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Switching to Phonak from Starkey or vice versa

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I just got fitted with a new Starkey Omega and my mind is blown.

I have tried RICs twice before in 10 years, but only lasted a few days before I went back to my Starkey custom that replaced an older I had for a few years. First RIC I tried was in 2019 after 5 years with a Starkey ITC and I gave up the trial after a few days - my brain was having a hell of a time adapting and I thought at the time it was related to microphone positioning or something. 3 years later I moved across country and tried another Phonak RIC with exactly the same results. So I gave up on RIC aids at the time as I it seemed they didn’t work with my ear/brain. Fast forward a few more years and I recently got a swimmer’s ear infection that filled my ear with crap - it did not flush out and it was coating the eardrum which was no longer visible. I have had some material suctioned out a few times by an , but it is still not clean, which has of course reduced my hearing.

My audi deals mostly with Phonak, and he had me trial the last RIC I tried. Sometime in the last few months, he tried a Starkey RIC and gave up after a few days as he hated the sound from it. My ITC aid was close to maxed out before the infection, and now I could not get enough gain without feedback, so I suggested trying a Starkey RIC - based on his experience.

I just got it fitted and it is the best initial fitting I have ever had. I normally get home and hook them up to my Noahlink and try to fix the settings the audi set up. This time it was amazing. None of the issues I had with the Phonak RICs.

Has anyone else experienced this? Getting so used to a brand of hearing aid that switching is almost impossible? As I walked out of the office today I was thinking what an amazing and devious way to maintain market share this is!

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I’ve gone from Phonak to Oticon to ReSound and I really like ReSound a lot.

I would actually say by choice, that I would choose ReSound over Phonak and Oticon now.

Exactly the same here, both ReSound and Signia are my favourites, I tried Starkey many years ago, I might need to give them another go to see what all the fuss is about ; )

@Microfiche said:

Sometime in the last few months, (my audi) tried a Starkey RIC and gave up after a few days as he hated the sound from it… I just got it fitted and it is the best initial fitting I have ever had.

This is what’s known as a “hate fit” - and while it’s certainly not for everyone, some find it a very fulfilling experience.

Well, my first pair were Phonak Marvels about 5 years ago. I had a bunch of fittings to get things right, it was during covid so getting good places to test was hard. Got them dialed in pretty well but struggled in noise a bunch.

When the Jabra / Resounds EP20’s came out I was really excited. Went to costco, got them fitted using ’s, had a follow-up and I really do remember hearing better all around. Then I started having the mic issues. Even though those are supposed to be resolved I still have problems with one ear not being loud enough. I also feel like clarity on both ears isn’t as good as it was. Costco seemed to think it was my imagination.

Sucked it up, went to an audi, paid a bunch of money and ordered starkey omega ai’s. Waiting for them I had another problem with one of my Jabra’s last weekend and said f it, and went back to my Phonaks. Immediately I realized everything was sharper, sounded better across the spectrum. Even in moderately loud noise I hear better than my Jabra’s.

My Starkeys came in yesterday, and holy moly. They really seem to be dialed in, I know my audiologist is good, but either these things are great with first fit, my audi is amazing or both. I can’t wait till the followup, maybe we can push them a little more.

As for the Jabra’s, I really wanted to like them, things started so promising. They are still under warranty until November so I do want them to get working well again, I really want gn group to take a good look at them when they get sent again and figure out what is going on. If I can get them back, either I’ll sell them or more likely donate them.

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