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Just fitted with a pair of Signia Pure C&G MaX 5 RIC

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Since my insurance-mandated provider provides a 60-day return policy, I decided to go for the newly-released Signia Pure C&G MaX 5 hearing aids. (I would have preferred the Phonak Eon 70, but they would be more than three times my co-pay for the Signia product) They're a touch larger than my Phonak Lumity 70 aids. The fitting yesterday was so tinny (once I got outside and/or put on the radio) I went back today to get them adjusted. Sound so far is very good. I'll continue to add to this thread to add more info on my testing.

I anticipated it being a step down from my Phonak as far as connecting with multiple devices over Bluetooth, and so it is. I cannot connect to both my iPhone and my Macbook at the same time, and although I should be able to turn off one of the devices to automatically hook up to the other, so far it has been rather clumsy, requiring me to restart the 's or worse, reinstall the app. The app for the iPhone was just released the other day, and already they have a patch coming. So I hope I'll have a more positive review of this aspect in the future. Stay tuned!

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Edited

EDIT: the comment below only applies to (made for iPhone) hearing aids. If the Max uses classic , ignore what I said below.

You don’t need to disconnect the aids from your phone to use them with your Mac. You use AirPlay to select the aids from the audio device you want to use. I posted detailed instructions , with pictures , on this forum.

Perhaps when all is working well, glitch-free. My hearing aids show they are connected to my iPhone under Bluetooth>My Devices, but when I open the new Signia app, I get a "Your hearing aids are disconnected." I've unpaired them, restarted the app, done all I'm "supposed" to do... but they don't show up as an option under the "Sound" menu option. Only my Macbook speakers and my Samsung TV are available options. If you have some suggestions, I'll try them. Thanks.

Ah! That I didn't know. Thank you for the correction.
@MoHearing : Please ignore my comment. I'll add an EDIT to it
What I said only applies to hearing aids.

I’ve been wearing the hearing aids for a couple of days now. I’ve worn them in a couple of noisy Slot car raceways with lots of people talking and loud Electric cars whizzing by and have no trouble carrying on conversations. The same goes with a small group who visited my quiet home. I’m very impressed with the sound quality and ability to hear in the various settings so far. I am still having an issue with the Bluetooth connections. I’ve either had to put the hearing aids in the charger and remove them a couple of times or go as far as deleting and reinstalling the app in order to get them to work properly when I switch from either my iPhone to my MacBook or the other direction. I hope this is something that can be resolved because it is a feature that I use often and had no trouble with it with my Phonak Lumity 70 hearing aids previously. Otherwise I’m quite happy so far. I’ll be attending an outdoor party this evening with quite a few people so I’ll report back on how that goes when I have time.

Two more settings to report on: outdoor party with 30 people drinking and lively talking in groups: No problem with one on one conversations or in groups. If I sat a few feet from two groups it was hard to make out all conversations while just listening.

Currently in a coffee house with morning live jazz. Very clear music sound AND Bass player’s announcements to customers. Even with loud refrigerator near me. I’m 50 feet from band with maybe 30 customers.

So far I’m very satisfied with the sound quality in various settings, but still quite disappointed with Bluetooth switching from iPhone to MacBook. Not a dealbreaker but I do hope to get that resolved with tech support, if possible.

One more setting, and it was not a positive experience. I was at a little crowded bar, filled with various ages and various stages of inebriation. This meant some REALLY LOUD TALKERS, with live ragtime piano about 20 feet away. The music came through nicely, but the conversations were uncomfortably loud, and made it difficult to tune into the conversation with my tablemates unless I really leaned in. When a couple came to talk with us and stood next to our table I had a very difficult time hearing even 1/2 of their conversation. I tried narrowing the focus of what I could hear in the Signia app, and it helped a bit, but not really enough. So I guess I've reached the limit. From what I've read about the Phonak Sphere they focus so much on background noise cancellation that I imagine I may have been able to discern the conversations more clearly, but the live music would have been pretty muted. I am probably being unrealistic in what I'm expecting my HA to do, but I am indeed giving these a test run!

Some of the situations you're describing would probably be easier with the premium tier product with real time conversation enhancement. The mid-tier has a single adaptive beamformer, whereas the premium tier has up to three operating at the same time. If you're not happy with the settings, remember that you can use the Signia assistant in the app which uses cloud-based to adjust your settings in the moment.

Thank you for those suggestions. I'm still trialling the MaX5, and each adjustment is getting them better (except for a sidetrip down the lane... which turned out to be very unsuitable). Unfortunately the Signia One app is being a bit glitchy, and we haven't been able to get me control over certain settings, including using the assistant or the remote adjustments. Signia has told my provider their working on a patch/new version to address this.

MoHearing, You appear to be taking this glitchy app amazingly well! I think I would not. Having paid many thousands (I assume) for a so-called top of the line , you would expect top of the line quality. Signia's response, we're working on it. Apparently in the rush to move the product to market, they have foregone quality for speed.

@portage said:

for a so-called top of the line HA, you would expect top of the line quality. Signia's response, we're working on it. Apparently in the rush to move the product to market, they have foregone quality for speed.

When it comes to apps OS updates can break things unexpectedly. We should really reserve judgement as this has happened to every manufacturer. The pace of OS security updates has increased significantly now that tools are being used to discover exploits. As long as hearing aid manufacturers are doing their best we can't really ask for anything more because there is so much that is out of their control.

H_P, Your point is well taken. I reacted to OP stating more than two weeks ago that the "app for the phone was just released the other day and already they have a patch coming." So, right from the start, Signia seemed to me to be hasty in introducing this new model. But as you no doubt have fitted thousands of in hundreds of models your perspective is well informed.

In reply to @portage

My patience is probably rooted in the fact that my insurance lets me pay only $600 for the pair. That and I have 60 days to try them. The quality of hearing has been very good compared to my previous Phonak Lumity 70’s, but I’ll have to make a judgment call whether or not it’s worth an additional $1400 (the additional copay)for moving to Phonak Eon 70 hearing aids, whose connectivity I trust far more.

It's been more than a month into my trial, and I had been very satisfied with the hearing quality of the Signa MaX 5, but was constantly having problems with switching back and forth from my iPhone to my MacBook. It's taken re-installing the app, re-pairing them, and at times they would show they are connected but were not because they somehow "auto-connected" back to the device I didn't want. Quite frustrating. So I tried my old Phonak Audéo Lumity for the past two days and was immediately happy with they way they connect with my two Bluetooth device, and had decided I'd stick with them. Until last night when I went to a slightly loud music venue and definitely had some difficulty with conversations using the Phonak aids. So I'm back on the fence, wishing there were a better solution. If my provider (insurance-mandated) didn't charge three times the co-pay for the same level Phonak Eon 70 HAs I'd go for them. Till then, stay tuned...

Thank you for all these updates and reports on owning these. I have been thinking about the Max-7's but my try the new Strakey or Oticon's instead. I will say the my Phonak I90 work great with all my Apple products.

No, this doesn't work. The Signia MaX do not connect via to two devices at once. Even when I disconnect them from one of my two devices they won't always connect to the other. More often than not, I must "Forget" the HAs from one device, and even then I often have to put them back in the charger to turn them off and on before they will hook up to my intended device. Or worse, I have to re-install the app. Very frustrating thus far, especially because otherwise I think they are a bit better as far as sound quality compared to my Phonak Lumity 70. BTW, the Shortcut would be useful IF they connected with both, but they don't, so it's a Shortcut to nowhere. :-(

Edited

Sorry to hear. A conundrum indeed.

EDIT:

Disregard my reply below. Since you're saying that Signia can't connect to two devices at once, then the suggestion below is a moot point.

Have you looked at the bluetooth settings when the Phonaks are connected and tried to see if you can mirror those same settings for the Signia bluetooth settings? I know they're two different apps, but wanted to see if you've tried this yet?

This is very informative.

I'm going to buy either the Phonak EON E90 Sphere or the Signia MaX 7.

I was inclining more towards Signia but after reading about the Bluetooth issues, I might go with Phonak.

Has anyone had a chance to try these two? Which one did you like better?

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