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Resound Vivia 9 problem

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I have been wearing Philips 9040s for the last few years

About two months ago I had wax removed & during the procedure the hearing in my left ear was damaged to the extent that I went from nearly normal hearing in that ear to being nearly deaf. I have had the Philips reset to compensate and they work pretty well. Having had them for a little over two years, I decided to upgrade to Vivia 9s which I had fitted today.

On paper these units appear to be very good. However, although the audiologist used rem to set them up, I find their sound to be very scratchy /sharp. I love the fact that they are so small & therefore comfortable, the app is also very comprehensive..

I am very disappointed because I would really like to keep them, but, to me, the discordant sound they produce precludes me from doing so and I shall have to return them. I find that the sound from the 9040s is so much smoother and more natural.

I would appreciate your comments.

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Why not try the Philips 9050 hearing aids from Costco? They’re basically Costco-branded by Oticon, and I’ve read they are quite a step up from the 9040 model.

@user963 said:

About two months ago I had wax removed & during the procedure the hearing in my left ear was damaged to the extent that I went from nearly normal hearing in that ear to being nearly deaf.

Sorry about your loss of hearing, did you have micro suction? They say it is safer than syringing. It may well be in the right hands, but too many are jumping on the band wagon.

The hearing aids probably just need to be fine tuned. Too often, the setting that the manufacture says to set the hearing aids to needs additional adjustments.

I would find out how long you can keep the hearing aid and so be in the return period, and have the audiologist fine tune the hearing aids to see if it can be fixed.

Note take Costco sells the Jabra 30 which folks say is exactly the same thing as the Vivia 9 for a much lower cost. Costco gives you a 180 day money back return period to see if they can fine tune your hearing aids to your liking.

Sorry about your hearing loss.

My wife and I both have the Jabra Enhance Pro 30s from Costco which are reported to be the same as Vivia 9 hearing aids under the Jabra brand.

We both found them harsh at first. My wife new to hearing aids and me coming from other hearing aids, but I think it was more a case of our brains taking time to adjust to being able to hear things we couldn’t hear before. After a few weeks everything seemed to sound more normal (albeit we are of course hearing things we couldn’t previously hear).

As others have said what is you trial period?

It may be they will sound OK when you are used to them, or maybe the fit is not correct. A good trial period will let you find out. As @user990 said Costco has a 6 month trial.

At Costco you could also try the Jabra Enhance Pro 30s (Vivia 9) and the Philips 9050 (Oticon Intent). Likewise if you are comfortable with your audiologist and they have a decent trial period you could try the Vivia 9 and the Oticon Intent.

Yesterday evening (4 months after getting the Jabras) I was amazed how (really) loud the crickets were outside our house with our windows open on a warm fall evening. I tried my old hearing aids and they were much quieter…

I went from the Oticon OPN 1 to Jabra Enhance Pro 10 (rebadged Resound), My experience aligns with yours. I gave them a good try but never found their sound comfortable and moved on to the Philips. My fitter thinks that I’d gotten used to the Oticon sound and that the Philips were close to that sound. It might be something you get used to. You’ve got 6 months to test it if you can last that long. It’s a pity because on paper there’s a lot to like about the latest Resound/Jabra.

Call the audiologist and make an appointment for some changes to settings, unless the audi wants to try and adjust something remotely now. It is very common to feel like the initial settings are off. Hearing aid settings commonly need a fair amount of tinkering when the aids are new. As stated above that’s partly because your brain needs some time to readjust to the new device and settings. It’s also quite possible that you do need different settings. Eyeglasses are plug ‘n’ play; hearing aids are definitely not. The audi may want you to wait one or two weeks past the initial fitting and let things settle in before you come back. Try to stick it out. Just keep an eye on the deadline to return the aids for a refund and don’t let that pass unless you’re satisfied. There’s no extension to return them past this deadline, unless it’s in writing from the audiologist.

I started my hearing aid journey at Costco in December 2024 and was fitted with the Jabra E/P 20s. When the Jabra E/P 30s came out, in May, I returned the 20s, since I was still in the 180 day return period. I found that the 20s sounded harsh, but I find the 30s sound very normal. Most of my hearing loss is high frequencies due to noise exposure in the 1970s. So far I find the Jabra E/P 30s not only sound more natural, but their noise canceling ability is excellent. The only downside side is that if you select the Hearing in Noise function in the app, and forget to switch back to All Around mode, the batteries will run down in less than 24 hours. The , Dynamic Noise uses a lot of electrical power. Unfortunately, GN’s app makes little sense and is confusing.

Yes they used micro suction to do the damage. I have been trialing the Vivia 9s for a week now and find that I have become more accustomed to their sound, although in certain instances it is still a little sharp compared to my 9040s. Although the 9040s are not particularly large I did suffer occasional ear ache where they sat behind my ears and I find that because the Vivias are so small, they are very comfortable, no pain. This is a positive.

Looking at tests on Hearadvisor, surprisingly, it would appear that the Vivias are not very good at speech in noise, despite having and a separate chip to handle it. To date I have not had the opportunity of trying them under those sort of circumstances for myself and would appreciate it if any of the cognoscenti, of which there are many on this site, who may have real world experience with these aids could advise how they performed under real world circumstances, the results of which could be very different to those obtained in the laboratory, or not.

I still have another few weeks to continue trying them before making a decision and look forward to more of your very informed comments, for which I thank you in advance..

My wife has the Vivia 9 hearing aids, and she loves them! The small size of the bodies means that her ears don’t stick out while wearing them, and she finds their performance, for example in a noisy restaurant on a Sunday during a busy lunchtime, to be wonderful.
Perhaps your perception of “sharpness” of sound will continue to improve? I am curious to see how this turns out.

In reply to @user963

I have Enhance Pro 30’s from Costco. I’ve worn instruments for 35 years, and this is my fourth set from Costco. Your problem is a programming problem that your fitter can remedy. Mine were tinny to the point that they sounded like an old transistor radio with virtually no base. If your fitter enabled the music setting on your aids try going into the app and and in any program open the sound enhancer. Try increasing the bass and turning down the treble, or any other combination that works for you. You can save it to the app and have your fitter use that setting if you like. I had my fitter to turn the bass all the way up leaving the treble and mid-range in the default setting.

Check with your audiologist to see if the scratchiness could be adjusted. I have been very satisfied with my Vivia 9s for about four months now.

After having tried these aids and having become accustomed to their sound and their small size, which I find very comfortable, it is my intention to keep them. There is one problem remaining and that is a clicking noise during speech etc. whilst using the m&rie earpieces. I haven’t noticed this with the standard earpieces. The audiologist has tried numerous ways to remedy this problem but unsuccessfully.

I would like to retain the m&rie units because, to my hearing they sound better than the standard. I am sure that others must have experienced this problem & wonder if perhaps someone has been able to overcome it. If so I would really appreciate advice which I can get the audiologist to try.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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