Resound Omnia vs Phonak Lumity

They claim it’s the silicon and parylene coating required to make them ‘waterproof’. It does look a little bigger when they are side-by-side but all my clients say they don’t really feel the difference when it’s sitting behind the ear.

From the following ReSound white paper, it sounds like Audiogram+ is still the default fitting algorithm for the Omnia. The article mentions with the Omnia’s predecessor, the One, there were problems optimally fitting users with the NAL-NL2 algorithm (that HT’s Matthew Alsop referred to as the Gold Standard for fitting, at least for REM). So, according to the white paper, the Omnia algorithm for NAL-NL2 has been better optimized. If I eventually get to trial the Omnia vs. the Lumity, I’ll probably trial an Audiogram+ vs. an APD 2.0 fit but also hope to compare whatever’s closest to NAL-NL2 fits on both devices to be more in an apples-to-apples comparison mode. And I have liked NAL-NL2 more than Audiogram+ on the ReSound Quattros.

It also sounds like from the white paper that the Omnia offers some dynamic compression at least in attack ratios but for the most part relies on fixed attack/relaxation ratios as compared to the dynamic compression described in Phonak’s APD 2.0 whitepaper (link in post to which I am replying). It’s interesting that the Omnia paper implies that the inherent price of digital sound manipulation is some distortion and the great trick in digital hearing aids is to find the best way to minimize any distortion arising out of digital wizardry.

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(it’s the first whitepaper on the following ReSound Support page: Hearing aids ReSound - ReSound OMNIA support10)

Edit_Update: One area where the Omnia has a leg up on the Lumity, though, is in the use of M&RIE receivers. That’s supposed to add a directionality and depth and naturalness to sound that you can otherwise only get with in-the-ear devices that use your own pinna vs. RIC devices employing the average artificial pinna effect. With the severity of my high-frequency loss, I’m not sure I can trial an M&RIE receiver with just a double dome vs. having to pay a bundle for custom molds to stave off feedback issues but if it were a close call between the Omnia and the Lumity, it might be worth blowing $200 for molds just to give M&RIE receivers a shot. ReSound in their technology features for the Omnia have M&RIE as numero uno in the list although ReSound is relatively mum about M&RIE for the Omnia elsewhere in PR materials, perhaps because the useability of M&RIE receivers is very hearing loss dependent.

@Louie said:

They claim it’s the silicon and parylene coating required to make them ‘waterproof’.

Is this on the Paradise Life as well?

If not, I wonder if the waterproofing is much better?

Yes, all Life models have the silicon and parylene coating. The Life in the picture I posted is actually a Paradise (not Lumity), but the Lumity Life is virtually identical in size and shape.

I actually don’t detect any discomfort, crowding or issues with the size of the Lumity Life aid - and it’s noticeably bigger than my older Marvels.

Both aids are a snafu if I wear a face mask with elastic straps that go behind-the-ear. Annoying as HECK.

I seem to get more hair rustle with the Lumity aids, but that could be the larger size rubbing into my own sparse hair.

And maybe the chip in the Life aids is bigger? They DO seem to make a noticeable difference in terms of speech clarity. And the AutoSense seems to work better than the Marvels, too. So maybe there is a larger chipset inside?

@Louie said:

all my clients say they don’t really feel the difference when it’s sitting behind the ear.

Add one more: no issues at all in terms of comfort.

@1Bluejay said:

I actually don’t detect any discomfort, crowding or issues with the size of the Lumity Life aid - and it’s noticeably bigger than my older Marvels.

Do you wear glasses or sunglasses. I find that bigger BTE’s means you have to find glasses that have very thin temples (things that rest on your ears). Otherwise, your ears get sore and you suffer from noises as the temples rub on the hearing aids. Also annoying when you wear a wool cap in the winter.

Jordan

I’m new here and reading this in-depth comparison of hearing aids is so great. Haven’t seen that on other forums. Thanks for writing it.

My question: doesn’t your brain need time to adjust to new hearing aids? And if so, how do you factor that into your review? My audiologist tells me to allow time for this in trying new HAs, and I’ve wondered if the difficulties I’ve recently experienced with new HAs were from my adjustment or from their functionality. (Answer: it later became apparent that it was the HAs—but it took about 4 weeks to settle it.)

Last comment: I’m surprised your audiologist has been supportive of your interest in comparing across brands. I’ve never (in 20+ years, recently started on 5th pair of HAs) found any audiologist who encouraged that enterprise. I’ve had to get really assertive over the years. My understanding is that selling is an important component of their job, and anything that focuses their time and attention outside of the actual sale is a burden for them. That is rooted in how HA distribution and sales have been structured in the US health care system. Am I right? So how did you identify a willing & supportive audiologist? —Nancy

Hi @neroth8! Thanks for your comments.

You question about adjusting to new hearing aids is really interesting because after owning 6+ sets of hearing aids in 22+ years, you typically need to take time to adjust. Here is the strange thing. I was always a long term Phonak customer until I switched from my Audeo Q90’s to Resound (Linx3D) about 5 years ago. I didn’t make the switch because I could hear better with Linx3D. I made the switch because of their iPhone MFi integration. At that time, it took awhile to get used to the Linx3D’s but after many adjustments, I learned to live with it…even thought it felt that I gave up a tiny bit on speech understanding in noise. After the Linx3D’s broke for the 4th time (2 years ago), my audiologist got Resound to upgrade me to the Quattro 9’s for no charge. This time I experienced no adjustment with the transition to the Quattro 9’s. The only thing I noticed is that hearing was slightly improved. A few weeks back I started testing the Phonak Lumity’s and once again, I didn’t experience any adjustment period. The big difference between Quattro and Lumity is that I was suddenly hearing much better. Everything was much crisper, speech in loud noise was significantly better and most importantly, the environmental noises around me (inside the house, outside walking around, etc) absolutely popped open around me. Huge difference. In quiet environments, very similar. In more lively environments, huge difference. But…no transition at all. Totally difference hearing aids with totally different performance…but no transition. More of an excitement to be hearing all this new stuff. I then started testing the Resound Omnia and…the whole world sounded dull again. I actually haven’t been wearing Omnia too much because I’m now having issues transitioning back to the old, slightly dull sound world that I experience with Quattro and Omnia. It could just be (as others have stated) that the Quattro’s and Omnia were adjusted with a totally difference first fit algorithm that is essentially dull, but my brain must have gotten used to the much more lively world of Lumity and it doesn’t want to go back.

As far as you other question goes, I’ve been with my audiologist for 20+ years and we have a really good trusted relationship. He knows I will buy if the new hearing aids being tested provide good incremental benefit so he is eager to let me be the guinea pig for new stuff coming out so that he can use the info I provide to help fit other patients. I’m also younger than many of his patients (I’m 59) and I have a busy personal and professional life (IT Exec) so he knows he will get lots of good information from me and I don’t waste his time. He gives me as much time as I want to test and has no issue with me testing 3-4 different brands/models before I make a final decision. Thing is…as an experienced (and fussy) hearing aid user that uses all the bells and whistles, you know fairly quickly if the hearing aids are helping or driving you nuts. I can tell right now Lumity is better for me than Omnia and I’ve only be playing around with both for a few weeks.

Only downside I’m finding with Lumity right now is that the rechargeable battery life is less than Omnia (Lumity = 18-20 hours with streaming, Omnia is closer to 30 hours with streaming) and the myPhonak app is still a bit buggy. Funny enough, Lumity’s bluetooth streaming is more stable than Omnia’s MFi. With Lumity, I rarely have one or both ears cut out while streaming. Omnia seems to be ok direct to iPhone but as soon as you connect to a device via the Resound Phone Clip+, it is less reliable and it sometimes cuts out. I would also prefer to have a battery in the charger case with my Lumity L90-RT’s. I know I can go with the Lumity Life to get that feature but I’m not sure I want the larger sized hearing aids.

The other hearing aids I am thinking of testing are one of the new bluetooth ITC’s that have just come out. I like the form factor of the new rechargeable Custom by Resound ITC’s (they look like Jabra ear buds) but I’m so spoiled by the Lumity’s rich sound environment, that I’m not sure they will work for me. I’m also thinking the full occlusion with the custom ITC’s will drive me bonkers. Maybe a better thing to try next is to get my audiologist to swap the standard receivers on the Lumity’s for the Activent receivers. This will give me the advantages of both an open and closed fit hearing aids.

I will keep you all posted and share my observations as the testing continues.

Jordan

If full occlusion will drive you bonkers (ITC) then activevent may not be for you either. You’ll be occluded when on the phone, streaming, speech in loud noise, etc.

I’ve learned to be accustomed to the occlusion for talking on the phone. Streaming has not been a problem for me. I’m not certain I really like the speech in loud noise. But I go to the Roger on pretty quickly.

WH

Thanks much. I am turning my Omnia 9 back tomorrow and trying Starkey’s newest. Omnia was problematic from the start. Connecting to my iPhone 12 initially took 3 attempts. With my hearing recruitment I was not happy with the Marie receiver so changed to the Resound standard receiver. Initially would not connect with the native PC software. The audiologist spent 20 minutes on the phone with Resound and we connected but after hang up we lost the connection and we’re never able to complete the programming. An upgrade to IOS blew out partial support for the Apple Watch which has still not been fixed. Lumity was not available at the time so I will be trying Starkey Evolve AI. Hoping for success.

@rickus50 said:

Omnia was problematic from the start. Connecting to my iPhone 12 initially took 3 attempts

Wow, the firmware is so buggy, ugh WTF, resound, you think they would release something that wasn’t buggy. This is the first time I have a buggy brand new hearing aid in my 30 years of wearing them…

Hey Jordan. Activent receivers would be pointless and expensive for you. They are designed for people who have normal or mild hearing loss in the low frequencies, and would therefore be fit with an open dome. If your activent opened up, you’d lose all the low-end amplification that you require. Activents need to be changed every 6 months and they are $$$.

@Louie said:

Activents need to be changed every 6 months and they are $$$.

Thanks for that advice, Louie. Since I have decent low-frequency hearing and have been wearing occlusive molds to keep out noise and boost bass when streaming, I had idly been wondering if I’d want to get Activent receivers if I decided to go with Phonak for my next set of HA’s. Your comment convinced me that I should stick with occlusive molds (~1 mm vent). I don’t fancy buying a new set of Activents ~every six months! ($$$).

I like such molds because I think they also help improve the clarity of my speech understanding a bit, too, as well as addressing the previous issues I mentioned. My main hang-up is that I’ve wondered if I’m increasing the chances of an ear infection by helping to keep the humidity within my ear canals very high. Thanks for any advice you might have about that concern and if it’s a real risk, the best ways of minimizing such a risk.