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Phonak Q90 car noise mystery and inexperienced audiologist

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Hi All. This is my first post, but I have been gleaning info from the forum for a while now, so thanks to all posters.

I hope someone can come up with an answer to my problem, which is as follows:

I am trying out Phonak Q90 SP aids, having been fitted with Unitron UPs for about 18 months and Phonaks before that. I wanted to have the latest tech available. My audiologist is in private practice but I don’t think he has much experience with someone of my hearing loss. In the past I have been an NHS patient so this is new territory for both of us.

My first impression when I put these aids in was a cotton wool feeling, very muted sounds compared to what I had been used to. Audi said that was what the Phonak software said was right for me, so off I went. Getting in the car and starting the engine was like an earthquake. Far far louder than I have ever experienced. I have since got used to it though. Then I had problems with the volume suddenly diminishing for no reason whilst walking outside, - everything would sound even more cotton wooly, and then slowly come back. He adjusted the windblock setting and that seems to have cured it, though the wind is now louder!

I could not hear high frequencies, like the microwave beep, so the next adjustment was increasing the SoundRecover, and that has helped enormously, though the car noise is even louder.

After this last consultation, by chance I was listening to music on my iPad using a neck loop whilst in the car and realised that the car noise was very much reduced, almost inaudible. The program I was using at the time was Tcoil and mic. Having swapped between this program and the SoundFlow (auto) program several times now, there is a definite difference between the two when it comes to car noise. I don’t understand why the noise is reduced on the Tcoil and mic program, but not on the auto program.

Using my headphones is a nightmare, there is so much feedback. He managed to improve it, then must have done something at the last consultation to wipe that out because I couldn’t use them afterwards.

I have downloaded the Target software so that I can see what adjustments can be made where, but I am at a loss to see how the Tcoil and mic program can be so different from the Auto program to affect car noise in this way.

Does anyone one have any experience of this? I feel I am taking one step forward and two back at the moment.

Thanks for any replies.

P.S. The noise is mainly from road noise rather than the engine, but engine is still louder than I have been used to.

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Q90 is no longer their SOTA product. It was superseded by the V90 which has newer, bigger processor and better battery life. You might also look at Resound and Starkey who have direct connection to iPhones.

@40yearuser said:

…I hope someone can come up with an answer to my problem, which is as follows: …

I don’t think I have an answer, but perhaps a clue or two. Although my hearing loss is less severe than yours, I have a vaguely similar problem with my new V90s as described in another thread3.

I am trying out Phonak Q90 SP aids, having been fitted with Unitron UPs for about 18 months and Phonaks before that. I wanted to have the latest tech available. My audiologist is in private practice but I don’t think he has much experience with someone of my hearing loss. In the past I have been an NHS patient so this is new territory for both of us.

The V (“Venture”) series is current, being one step later than the Q (“Quest”) series. My guess is that the difference is not relevant.

My first impression when I put these aids in was a cotton wool feeling, very muted sounds compared to what I had been used to. Audi said that was what the Phonak software said was right for me, so off I went. Getting in the car and starting the engine was like an earthquake. Far far louder than I have ever experienced. I have since got used to it though. Then I had problems with the volume suddenly diminishing for no reason whilst walking outside, - everything would sound even more cotton wooly, and then slowly come back. He adjusted the windblock setting and that seems to have cured it, though the wind is now louder!

…I have downloaded the Target software so that I can see what adjustments can be made where …

You might take a look in the Target software in Fitting::Fine Tuning; in the list of Automatic Programs on the left, mouse over the first, AutoSense OS, and click on the down arrow that appears to get the AutoSense OS drop-down menu; choose the first item in that menu, Open program options. The Blending option controls how fast programs will automatically change depending on the software’s analysis of current conditions, ranging from Very Slow (35 sec.) to Very Fast (10 sec.). Also available is a checkbox to select whether Speech in Loud Noise is enabled as one of the automatic programs used by AutoSense OS and if so the level of noise that will activate it. (The default is checked, i.e., enabled.) Speech in Loud Noise is the current marketing name for what used to be called autoStereoZoom, a program that focuses a directional listening “beam” towards the front, using the HAs multiple microphones.

NB I am using Target 4.1 with V90-312 instruments selected.

In reply to @KenP

Unless someone knows better, the V90 doesn’t yet cover my hearing loss. The SP model is just short, it doesn’t have the same coverage as the Q90. I am using the Naida model, and Venture platform is not available for this yet. Bolero is not strong enough.

In reply to @brec

Thanks for reply brec, I have just looked at the software. I am assuming that my Audi has changed very little and the defaults are still intact. The loss of volume has been cured by decreasing the Windblock setting, so it seems the aids were detecting wind or thought they were ( this would happen whilst walking beside a small stream through woods) and cutting down volume?

My my main query is the peculiarity with the Tcoil and mic setting which seems to reduce car road noise dramatically whereas the Auto program doesn’t.

@40yearuser said:

… My my main query is the peculiarity with the Tcoil and mic setting which seems to reduce car road noise dramatically whereas the Auto program doesn’t.

Mine don’t have but as I noted elsewhere, for me Speech in Loud Noise configured as an additional button-activated program greatly reduces road noise whereas AutoSense doesn’t.

@Brad109 said:

This is only a guess…some aids when using T-Coil and Mic will reduce the mic level by 6 db or so. That would definitely reduce the road noise.

I’m not sure how 6db translates into manual volume increase on the volume button, but I have turned the volume up by three or four pips and the road noise is still very quiet, and my own voice sounds normal. Phonak did suggest that the Noise Reduction could be altered to help with the problem. It just seems so weird that the Auto program doesn’t deal with it. Seeing Audi soon so will try different things.

Thanks for you input everyone.

It may be a level adjustment. When I am in the car, after about 20-30 seconds at speeds above 35 mph, I can hear the aid adjusting and it reduces the background road noise significantly.If I stay below 35 mph, the road noise is very noticeable.

The car noise is mostly low frequency. Probably the Tcoil setting doesn’t amplify the low frequencies (like 250hz) since it is meant to be used with a phone.

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above might help

cotton sound is occlusion. did the vent size on your aids change?

make sure the audi has the right earmold and vent size (measure it via a ruler in millimeters yourself).

IMO for you lost I would have trial widex aids with audibility extender. if your audi fits that brand then you should try to compare.

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