Just got back from Costco, they let me try 3 hearing aids and walk around the store. The Rexton Reach sounded the most natural. Other people did not sound like their voice was doubled or the audio from the hearing aid was delayed from the real sound of their voice. My voice sounded almost perfect. I think the Rexton sounded the best, because they were doing the least. The background didn’t seem as amplified as the others also.
The phillips 9050 sounded just like the Oticon Intent 1 that I demoed a couple week before. Others voice seemed doubled and my voice sounded robotic to me. This test may not have been the most accurate, because I asked her to turn down the hearing aid.
the Jabra Pro 30 was over the top, it was doing the most, other people sounded doubled I sounded robotic tons of background stuff got amplified, I could her the audio person breathing, wheels squeaking, I could pick out the high hat from the music that was playing in the background. it was very distracting hearing all of the extra stuff. The Jabra was the smallest and I liked that.
The doubling of the voices was much more noticeable in the sound proof room that I was fitted in, but less noticeable in the real world walking around.
Do I make a decision based on my 10 minutes in each hearing aid?
Can I get the Phillips to sound like the Rexton if I wanted to?
Yes do your trial on the Rexton (Signia) based on what you liked, you get 180 days to decide.
If you decide to go you’ll be able to get the Phillips close, never exactly the same because these have different ways of sounding and how they go about it, but why are you wanting Phillips?
I’m not sure, other then my first audiologist thought the Oticon Intent 1 was the best hearing aid on the market for me. The truth is probably closer to it the hearing aid she stood to make the most money on. For some unexplained reason though, I think the phillips is the best hearing aid Costco sells.
I asked this question because you are a new hearing aid user and need time to acclimate to all the new and loud sounds you haven’t heard in a while.
The Jabra aids are probably set up closer to your prescription than the others. The Rexton and Phillips can be dialed up when once you get acclimated. Did you consider the Sennheiser aids? All of Costco’s aids are great top of the line aids. Tuff decision.
The Jabra aids are probably set up closer to your prescription than the others. The Rexton and Phillips can be dialed up when once you get acclimated
I did think that with the jabra’s there was a lot going on, hearing shopping carts from 2 isles away and hearing people talking to each other 50 feet away it was very distracting but also cool. I am sure I can dial down the Jabra’s, but can I dial up the Rextons or Phillips to get that kind of better then normal hearing?
Never ever believe anything tells you! Let your ears do the “talking” Signia and ReSound are favourites of mine, I can get these sounding very similar as well, remember it’s all in the programming and how one believes they sound, what’s good for one is not necessarily good for others.
They are your first hearing aids and (unfortunately) above 2kHz you have fairly significant hearing loss so you should be hearing many things you haven’t heard for years. So if the hearing aids are performing correctly it would be a surprise if you didn’t find all the new sounds (breathing, wheels squeaking, etc) you were hearing overwhelming. You could argue the fact you could now hear the high hat again was actually a good thing.
It is going to take time for your brain to adjust.
I started with hearing aids (Airpod Pro 2’s and Eargo 7s - both hearing aids - and both adjusted based on the I got in Costco) last November and all the new sounds (my foot steps in corridors, paper rustling, a kettle boiling, beeps from microwaves etc) were quite annoying, but I could also hear conversations I had been struggling with. Over the next few months my brain adjusted and the sounds started seeming normal and not overwhelming.
When I got my Jabra Enhance Pro 30s in May I was now used to hearing these many new sounds again and they didn’t seem overwhelming. 4 months later I am pretty happy with the Jabra’s. Music still isn’t great and I will never hear again the way I could in my 20’s, but I can hear family around the house and in the yard, go to restaurants or party’s etc and generally participate in conversation in noisy environments. I hear birds (and yes crickets in fall California) and our cat is happier he can get my attention much easier from across the yard. Now when I take my hearing aids out the everything sounds very flat and quiet.
My wife got Jabra Enhance Pro 30s in May as well and these were her first hearing aids and at first she found the sounds overwhelming same as you.
If the Rexton’s sound best to you it certainly makes sense to start with them (you have 180 days), but the fact the Jabra’s (or Philips) sound overwhelming or odd may actually mean they are allowing you to hear things you should be hearing, but are not used to hearing.
Other experts can tell you how long it typically takes to adjust to new hearing aids but my guess it is probably 1 - 3 months.
My wife and I both plan to go back now we have had the Jabra’s for 4 months to review our feedback with the Costco fitter to see if adjustments would improve them further.
I also still wonder if the more natural sound of the Rexton’s might help with music (I guess I have 2 more months to decide).
Our Costco fitter feels he gets the best results with most of his patients with Jabra’s, and says he has worked with local musicians to further tweak the music setting to help them. I think I may also ask to try a pair of Rexton’s to see what they sound like (at least in the store).
Good luck, the nice thing is we have 6 months to try various options and then unlimited tweaks after that…
Edit: One more thing to add. The hearing aids that were set up for the in-store trial have not had all the adjustments you will get when you get your actual hearing aids for fitting. No or other tweaks that would be part of the normal fitting process.
I think the Rexton Reach aids are set up suboptimally for you, and are therefore more comfortable/less overwhelming, I don’t think that you should rely on for anything, but if you must, do note that a part of your hearing loss is in the “moderately severe” range. Therefore, it is beyond the “mild to moderate” loss that AI recommends Rexton Reach aids for.
Personally, I’d lean toward the Jabra 30 aids with a gradual progression of programming, increasing the fit until you’re ready for the 100 percent setting.
If Rexton’s first fit is anything like Signia’s, to me it is certainly the most comfortable-sounding. However, it also seems to be the softer of first fits compared to those from other manufacturers, so it is not clear whether you will hear your best out-of-the-box.
This is where you breach the topic of comfort-versus-audibility. At least at the beginning, what is most audible is not necessarily going to be comfortable. However, and this is where acclimation managers are useful, you can back off on prescription to start and you can increase closer to prescription over time as higher output (more beneficial?) levels become more comfortable.
Fitting your first set of is often difficult. Experienced user here, but for some reason the initial fitting with my Jabra 20s were set much too loud. Got that corrected and the inital in store trial and subsequent final settings for my Jabra 30s went very well.
I suggest you try the Jabra 30s again, but with a different fitter. And hopefully a different set of demos. Something was terribly wrong with your initial trial (IMO).
Making a decision based on a five-minute walk around the Costco store is a tricky process. My own experience a month ago led me to rely on advice and experience of the excellent Costco hearing aid professional who particularly recommended the Philips 9050 based on my particular interests and experience. I purchased and have used the Philips product daily for the past month and could not be happier. My ability to use the HearLink 2 app on my cell phone to fine tune the high-medium-low frequency levels for all three program settings he set up for me is just wonderful.
The three programs set up individually for me are (1) General, (2) Speech in Noise. and (3) HiFi Music. I use General most of the time, Speech in Noise when I’m trying to converse with a dining partned in a noisy restaurant, and HiFi Music when I stream music from my cell phone. All three progams are really useful and make my hearing experiences a real pleasure.
So much depends on the attitude and performance of the Costco Hearing Aid Center staff member who works with you. I have had really good ones help me for the past ten years. I recommend Costco without reservation for hearing aid services to save thousands of dollars (literally) and get the same or better service than from other hearing aid providers. A real plus for people living many miles from the nearest Costco warehous is their ability to adjust your Philips 9050 hearing aids remotely without your having to travel to the warehouse. Ask them about that valuable, free service if it would be helpful to you.
I do see I liked the Rexton’s the best because the sounded like what I hear right now, probably because they were not doing much of anything. in hindsight I am not sure if I could hear a lot more than what I normally hear. most reviews do say that they have a more natural sound. I suppose I will be able to turn up the Rextons to capture more high freq sounds that I would miss without them?
and with the Jabra’s I do feel like they may have been set up incorrectly. it seemed like all of the sounds were boosted and the high frequencies were extra boosted.
isn’t it true though that none of these hearing aids are doing anything magic, none of them have some secret technology, and any of these set up correctly will give me a 4.5 out 5 experience?
is there a costco hearing aid that is better for self programming?
is there a costco hearing aid that is better for self programming?
Not really, some have some features, other have other features. Some have better UIs than others. Some have more features than others. I prefer Phonak’s software because I think it is the one that has more tuning options but that’s my preference, not that people say it is the best.
Just remember that the Rexton are rebranded Signia models, so when you ask if there’s one better to program then the other’s..no they just are have a different way of doing the same thing in most cases, although Phonak target is quite detailed compared to say Phillips Hearsuite as an example.
hearing shopping carts from 2 isles away and hearing people talking to each other 50 feet away it was very distracting
I think that’s a normal response to one’s first . One simply hears lots of sounds that have been lost, and one’s brain hasn’t learned what’s noise and what’s desired sound. I think that’s why one needs 2 weeks or more to get used to the new HAs.
simply doesn’t know. It’s lying to you. Your ears know a lot better than AI knows.
Your fitter may know better than your ears. If the fitter is very familiar with one brand, they may do better with that brand than with another. Demant’s aids (Oticon & Philips) may be best for you from some POVs, but you didn’t like them. Maybe that’s a setup issue; maybe it’s more serious.
I don’t understand the doubling you mention. One type of audio doubling happens with hifi speakers when their bass driver is overdriven. A 40 Hz sound can be stronger and more audible at 80 and 160 Hz. Another type is a timing delay - one speaker/HA makes a sound at one time and the other sound is audible at another. Can you describe what you hear as doubling in more detail?
Texas Hill Country