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Phonak L90 vs P90 - is there a big difference?

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@Don said:

Maybe do a price check somewhere else, or online with Ziphearing.com and see what the real price difference is

Thanks Don

$4798/pair

My audio can get me $4300 with a discount.

I called Elite Hearing Center and they were $4900

I’m going to see if my audio will let me try both. The problem is, she doesn’t carry them in stock, she likes Oticon. But she can get them if I want.

Bob

In reply to @raylock1

@raylock1 said:

Not to complicate the question any more than it is, you might want to consider the L70 instead of the L90 and save about $1,000 on a pair. As I understand it, there is not much difference except that program changes have to be made manually on the L70.

Thanks. It put me on the hunt and after clicking quite a few pages on the Phonak site (it’s not easy for me to find what I want there) I got this?

According to the Phonak page, the L90 has these features the L70 does not: Features - Phonak Audéo Lumity hearing aids | Phonak14

  • Comfort in Echo

  • Speech in car

  • Speech in loud noise

  • Speech sensor

  • Speech Enhancer

  • Echo block

Sounds impressive, but are they what they sound like? And how good are they?

Bob

Off topic, but It can’t hurt you to try Costco. The $4000 hearing aids I bought were $1350 there. Luckily I found out before the last day to return them. I returned them, recouped my insurance benefit and got the exact same from Costco. The difference is in the business model. Private Audis include service in the purchase price. Costco service is free.

No Costco stores around here. Nearest is 50 miles away in traffic, or about an hour and a half each way.

Thanks anyway.

In reply to @JordanK

@JordanK said:

This not only includes rapidly (and seamlessly) changing programs in the automatic (Autosense 5.0) mode, but these hearing aids seem to have a very unique (software) ability to rapidly detect and zoom in on conversations and sounds that are coming from completely different directions. Good example would be when you are driving in a car and the person sitting beside or behind you starts talking. Lumity immediately detects the conversation and almost instantly zooms to the speaker.

Hi @JordanK in the Phonak app , on the home page does yours say ‘automatic’ or auto sense? I was just to my & he did put the sound in soft voices up to highest point. Default was mid way. Now I’ve been telling him that I cannot hear my husband maybe 6 feet away and maybe turned slightly away from me, forever. He said , I was expecting too much from my . I’m not buying that. He did change the speed of programs changing in theAutomatic/Autosense, so we will see. I think changing the soft sound speech (can’t think of the sun program name& I think that’s helping. It’s just been a couple of hours. You have been my inspiration & teacher to keep asking him about things & I Thank Yiu. It like pulling teeth, as he would not have gone into the sub programs had I not mentioned about something you said. It frustrating to me.

Yes.
Marvel - Autosense 3
Paradise - Autosense 4
Lumity - Autosense 5

In reply to @Sequoia_Woman

@Sequoia_Woman

"Now I’ve been telling him that I cannot hear my husband maybe 6 feet away and maybe turned slightly away from me, forever. He said , I was expecting too much from my . I’m not buying that. "

Almost 2 years ago I got my new Paradise P90 hearing aids. I had the same experience you described for the full 2 years.

I would describe a situatation where I couldn’t hear…and get the same explanation as you did. I’d carry that explanation home, and hear, “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” I’d repeat the explanation to my wife, and ==now I know she was right.

I’ve changed practitioners to “Hearing Well Matters” in Burlington Ontario. They have an amazing website. They have 2 videos. One has a male reporter talking, and asking questions. His Father is hard of hearing. He knew what to ask. The other one has a female reporter who didn’t ask these questions. I swear, I almost cried “tears of joy” when I saw the male reporters video. Channel CHCH in Hamilton Ontario. Every one of the difficulties was evidence a person needed hearing aids, and was hard of hearing. In my case I needed a proper setup and was trying to get that done

I’m describing my experience in hopes that it helps you. I hope you get your hearing aids setup so they work.

I am convinced that the Phonak L90 is the hearing aid I would want if I was getting hearing aids now. But I’m so grateful that my P90’s are setup better than my dispensing audiologist was able to do.

PM me if you wish

Edited

@DaveL Thank you. I’ll checkout their webpage. I had P90s and they were ere good. New L90s and new Audi. I have wont go into why I got a new Audi right now but needed to change. I updated to Lumity looking for better speech understanding. I’m sure it the set up, but this is the worst. I’ll keep working. Thank you for your input. My Audi has really messed up little things that makes me think he is guessing at setting up. He did tell me that I was expecting too much from my HAs, to hear my husband 6-8 feet away speaking to me with his head slightly turned. I said I didn’t think so. This has been at this for 40 yrs. :flushed:This last visit he increased the ‘speech in soft sounds’ under Automatic to highest level. I think this is an improvement, but Why did he Not do this before. When he clicked on Automatic and saw the sub programs, it was like he didn’t k ie they were there. I’m going to keep working at it and learning from good folks like you. Thank you @DaveL

Don’t know how many times I heard, “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

And then when my hearing aids were finally set up so I could hear, “Took you long enough.”

Hard of hearing affects those around us as much as ourselves. Maybe more.

DaveL

In reply to @Sequoia_Woman

@Sequoia_Woman

My situation is slightly different. I had UK funded Marvel M70’s which worked ok, but I knew they were a better hearing aid than the results I was getting. I got a Roger On and a TV Connector. The TV Connector is simply excellent… I’ve bought another since. However, even on minimum, hearing my wife is difficult, I generally have to pause the TV. After a few visits to Audiology at the hospital, I realised fine tuning wasn’t a priority for them, and that (via this forum), I know more about fine tuning in the Target software than they do. Another issue is, you rarely get the same Audiologist, so you have to start from the beginning each time.

Anyway, I decided enough was enough, and went to a local private audiologist, and bought Paradise P90. The comparison is like night and day, but not because of the aids, but becausec of the audiologist. I went to a pub on my return after the fitting, on a pretty quiet afternoon, with about 10 people in, all talking in ones and twos. I could hear all of them, with at least one facing away from me. Not 100%, but I didn’t feel excluded.

In the target software, there’s a setting that sets the mix for streamers like the TV Connector or Roger. It goes from -6dB to +6dB. I’m not 100% sure yet, but this may help you hear your partner better. I shall be experimenting with it. You can also set different base programs for the mics while streaming, that might be clearer?

Another thing I noticed from the fitting regarded the soft sounds. He tried to increase them too, but mainly in the upper frequences with also compressing the louder ones. He fiddled for ages with this. He also said Phonak make it very difficult, as the feedback controller will remove some volume in higher frequencies to keep it under control.

@PeterH said:

The TV Connector is simply excellent… I’ve bought another since. However, even on minimum, hearing my wife is difficult, I generally have to pause the TV.

I agree. I used to have a V2.0 and volume at lowest with my radio at lowest, I still can’t hear the person I live with. I don’t own a TV.

I find the same with the Roger. Can’t hear my house mate.

In reply to @PeterH

@PeterH
Thank you @PeterH I appreciate your information & insight. My did talk about frequency compression to help with my high frequency loss, but what happens is it makes ‘s’ sound like lisps. We didn’t do that. I had tried it previously w/ another Audi & it was awful. Upping the Soft sounds is helping but I’m thinking more fine tuning would be helpful. Time will tell.
@Zebras , I find the same thing w/ TV connector. I Double tap my Lumity to mute to speak w/ DH, but then they sometimes don’t reconnect to TV. Then have to turn off, then on! It’s not a perfect world & I’m glad to be hearing.

New audiologist/practitioner--2 year old Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R's setup
New setup. New practioner! “Hearing Well Matters!” Background: My old audiologist provided the hearing aids 2 years ago. After many tries he suggested I go to someone who could help me better. I did. We parted friendly. New practioner/2 year old hearing aids. Ontario Workman’s Compensation claim due to exposure to loud noise at work. Qualified over 10 years ago; worn HA’s for over 20 years. took previous audi’s audiogram did quick setup Wife said: Night and Day difference! What took you so…

I hope this helps. My new setup provided two reports.

  • User report
  • Pro report

I made notes in that post to show what he did. I’m hearing really well; I couldn’t hear before (for last two years) with the setup the audiologist did and many changes…regular visits

DaveL

After hours of telephone holds and conversation, I find my audi is no longer in-network with my insurance. She can get L90s for $4,300, but I’m going to try the in-network audi and see what he can do.

I think it shouldn’t be this complicated, but it is.

The reprogramming of my Oticon OPN’s helps. But I still can’t understand someone who doesn’t talk slowly and with breath support. Also, in a noisy situation, I can’t even understand my wife who takes care to help me understand.

to be continued… … …

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