Going back to ITE rather than Siemens BTE

[stina63]

I've tried the Siemens Motion 501 and the Siemens Pure BTEs and I am not happy with them. I have worn a Starkey ITE analog for about 20 years now, and I just can't get used to the BTEs. I especially hate the domes that go in the ears. They either fall out or hurt my ears. Wearing glasses and my hair against them is quite bothersome. I thought the ITEs may have muffled my sound for all these years and wanted to see the difference. I read another blog here that said ITE, CIC, or BTE is really a personal preference. I miss the ITEs and am going to go back to my Audi and have her order them.

My insurance covers the aids so $$ isn't a issue (am still in the trial period). I do like the bluetooth technology, and I already purchased the Siemens tek remote, so I will be getting them with the bluetooth.

Would love feedback from anyone about this before my appointment. My test results are below. Thanks so much.

[john-S]

i too trialled these hearing aids but felt that i could not justify the cost when the sound quality is no match for a decent pair of analogues. the tek system to me is a work in progress with distorted sound being the order of the day. i have managed to buy a set of ite starkey genesis dx and the sound is excellent!! really don't miss the bluetooth features as to me sound quality is by far more important than fancy features that don't quite work. this is only my opinion and is subjective. hope you get what helps you the most for myself it was no contest analogue.

[Hask12]

Trying one brand is not much to base an opinion on, but to each his own.

[SilenceIsGolden]

Hi Christina
I have ordered a pair of Motion 501 CICs with the Tek, and expect delivery this week. I've never worn HAs before, so can't make any comparisons with BTEs etc. I'll be putting my impressions in the Digital/Bluetooth sections late this week /early next week.
John

[MinnesotaHIS]

Christina, Sorry to hear about your frustration! I would advise someone I was working with against going from analog ITEs to digital BTEs, particularly of the non-RIC variety.

The first challenge you have to deal with is going from analog to digital. The digital instruments would sound much better to someone being fit for the first time, but since you're used to analogs they're going to sound different and "wrong" to you for some time. This can be eased by disabling noise reduction in the digital instruments and setting them to more closely mimic the analog instruments they're replacing, but you'll still notice a difference. Have you tried using the different programs on your instruments? You may find that you like the way the "Music" program (program 5 by default on the Tek) sounds better than the others for day to day use.

The second challenge you have to deal with is going from ITE to BTE. I've had success converting ITE wearers to BTE models, but you have to be careful in which model you select. The Motion is a traditional BTE where the receiver (speaker) is located in the body of the hearing instrument and NOT in your ear. This change often makes the sound "feel" different to the wearer in a negative way. There are BTE models where the receiver is located inside of the ear (such as the Pure in sticking with SIEMENS), which avoids this issue. In your particular case it makes a lot of sense to go back to ITEs to resolve the other problems you noted.

Best of luck!

[stina63]

Thank you MinnesotaHIS for responding to my dilemma. I did turn in the BTEs and am now on day 2 of my trial with the digital (half) ITC. I have come to conclusion that I just can't do digital, and am going to order analog ITEs again. As an example, when I first started typing this note my 9 year old said someone was at the door. I didn't hear the bell so I was sure it was broken. I later ask my son "did the bell ring" . . . he said yea mom. I was talking with my new tenant from my front stoop to the driveway (very close), and couldn't hear a word he was saying. I have four programs on my tek remote and am pretty versed in how to use it. No matter which mode (regular or noisy environment) I use at max or lower volume, i'm not hearing. Liked the bluetooth, but hearing is more important. Thanks very much for reaching out to me. I would have responded sooner, but I wasn't notified with an email of your note.

Christina