids again.

Good luck and keep us posted on the FIX here.

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