Phonak Exelia & Seimens Pure

[jnsplace]

Hi!

I'm new here, but I've had hearing aids for 30 some odd years. Ranging from BTE to Half Shell. funny thing is I'm still getting used to the terminology ive seen here.

I currently wear Unison 4P (my first digitals!), six years later time to get new aids. My Audi suggested the Exelia or the Nitro. She seems to like the option of what they can offer me. I'm unsure, first time I've had an audi hand me a lot of brochures over options and say go research. I'm so used to someone say...this is good.

I'm really not interested in bluetooth. I love the fact that I have been able to manually turn off my current aids, or manually switch to different envirnments as I attend a lot of conferences/seminars for work.

I am fine with phones...thats not a concern. I just want to be able to comprehend in the different envirnments. I'm afraid to lose a remote (we have these for years!)..but I understand the need.

I like the options of both of these, but i'm worried about if all the added on items will be too much. Or if the aid will overthink for me. I love listening to music, and play a lot of video games where I'm on ventrilo (voice over the internet).

advice? I'm a little overwhelmed lol.

[joesc]

Exelia and Pure are high end products. If your not interested in bluetooth, and are willing to manually switch programs, then lower cost aids could be for you. Almost anything out there now would be better than your existing aids.

[jnsplace]

thanks i think lol. the next stage of hearing aids is a little scary with remotes and all the terminology i've not heard before. its no wonder customers are confused. lol

I'm a gadget geek as well, i'm just not really into the bluetooth capabilities for a couple of reasons. I hear on my cell fine. I am concerned about the security of them, what's to prevent another bluetooth device from chiming in or person? I travel a lot, does that mean more electronics to keep track of among my ipod, laptop, headphone? lol? is it really worth it?

[Alias]

I demo'd the Exelia w/iCom and myPilot for 90 days and I'm now demoing the Siemens Pure 700 with Tek Connect.

I'd suggest you demo both as well. You say you aren't interested in bluetooth, which I understand, but I'd suggest you try it anyway. I really like it and I'd never go back now.

One difference you may notice between the Exelia and the Pure has to do with the speaker location. With the Pure, the speaker is right in the ear as opposed to in the HA body(in the BTE version anyway). I've noticed much better sound quality with the Pures, especially when listening to music, which I attribute to the speaker location.

With both HA's and their accessories, as you have noted, there will be more "stuff" to keep track of. The good news is that they all use the mini-usb port for charging. Both setups have their pros and cons.

Oh, as far as bluetooth security, the Phonak encrypts the bluetooth signal. So no worries there. I don't know about Siemens.

[joesc]

It's inherent in the standard that bluetooth signals are encrypted and the reason for the pairing. That's why you can only communicate with one device at a time when using bluetooth.

[Twoboxer]

If you handle telephones fine, if you don't use an iPod etc, if you don't use other headphones, or if you are comfortable with the headphones** you do use . . . then this one set of benefits the Exelia/iCom provides may not be useful to you.

The Exelia itself has a bunch of features that my Phonak microSavia Arts do not, some of which are used easily (if at all) only with a remote. Those features you can test and judge for yourself.

As for the remote . . . personally, I like having the (MyPilot) remote mostly because I can predict a difficult listening environment faster, better than my "Autopilot" can. And I can lock that program in. Also the remote provides the only way my aids' volume can be increased/decreased. So I'd be carrying that remote in any case. Your feelings, equipment, and needs may be different.

[jnsplace]

I do use an ipod, a lot. lol I do wear headphones, two different kinds depending on if i'm using Ventrillo (voice over the internet) or listening to music/movies on the plane.

I'm a little....egh about hearing that the only way to adjust volume is using a remote. :\ but I think that's just among the list of questions that I have for my audi which i'm now seeing next week.

[Twoboxer]

Apparently, we have more in common - Ventrilo lol. I used bluetooth headphones in the past for Vent, but had given up on them - they stopped working for me for all kinds of reasons. I got tired of buying new stuff.

However, I use SmartLink/MyLink (an earlier version of iCom, not stereo, not as sophisticated) that works with my HAs to replace the Sennheiser RF headphones I have long used to hear TV without harming the ears of others in my house. I'm so impressed with how sweet that is, I'm thinking of piping my nightly Ventrilo sessions through that, and using a standalone mic - we use push-to-talk anyhow when gaming.

[The Logitech headphones I now use for Ventrillo are full circumaural. I can get by without HAs most times, or I can try to position the darn things on my head to avoid feedback. But since they are behind the head, its not an easy balancing act. Direct to my HAs would be a big improvement.]

If you use headphones and iPod that much, I have to say having this stuff directly in your ears instead of using headphones can be a great joy. Its so sweet, I investigated upgrading to iCom by talking to an audi at Phonak.

She told me that anything wired or otherwise fed in stereo directly into the iCom is transmitted in stereo by RF to the Exelias, not by loop like MyLink is. The sound is a lot better, and there is never any buzz from . . . well, all the things that can make Tcoil buzz.

If any sound source is further away than wires or bluetooth (they claim 50' - I never got that in bluetooth) permit - like my TV and my Sennheisers, you would use a SmartLink to transmit (up to 100 feet) to your iCom. And even though the transmission is now mono, she says the sound is a lot better because the bandwidth is greater.

If you are really happy with the various headphones, though, you might not find much gain here.

Edit: I'm not sure what the airlines think of iCom transmitting to your HAs on a plane. Might want to check that.

[barb]

I am in process of choosing my first hearing aids and the audiologist has suggested Exelia or Eleva for my combination of difficulties (almost no hearing in right ear because of mastoid surgeries, and a damp middle ear; declining hearing now in left ear....age?)

How do I decide, other than price, between the two? I don't particularly want to get "old" technology (Eleva) if the Exelia will be better, but could buy lots of yarn and garden plants with the difference in price.

[xbulder]

Given that Siemens, will introduce the Reflex (their new mid price instrument soon) and Oticon had introduce Vigo and Unitron the Next...

I bet that Phonak will launch a mid price instrument in 45 days at the EUHA...

I will also bet it will have some sort of basic wireless options...