New here - best hearing aids for me?

[stream2525]

Originally Posted by dillont

Well I had my appointment with the hearing aid sales person. My first impression - EW.

SHORT VERSION: The calibrated Exelia Art HA were very hollow sounding, and everything sounded like it was filtered through a tin can. I hated the sound. They were the only hearing aids she had on hand for me to try in office.

After extensive conversation, the audiologist seems to think that I will do well with the Resound Plus 5 or Unitron Element 4 (both entry level HA), which I'm surprised by.

I told her that what I love about my current widex sensos is the full body of sound (low to high frequency) that I perceive in every environment. Their only draw backs is that they have no wind guard, and they fail miserably in restaurant and cocktail party environments.

LONG VERSION:
Newport Audiology in San Francisco only sells 3 manufacturers: Phonak, ReSound, and Unitron.

The audiologist only had the Phonak Exelia Art HA in the office for me to try out, and I was surprised by how hollow and thin sounding they were. It felt like the HA took the sounds in the lower frequencies (where my hearing is better) and muted then. Felt like the whole world was inside a hollow tin can. It frankly sounded HORRIBLE. She supposedly programmed them according to the audiogram, which was created last week, to the office.

I'm disappointed by this experience. I'm disappointed that the insurance company which contracts with Newport Audiology only allows me to try out 3 different manufacturers. I had outstanding success with my 9 year old widex sensos but because I know there are far more advanced hearing aids out there, I want to give myself a boost, but not at the expense of the quality of sound that I currently hear.

Why do the Phonak exelia art hearing aids sound like hollow tin cans?? Are they able to produce full body sounds like my 9 year old widex sensos?



Dillon

I was supposed to have Phonak Exelia , but good that I read your post. This will make me not rush and make sure they will work for me .

We don't have trials here in my country, so I should be careful before I decide on any aid.

Maybe you should try other aids too.

I read good things about Starkey here. Try that as well.

[xbulder]

Originally Posted by stream2525

I was supposed to have Phonak Exelia , but good that I read your post. This will make me not rush and make sure they will work for me .

We don't have trials here in my country, so I should be careful before I decide on any aid.

Maybe you should try other aids too.

I read good things about Starkey here. Try that as well.

make sure your audi turns the hearing aids on and try to walk outside to see
how they perform in a complex enviroment

[dillont]

:P

They were turned on, most definitely. And she wouldn't allow me to walk out of the office.

The experience just totally sucked.

Originally Posted by xbulder

make sure your audi turns the hearing aids on and try to walk outside to see
how they perform in a complex enviroment

[EnglishDispenser]

And she wouldn't allow me to walk out of the office.

I send my clients:

a: to the cafe next door
b: if all is ok, then home for a week or so with the aids

... all 100% free of charge.

If they buy fine. If not, we part on good terms and I'll see them or someone from their family sometime in the future.

[dillont]

There needs to be more audiologists like you in the world.

I didn't get the impression that the person I worked with cared that I was a filmmaker and worked with sound all the time in my line of work, and didn't care that I knew a lot more about audio and wave forms than the average person. We wound up bickering with each other for 30 minutes while I explained to her why the "top of the line hearing aids" that she tested me out with were horrible.

I didn't dare question to see if maybe she had set them up totally wrong.

Thanks for your input. I may ask my insurance company to see if I can go elsewhere.

Dillon

Originally Posted by EnglishDispenser

I send my clients:

a: to the cafe next door
b: if all is ok, then home for a week or so with the aids

... all 100% free of charge.

If they buy fine. If not, we part on good terms and I'll see them or someone from their family sometime in the future.

[xbulder]

Originally Posted by EnglishDispenser

I send my clients:

a: to the cafe next door
b: if all is ok, then home for a week or so with the aids

... all 100% free of charge.

If they buy fine. If not, we part on good terms and I'll see them or someone from their family sometime in the future.

this is the best way to do it....

[NiChiBeiCo]

I'm disapointed that you had a unpleasant experience with your insurance recommended audi. Rest assured that there are many many more audiologists out there for you.

Did the audiologist make any adjustments to the instrument after your comment with the tinniness? Exelia Arts also have power versions that may help you with the lows with what phonak calls "Bass Boost".

[dillont]

Hi NiChi,

I'm not sure how much leverage I have with my insurance company to try and get to another audiologist / hearing aid dispenser. My insurance company has a "contract" with the vendor, and thus I was sent to them.

I didn't get the feeling that the audiologist took a lot of pride and care and understanding in unique hearing situation. I work in filmmaking and work with sound a lot, and thus I need to get as close to the real natural sound of the source as possible (otherwise my sound work is useless). My widex sensos (which are 9 + years old) seem to do a very good job with making sounds natural.

When I reported the Exelia Arts had the extremely tinny sound, she said that was just the nature of the phonak hearing aids, and that I should expect that kind of experience from all phonak products. I was astonished at this statement.

It felt like the Exelia Art cut off the lower frequencies of my hearing and only retained the upper frequencies, it was a totally dispiriting experience, and I didn't have the guts to ask her if she had actually programmed the hearing aids correctly for my hearing loss.

I put in an email to her inquiring about the ReSound Azure (which apparently have more flexibility in modifying the soundscape). I think I may take these for a trial and if they don't work, I'll get to my insurance company and report that the audiologist isn't working for me, and what alternatives do I have.

Thanks for your input!

Dillon

Originally Posted by NiChiBeiCo

I'm disapointed that you had a unpleasant experience with your insurance recommended audi. Rest assured that there are many many more audiologists out there for you.

Did the audiologist make any adjustments to the instrument after your comment with the tinniness? Exelia Arts also have power versions that may help you with the lows with what phonak calls "Bass Boost".

[EnglishDispenser]

Another thing: the Widex Senso is famed for sounding 'nice'.

This helps make that first sale ... BUT ... as you say, voices might not come across well!

I once test-boxed a Senso ... it seemed to pump out a LOT of bass in comparison to more modern aids.

Later Phonak and other models will sound a lot more tinny in comparison ... BUT .. speech comprehension should be better.

During my training I was warned that I would come to dread seeing someone coming into the office wearing a Senso : the transition from a Senso to any other model is supposed to be difficult!

The big question: do you want 'nice sounding' ... or do you want 'speech clarity'?

[dillont]

Thank you very much for your reply with your experience!

My speech comprehension is 100%, so voices are already very clear with my Sensos - but ONLY in quiet environments. The more complicated the environment is, the worse the Sensos perform, they don't get rid of back ground chatter, nor do they have directionality.

So I need to keep the broad depth of sound my sensos create (because I'm a filmmaker and I work with sound all the time), and I want to ADD the ability to discern voices much bettre in restaurants / cocktail parties. I understand that the combination of noise reduction and directional microphones is supposed to help with this tremendously, as evidenced by a lot of anecdotal stories told here.

Are the modern hearing aids that produce a tinny sound programmable to boost the lower frequencies to give a broader, fuller sound? This is what I love about my sensos so much.

Thanks again for your input. I wholly appreciate it.

Dillon

Originally Posted by EnglishDispenser

Another thing: the Widex Senso is famed for sounding 'nice'.

This helps make that first sale ... BUT ... as you say, voices might not come across well!

I once test-boxed a Senso ... it seemed to pump out a LOT of bass in comparison to more modern aids.

Later Phonak and other models will sound a lot more tinny in comparison ... BUT .. speech comprehension should be better.

During my training I was warned that I would come to dread seeing someone coming into the office wearing a Senso : the transition from a Senso to any other model is supposed to be difficult!

The big question: do you want 'nice sounding' ... or do you want 'speech clarity'?