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Signia Ax (or recent models)--impressions?

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I’m trialing a pair of Signia Ax 7"s (pricey!) and wonder if people have impressions about this brand. I like the sound quality quite a bit–but I’ve only had one other set of aids, a cheapish Phonak Naida which I’ve liked. The Signias are much more powerful, with a deep bass.

My use is for playing classical guitar–not for speech. I have a implant that handles speech well–but not my classical guitar.
The bluetooth app sucks horribly, but there’s a perfectly good work around my audi showed me.

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@jeffrey said:

wonder if people have impressions about this brand.

Signia is just as good as any other from the big 5 manufacturers, if you use the search button from right here on hearingtracker plus Google, you’ll see plenty of people like them.

@jeffrey said:

The bluetooth app sucks horribly

I don’t mind the App myself, seems to do most things I want, maybe just one thing it could do with is a sound equaliser, say 3 or 4 bands for adjustments on the fly.

@jeffrey said:

there’s a perfectly good work around my audi showed me.

What was it?

@jeffrey said:

My use is for playing classical guitar–not for speech

Again if you use the search button you’ll come up with quite a few hits on what people have chosen for their respective musical choice, remember everyone’s hearing is different and you’ll need to trial yourself to see what works best for you.

Things like power and deep bass would typically have more to do with the kind of dome/mold one has and how the aid is adjusted rather than the specific hearing aid. Also the power of the receiver chosen.
If price is a big issue, Costco sells a very similar aid made by Rexton for about $2,000.

Thanks for all the replies; keep them coming! MDB, I have a big decision ahead. I was fitted with a custom mold on my right, bad ear, for my Phonak Naids; I’m using a regular dome for that ear during this trial period. it seems to work well. I wonder if a custom mold will be better still, or…?

I’m a big wax producer. My aids need cleaning often. And yes I change and clean assiduously on my own. The hearing center that I go to is open six days a week, is ten minutes away, and I can always just get a cleaning at the front desk within minutes. Moreover, they know my hearing needs. I can get an appt. with an audiologist in very good time. With Costco, all of this is hugely problematic. So I pay more up front for excellent service over the years. This hearing center will be able to quickly help dial in any new ’s.

My audi at the hearing aid center jsut called and they’re going to work with me on the price. I love those guys!

@jeffrey said:

I’m a big wax producer. My aids need cleaning often. And yes I change wax guards and clean assiduously on my own.

aids would be best for you. Much easier to maintain if you have wax issues.

In reply to @tenkan

the fix is to
–go to the settings on the signia app and turn off bluetooth
–turn on the other option for connecting an iphone to your hearing aids–I forget what it’s called but it’s just above the bluetooth option. This establishes a dependable, constant connection

In reply to @jeffrey

I mentoned Costco only because you mentioned the aid was “pricey.” If you’ve got somebody you like, by all means stick with them. Molds vs Domes. There are multiple threads on this. Your would provide some useful info (Forum at top of page, then My Hearing Tests) Basically you want enough of a seal to retain low frequency sounds and since they’re for music, give you good bass. Custom molds can definitely do this, but a double dome could also give you excellent bass. Since you’re just using them for classical guitar playing, I don’t think occlusion would be an issue. If these are only for music, I’d think the l lowest level (3 model vs 7) would do fine and save some money. More “advanced” models deal with speech in noise better. Actually just for playing classical guitar, I’d think you’d do better with a good microphone and headphones and skip the hearing aids.

Thanks, MDB! Re: headphones. I have a implant–bone conduction hearing aid (the Osia). I think headphones are out for this because of how it’s placed. I use the aids in conjunction with the Osia for playing music. Yes, I don’t want to pay for features that I don’t need. The Signia ax7 and 5 have a musician’s program, as well as two other music programs for live and recorded music. The Ax 3 does not have a musician’s program, and that program makes a difference. Apparently they do something with the microphone that allows more sound in, as well as turning off features like condensation for speech etc. The mic adjustment can’t be programmed by an audi in office–in fact they may not allow simple programming for a music program by an audi at all, in order to make you buy the more expensive model. But the 5 is less expensive and worth it for the program.
Anyway I’ll trial the 5’s next week and compare them to the 7’s. I hooe the sound qyuality is the same! TThese aidss are definitely better than my Phonak Naids, which COULD be programmed by an audi in office for music. The Naids are very old tho and far less powerful.

Edited

Count me as skeptical. I did some looking at Rexton’s sort of comparable aid in the programming software. It had a music program, but only had one option. The one option had the microphones set to omnidirectional (same as they were in fancier version when set to playing an instrument) All the noise reduction is set to off. That should be easy to accomplish. From reading various stuff on programming hearing aids for music on this forum, it’s not that tough. Basically turn everything off and program them to be linear.

Oh and if you can’t wear headphones, how about a good set of earbuds or even custom in ear monitors?

I frequent a Musicians with hearing loss forum as well as a classical guitar forum where some very good player have ’s. This topic of headphones etc, has come up a lot. It jsut doesn’t seem to work, for a variety of reasons.

They wear hearing aids just for guitar playing or they need them for understanding speech? From our forum the more common thing to hear is complaints about the sound quality of hearing aids and how much better music sounds with their earbuds.

In reply to @jeffrey

@jeffrey said:

The mic adjustment can’t be programmed by an audi in office–in fact they may not allow simple programming for a music program by an audi at all

Not sure what you mean by mic adjustments, but the music program can indeed be adjusted to suit your requirements.

@jeffrey said:

Phonak Naids, which COULD be programmed by an audi in office for music.

Just about any can be programmed and adjusted for music, whether you like it or not is the thing, this is why a lot of people go the way, because they simply can’t get the audiologist to “hear” what they can, if this is really the most important thing for you, use the search button from right here on hearingtracker and you’ll find plenty of posts about getting HAs set up for music.

I had a trial with the Signia 7AX and liked them a lot. Better than the Oticon More I tried and very close to the Phonak Paradise. I liked the ability to adjust the Phonak more and it’s Better connectivity, but with you having such good Audi support, the AX is likely the better choice. The AX sound quality was a little better. My priority is hearing soft voices and speech in noise, where Paradise had an edge.

Edited

Thanks Lawyer! that’s also what I like about the Signia Ax, the good sound quality. And clarity. But I’ve only ever had one other inexpensive that’s now easily fifteen years old, so I don/'t have a way to compare to more modern, more expensive aids.

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