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KS10 and Phonak Active Vent

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I know this has been asked before, but I never saw a definitive answer. Does anybdody know if the KS10 will work with the Phonak Active Vent receivers. Recently learned that they only work with the rechargeable versiions of the Phonak Paradise. For those that are interested, here’s candidacy information including recommended fitting range: https://www.phonakpro.com/content/dam/phonakpro/gc_hq/en/products_solutions/hearing_aid/active_vent/PH_Candidacy_editable_form_ActiveVent_Receiver_EN_V1.00_027-0642_02.pdf73

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I’ll hazard a guess that if you’re bothered by your tinnitus that you might not like the sound of the vent opening and closing. (but it’s just a guess)

I’ve asked to be fitted with them, but my audiologist says they may not be on the contract until spring. She also noted we’d have to check to see if they were appropriate for me. Except for the tinnitus, I don’t see a problem on the fitting checklist sheet.

WH

Does any one know if this will work with Costco KS-10:

Phonak ActiveVent™ Receiver: The World’s First Intelligent Hearing Aid Receiver

Paradise opens the next chapter with the ActiveVent Receiver10. It is the world’s first intelligent hearing aid speaker, designed for challenging listening environments or for moments of focus. It is controlled by AutoSense OS™ 4.0 which automatically adjusts your hearing aids to suit the environment.

I wonder what the business is with not being able to receive notifications from the phone - whether a streaming channel is taking up for active communication with the phone app in the Active Vent process or whether the processors are just so busy computing whether to open or close the vents that they don’t have time to deal with phone notifications. The blurb doesn’t say anything about streaming in general but it would be interesting to know in more detail what’s going on with sound processing in Active Vent. Maybe there’s a Phonak white paper on the subject?

I think they don’t want a lot of unnecessary clicking as messages and whatever arrive.

WH

I’m so glad you posted that link.

I want my Phonak ’s to work better than they are now.

I would say he will not support.

Because it came later this option, Phonak is neither obligated to support what it did not contract with its business partner (Costco). Phonak with ActiveVent gives the advantage to its hearing aids that they sell more than Costco hearing aids.
If Costco wants that support, he has to sign some kind of contract with Phonac and pay Phonak, I don’t think that’s going to happen because it’s an unnecessary expense for Costco.

First of all, I think support will come in the form of KS11 if Costco wants it on their hearing aids.

Has anyone gotten these receivers? I can’t tolerate the clicking and would like to hear from someone who can.

The hearing aids need to be updated before they were work with the ActiveVents. I don’t know that Phonak has released that update to Costco. Additionally. . . it’s a bit of a specialty device and Coscto has not had a habit of getting into those sorts of things.

I too would doubt if Costco would ever carry these. They don’t even carry the titanium molds. I’d guess best case scenario would be for the aids to get the firmware update that gives compatibility with Active-Vent and then buy the receivers from somewhere else besides Costco.

I’m guessing titanium molds are more expensive than acrylic or silicone. Can you tell me comparative pricing at your clinic per mold? Thanks.

Edited

Basic pricing? Actually no, the difference isn’t THAT big. A little bit more expensive, as are the receivers. I think the difference might be in special contracts. For example, depending on the relationship with the manufacturer a clinic might be offered acrylic custom tips at no charge with hearing aid purchase which they may pass on to the user, and that deal might not be available for the titanium tip which would therefore make it more expensive for the end user.

The other biggest difference will perhaps be that the ActiveVent receivers are not covered by the hearing aid warranty. They have their own 6m warranty, but then the user would be looking at paying to replace them if there’s a malfunction.

So I’ll throw out some numbers in US dollars. Costco provides “free” receivers for the 3 year warranty of the hearing aid and their silicone or acrylic molds are $40 apiece. Looking online, Active-vent receivers are in the $80-$100 apiece range. I’m making a wild stab at titanium mold pricing from a clinic at $100 apiece as that seems to be going rate for most molds. It would cost a Costco member with KS10 about $400 to try out Active-Vent (assuming the firmware was compatible) on a pair of aids that cost $1400. Doubt very many people would do that, which doesn’t give Phonak much motivation to update the firmware.

Doesn’t the Active Vent feature need one or two more electrical connections between the aid itself and the receiver, which the KS10.0T aids wouldn’t have?

Active Vent receivers are compatible with all rechargeable Phonak Audéo Paradise hearing aids.
Since the KS10 are more or less identical, they should also work there. Provided they can be activated in Target.

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