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Speech in Noise and Distance

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Phonak Lumity 90 user and I will make references to AutoSense 5.0

Does anyone else have their default NoiseBlock setting for Speech in Noise and Speech in Loud Noise set very high?

One of the things I have learned about my hearing loss in the past 5 1/2 years is how challenging hearing speech is in noisy backgrounds. I’m not talking about hearing someone 15 feet away in a restaurant, but the clerk at the checkout of a retail/big box store.

My score is 12, which is considered moderate by the professionals but living with it is pretty severe. My home at its quietest is 48db, per the mobile app Decibel X. There have been public places where noise level is 60db to 65db, not high enough to transition my hearing aids from Calm Situation to Speech in Noise, and I have trouble understanding speech, not just a few words - everything is canceled out by background noise.

I want my hearing aids to perform with minimal manipulation with the my Phonak app because 1) who really wants to stand in line and adjust settings while a cashier clerk or order taker is waiting to speak with you 2) While android Samsung S23 Ultra bluetooth and my Phonak app connection is pretty good, it isn’t 100% reliable and has left me helpless on occasion, unable to adjust Noise Reduction, Speech Focus & Dynamic. Thus I have Noise Block in Phonak Target set at maximum for Comfort in Noise, Speech in Noise and Speech in Loud Noise. I have experimented with gains for each of these programs and it doesn’t really improve speech but it does increase background noise, which drives me nuts. I do own and use a Roger On microphone.

Granted each one of us has different equipment and levels of hearing loss:

  1. Do any other users have their default NoiseBlock in Target set very high?
  2. At what distance can you hear speech in a quiet environment? In a noisy environment?

Once the HAIDs are on, I think the connection to the phone doesn’t matter so that I will discard the phone situation. On the other side, “Roger On Microphone.” I am a fan of this Roger but do not own one; I hope to get one soon. However, I would first try the HAIDs without Roger in that situation, see how it goes in different settings, and later add Roger to the test.

I don’t have Lumina yet, but a clerk at the checkout is not a problem; sometimes, yes, when “speech in noise,” it gets so horrendous to manage. Currently, my theory is in the vent size; I’m working on it.

@orgullodemexico said:

There have been public places where noise level is 60db to 65db, not high enough to transition my hearing aids from Calm Situation to Speech in Noise, and I have trouble understanding speech

Have you tried lowering the activation level for speech in loud noise?

@orgullodemexico said:

I have trouble understanding speech, not just a few words - everything is canceled out by background noise

Upward masking seems to be the issue here.

@orgullodemexico said:

Thus I have Noise Block in Phonak Target set at maximum

The more NoiseBlock that is set, it starts to effect speech as well as background noise.

@orgullodemexico said:

not high enough to transition my hearing aids from Calm Situation to Speech in Noise,

You can change that in Target on how quickly it changes. Default is 2, 0 is slow and 4 is super fast.

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