I’m not happy with my ear molds at all. I think I did best with the two different sized double domes. I’m sorry for the money I spent for the impressions and ear molds, but I would not know if I didn’t try them.
My issues now are these:
The volume is way too loud at the normal setting.
All voices have a harsh, sharp, piercing quality to them even with the volume turned down or even with quieter speech.
I am less able to understand speech. The clear, distinct quality of voices is very much diminished.
The loud sound and harsh quality with the ear molds has made me not want to put in my hearing aids at all or take them out earlier than bedtime.
I have an email to my audi see what she suggests.
My idea now is to go back to the double domes and have her add a music program (or I’ll just listen to music with my fingers in my ears).
I’m curious, SqueakyChu, what kind of hearing loss you have. I’ve been considering an open-fit Dream 440 in my left ear, but I don’t like to hear about the feedback issues you’re having. Do you have really high gain?
I’m curious, SqueakyChu, what kind of hearing loss you have. Do you have really high gain?
Here’s what I think my shows:
…250…500…1000…2000…4000…8000
L:50…60…60…55…55…80
R:55…60…60…55…55…80
Now that I have the ear molds and not the double domes, I don’t get any more feedback…except only very rarely. My problems with the ear molds are much different from what they were with the double domes. I don’t know if I have high gain.
My audi made some change to my program, but I don’t detect any difference. The sound is way too loud. I’m trying to not lower the volume to just become accustomed to this level of sound, but I cannot get used to the sharp, piercing, painful quality of some loud voices, all of the narrators on CD audio tapes that I play in my car (which I cannot stand to listen to now because they are so painful), and when someone coughs…which drives me up the wall.
I emailed my audi and asked if I can go back to the double domes if this problem cannot be fixed. It gives me a headache and makes me not want to put in my hearing aids at all.
I had actually gotten used to the different sized double domes, and they were good with voices, but less than desirable with music. If I go back to the double domes, I will just use ear plugs when I want to listen to music. That will create the same effect, I think.
I’m still very unhappy. My audi apt, along with the Widex rep, is for tomorrow. I am going with my husband because I was told he has to come with me so that my hearing aids can be reset. I keep my hearing aids at the lowest settings in my house because the echoes are so painful. If the next adjustment doesn’t work, I’m going back to the domes and will just endure the repeated feedback. I can no longer deal with any of this.
did your audi completely reprogram your aids? He has to! There are (very) different default-settings for open domes, and ear molds.
Usually, at the beginning of a fitting, the audi has to select the type of domes used. The whole curve must be recalculated by the fitting software, fine-tuning must be re-done afterwards, there´s no way to use your old setting as a starting point. Maybe, depending on the software, you can change the mold-setting later on, but then, too, the curve must be completely recalculated.
I am so frustrated that I came home today and just screamed out loud to vent when no one was home. I
I did have my hearing aids reprogrammed, a new sensogram was done, the rep came to help, and my husband came to verify my complaint. I cannot tell in the office what the hearing aids will do in different environments. I did verify the painful frequency was eliminated by going with my husband to the echoing lobby.
When I left the office the painful sounds were gone, but I thought sound seemed more muffled. I thought the domes gave much clearer speech when I had worn them previous to being fitted with the the ear molds, but I was told we’d work on one problem at a time. When I got home, I realized that the right hearing aid was sounding louder than the left. I was getting the occluded effect in the right hearing aid and my voice sounded like it was underwater on the right side of my head. I changed the and ensured that the vent in the right hearing aid was completely open. It was.
I called my audie who told me to listen to the TV. That did not have the occluded effect (only my voice and only in my right ear/right side of my head). She told me to remove the ear molds from the receivers and put on the double domes. I did so. Suddenly speech (on the car radio) was much clearer, but I now still have the occluded effect in my right hearing aid (so everything sounds louder in my right ear than in my left ear and I still hear my echoey voice in the right side of my head). This is my first experience with the sounds of my hearing aids not being in balance.
I cannot be seen again for three days, but I’m leaving the domes on. I do NOT want to go back to those $%^&* ear molds. It seems to me that every correction is making my situation worse.
Current problems:
Sound is not balanced between the two hearing aids. The right hearing aid amplifies louder than the left hearing aid.
The right hearing aid has an “occluded effect” which make my voice sound underwater on the right side of my head.
I’m back from my audi, and I’m either satisfied now or simply exhausted. The rep and the audi decided that the problem was too much amplification of the deeper tones. Now that I have music the way I like it, I didn’t want the deeper tones taken away. This is what the audi did: She decreased the amplification of the bass tones in my right hearing aid only.
Knocks wood
I think we’ve got the hearing aids to where I want them now. I hope to only have to go back to my audi for routine hearing aid cleaning.
About music: Only the ear molds make music sound like music. The music sounds great!
I’m ready to stop complaining now, get on with life, and use my hearing aids without thinking about them any more.
Thanks, all for listening. It helped to have had a sounding board on which to rant. If my misadventures help anyone else, I will be grateful.
P.S. I have to add that my audi was an angel for putting up with all of my complaints in her quiet, respectful, warm way.
Believe it or not, I’m STILL working with my audie on one problem. It’s that, in quiet and echoing environments, voices are too shrill and they cause me pain and make me jump. This happens in my house (which has wooden floors/no carpets) and in my car. I’m totally unable to listen to audio CDs of books in the car, and I’ve listened to these for years with my former two sets of hearing aids without such a problem - ever. The sounds of various voices (I’ve tried dozens) on the CDS and from people speaking are too shrill and uncomfortable. My audi consulted with Widex , and I’m in the process of having a new set of ear molds made. The thought was that the receivers were not pointing in the correct direction, thereby causing “harmonics”. I now do not want to go back to the domes because music sounds so much better with the ear molds. sigh I stopped going back to the audie every week or two because I was just exhausted from that experience. I’m waiting for a call from my audie for when the ear molds are in. I’ll have the two refitting tests redone. fingers crossed
All issues have been resolved. I’m finally satisfied with my Widex Dream 440s after eleven months of adjustments with an angel of an audie who had infinite patience with me.
I hear voices clearly and naturally in all directions around me. I understand conversations around a table in noisy environments. I enjoy music since it sounds like music is supposed to sound. My hearing aids are free of feedback and are comfortable to wear.
Believe it or not, I have no more complaints!!
This was all about quality of life, really. Since I am able to hear well now in a variety of environments, I am back to my old social self…seeking out people with whom to converse and being much more confident, less isolated, and much happier.
Best of luck to others who are trying out the Widex dream series.
Okay. I have wider dream fashion power . What was done to stop the chirping noise you were dealing with. One of my aid is randomly chirping several times a day. Help!
My KS6 aids with a double dome sometime “chirp” in my right ear which was hard to fit with their double dome. It more a chirp that standard feedback whine due to the feedback suppression. I prefer that to having to go to a mold.
The only thing that completely stopped the chirping was going to ear molds. I resisted them for a long time thinking that they’d be ugly. However, they are tiny, and no one at all notices them.
The other advantage of ear molds is that they make music sound so much better!
What type of molds do you have Squeaky? I have a mold that is all open at the back. I get the feedback chirps when I chew, blow my nose, move my head the wrong way, etc. Very annoying. I think I need a more closed mold, but I want to have some venting.
I don’t see a picture of my molds, but they are completely open in the back and are about 1.2 cm wide (from receiver end to the outer corner). They each have a tiny hole (about 1mm in diameter) for venting.
The problem I had with my first ear mold fitting was that the ear molds were not completely to my canal shape, were letting in sound causing “harmonics” (that’s what I was told) and painful voices in quiet environments. I was refitted for a second set of ear molds, but the fitting was done differently. The second time it was done with my mouth wide open while the impression was done. That enabled a more accurate fitting and no further “air leaks”.
I do have venting in my ear molds. I have no “occlusion effect” (sounding like under water), nor do I have any feedback or chirps.
When you complain of “feedback chirps” that sounds as if you have air leaks around your ear molds and not a tight fit.
Every type of dome that I previously tried before being fitted with ear molds allowed chirping and feedback issues. That just about drove me insane so I know what you’re going through!
I wear a full ear molds with my dream fashion power aids. This week no chirping sounds. I did change the battery on 6/7 after listening to a week worth of chirping sounds During those seven days I was working at the computer and wearing -DEX along with my stethoscope that week. This week I am not spending much time at the computer. So could the proximity of computer be affecting my hearing aids communicating with each other thus causing these chirps? I will give another two weeks before I send it back to be repaired.
I think the chirp is likely feedback. RF from your computer shouldn’t be a problem. The case should be properly grounded. Early computers could generate RF but the FCC cracked down. Make sure all the screws are in the chassis.
If you read Evil Scientist’s remarks, he is in a room with a lot of electronics. The room is probably built as a Faraday Cage which makes for stronger signals in the room and his problem isn’t a chirp. Typically, the random RF can degrade the signal and introduce noise in the form of audio distortion or retraining between the aids or a phone.
I
NW Indiana