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Success with understanding speech in noisy environments

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I thought I’d share what has worked for me in understanding what others are saying in a noisy environment. Like many others with hearing impairment my biggest frustration has been trying to participate in conversation in a noisy environment. What I have found after trying many things is that Phonak Roger clip on mics work better than anything else. Obviously its not possible to use these in every situation but I have found that if we go to a restaurant with friends and I clip Phonak Roger mics on each of the others I can hear everything crystal clear no matter how noisy the restaurant is. You have no idea how much more relaxing and joyful it makes the experience. Instead of feeling like a fool you can fully participate in the conversation. The key is to get the Roger devices as these can be networked together. Its amazing how the mics capture what everyone is saying with no interruption between speakers. I have Phonak hearing aids but I believe the mics can be used with other brands although a separate receiver has to be used. I would highly recommend them.

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@rhtucker1950 said:

we go to a restaurant with friends and I clip Phonak Roger mics on each of the others I can hear everything crystal clear no matter how noisy the restaurant is

How many Clip-on mics you can use at once? Which model of Phonak hearing aid you use? Are you in the trial period? Glad to see your improvement.

Have you tried the Phonak audio sphere? It seems to achieve better speech understanding than the roger in noisy conditions. I’m not saying the roger is bad. I get the impression that the sphere outperforms the roger in more conditions and in terms of convenience.

Edited

Spheric Speech in Noise is not the life changing experience for everyone. When background noise gets above 75db I have to retrieve my Roger On microphone. Due to the severity of my loss, I was advised that Infinio 90-Sphere would not work for me 100% of the time. I decided to gamble and see if it would be an improvement over Lumity 90, which it is. I never could get the Lumity 90 Dynamic Noise Canceling to work for me.

@rhtucker1950 said:

I clip Phonak Roger mics on each of the others I can hear everything crystal clear

I just looked up the clip on mics, about $500 per mic? Is this the same as what you have? My Roger On works well for a table of 6, but a much bigger table and I have to use pointing mode. That’s a little awkward. Spheric Speech in Noise program works for me until background reaches 75 db.

In reply to @markoo355

in hearing aids give about 12 signal-to-noise improvement. Remote.mics give about 22 dB. Most people with moderate to profound hearing loss need more than. 12 dB and can see noticable improvement with AI and yet could benefit more from a remote mic when possible.

In reply to @orgullodemexico

Re Roger mics, yes $500 each - occasionally you’ll see one on ebay for a few dollars less but rare and you lose the warranty. Be careful to get the Roger clip on, not the Partner Mic. I bought a second partner mic but then realised I couldnt operate two at once. I’ve also go the Roger On In pen and use that in conjunction with the Roger clip ons. I found the Roger On pen works best when you have it “mounted” with the cover back. Its good when you’re at a checkout or counter but I’ve been very disappointed with it at parties or noisy tables.

In reply to @sufhl

The mics have been such a staggering improvement for me and I’m surprised they arent more widely known. I didnt know about them until I was at my local eye and Ear Hospital when I got in my left ear due to Covid. Like someone else said the Sphere Infineo is better than its predecessors but is not the godsend the Phonak marketers would have you believe. It will get better with time though.

Have you tried Oticon hearing aids for noise in speech? I have always found wearing Resound, Widex etc, I struggle to hear speech in noise because they boost lower frequencies too much and higher frequencies not enough. Not a problem with Oticon. I never have problems hearing speech in noise anymore!

You could also try instead of the sound profile that comes with your hearing aid. That really helped for me hearing in the car between people sitting in the front and back scenario. NAL-NL2 is considerably better for hearing in the car!

The only remaining issue that I really have is soft speech is not 100% there yet, but I think going for will sort that out.

Maybe my ears are different to others, but since moving to Oticon, struggling to hear speech in noise, is not a problem I ever experience. I recently had the opportunity to trial Widex 440 a few months back and then yes - I battled to hear speech in noise. So, maybe you need Oticon?

@Roberto said:

NAL-NL2

Thanks Roberto. Yes Oticon rate highly for performance in noisy situations so I trialled Oticon Intent last year after they launched but was a bit disappointed. To be honest I havent found anything other than the mics that do a lot for me in noisy situations. I’ve even tried captioning smart glasses but found them pretty hopeless in noise. I am interested in your comment about and will bring it up with my audiologist.

I am not sure why Oticon was not successful for you in noisy situations. Could be your ears are used to the sound profile of other hearing aids or I am just very fortunate that my hearing loss does not affect me hearing speech in noise when wearing Oticon. My biggest beef is with soft speech, which needs work. I find it interesting how one hearing aid works brilliantly for one person, but is not very good for another. For me, Oticon are the best hearing aids I have ever worn! But I would not use their default sound profile VAC+. I am a big fan of now!

I would also ask your audio about adult DSL5, which apparently is the best for speech in noise (even more than NAL-NL2), but many don’t like it for daily wear because it can be fatiguing. I would recommend trying out NAL-NL2 because it did make a huge difference for me in the car, as I could never understand what my mother was saying if she was sitting behind me in the car with the default Oticon VAC+ profile.

Key tip - Increasing high frequencies and lowering low frequencies is what makes hearing speech in noise successful. You are not amplifying the background noises but you are amplifying the frequencies that make speech understanding possible. NAL-NL2 increases the high frequencies a lot more than VAC+ does. VAC+ is the sound profile for Oticon and while I can hear speech well in noise with their default profile, it was not sufficient for hearing certain voices in the car.

Hello Bob.

I was having the same issues. My audiologist recommended The ReSound Vivia 9s. So far, they work great in loud noisy areas such as restaurants especially if you are surrounded by others carrying on multiple conversations. I can easily focus on any one of the speakers with great clarity. Prior to this, I would just tune out.

Hank

a Roger-On somehow suspended upside down in mid-air might reduce background noise. But near a hard surface table, the noise might reflect off the table into the upside down Roger On.

In reply to @greffkin

I’ve used a couple other things to put my Roger on to help. The cardboard things they use to advertise desserts as an example. It is ok but not earthshaking. Just putting it on the table flat does pretty well. Propping it up so it points at my dinner partner (point mode vs table) is pretty good.

WH

Phonak need to make some sort of Batman’esc gun which fires tiny sticky Roger mics to people. Go in, spray the table and your guests with a few rapid bursts and you’re good to go :stuck_out_tongue:

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