The audiologist was categorical that this was the Lumity. I asked if it was the Unitron Vivante and she said no, it is the Lumity.
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That’s interesting, historically the Sonova Specsavers Advance range has always been Unitron. I wonder why they would bother to sell a branded and rebranded Lumity! Must be working for them! Glad to hear you’re happy with them so far!
Thank you. It may vary by country. I saw a post from New Zealand saying the Elite was a signia. I have also seen Unitron mentioned. I will post my findings and try and establish the make up of the Advance range.
It’ll be very easy to know exactly, just by viewing which software is being used for programming, Target or TrueFit or any other.
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Thanks Tenkan. I will keep my eyes peeled!
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And the Roger Licenses I assume?
I’d take a photo of your Target settings for Roger+Mic
Peter
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Yes. Absolutely. Thanks. Although I will try and transfer the licenses myself. I’ll contact hab online who were the providers for assistance. They’ve been helpful in the past.
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Yes in Australia the elite is the Signia Pure, but I got the impression from the Audi there that they may add the lumity to their unbranded aids at some stage.
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Hi all,
I posted about the Australian Specsavers advance elite here:
Hoping it helps
Yesterday I was fitted with the Advance Elite at Specsavers and wore them from 3pm and all day so far.
REM was performed and the hearing aids were a good fit.
For those that don’t know this is an upgrade from my Costco KS10s, which is a white label Phonak Paradise. The Advance Elite is a white label Phonak Lumity. I have seen people comment on here, especially initially, that the step up had no changes to the chip architecture, and the other changes offered in the Lumity were also minimal. I have reached no conclusions so far, partially because I have not been out in noisy environments yet, and it has not even been a full day, but what I have observed so far has been good:
Connectivity:
In terms of connectivity to devices, in my case, my phone, the TV connector, the iPad, the connection time is smoother and faster and the hand off between devices or back to the automatic setting is absolutely superb. With the KS10s, either after listening to something on my phone, or the TV Connector, it would stay connected for a very extended period, and this would often be frustrating as one would have to turn off the TV connector or bluetooth on the phone manually, as the mics would be attenuated, in the case where the balance was set to the right hand side. With the new aids, it detects after about 3 seconds that there is no longer anything being broadcast and disconnects. This has been a major bug bear and it is now fixed.
Speech Fidelity
This is better. Sometimes there is a confirmation bias to every evaluation, but I am pretty sure, that listening to conversations on the radio/TV and my family, that it is easier and I am picking up accents and nuances more so than before.
Car
I am always relegated to sit in the back of the car. We travelled into town and my daughter was talking to my wife at the front. Normally I can hear that they are saying something, usually in quick exchanges. This time I could actually hear what they were saying. This is a definite step up. The car is one of the more difficult environments that I didn’t have a lot of joy with.
Music
This sounds better, but I am on the fence currently and will need to report back. It is not as good as my Oticon Dynamo BTEs, but will need further listening.
Noise
Not enough exposure yet to normal environments.
Battery Life
This is interesting. I have seen a lot of complaints about the modest battery life of the Lumity. However, so far I think the battery consumption has been better that then KS10. I was watching a French series on Netflix using bluetooth on my iPad. This is normally a massive drain, and I have seen the battery on the iPad itself plummet. However, the usage was just normal. I went to bed with about 60% battery last night, but they were fitted about 3pm. Today, I have been using the TV connector and they are currently 83% at about 1pm. So it seems pretty good so far.
I will report back on the noise situation.
Certainly, the conclusion so far is that this is a superior experience. Whether it merits an upgrade will depend upon performance in noise, which were the main selling points of this release. I am going out tonight, to the noisiest local pub. And this will be telling. I will report back about this.
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@glucas
Interesting.
I believe, from comments on here, that one of their best improvements, is in speech detection not just beamforming to “in front of you”. In certain programmes, if speech is detected from the sides, it will focus on that side. This is quite a move forward for speech in noise.
I’ve made all programmes 360⁰ in both Marvel and Paradise, so I get less noise reduction, but enough to help, and I don’t get neck ache turning to face everyone. This could make a huge difference, and I’d certainly have that as a selectable programme.
Great review
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So it looks like @Moore8 was correct. It turns out that I do indeed have a Unitron aid. I wasn’t told this by the audiologist. She told me it was a Lumity, but when I looked up something on the App it took me to a Unitron page so I then looked at the Unitron aids online, and it looks exactly the same as the Moxi V-RT.
I went out on Saturday night and it was a very noisy pub. We were in a quiet corner and for the most part I could hear very well. However, I went to the bar (where it was noisier with the sound emanating from another room) and felt that I was not as comfortable as usual when ordering. I think at this point I may have been in the wrong program.
Towards the end of the evening, with the automatic setting now on, we went into the noisiest part of the pub. I saw a couple of old friends, and it was very loud. I could barely hear them but the conversation was short and I didn’t have time to make adjustments. I was now very worried. The aid was sold on it’s ability in noise (refer to their literature and the Phonak Lumity literature). I don’t know much about Unitron tech, so I read up on it. The premium 9 vivante is supposed to have something called Hyperfocus, a zoom feature in loud noise and a specific speech in loud noise program. The speech in loud noise program is not present on the app that I have (it is just called Conversation in noise 1), and the Hyperfocus did not work very well.
The following day I went grocery shopping and one acid test is always if I can hear the person on the check out. I could not hear that well and did not feel comfortable engaging in the conversation.
The day after, I did a comparison test with my wife and daughter by playing loud music in the sitting room and seeing how well I could hear them. I compared with my Oticon Dynamo BTE and KS 10. The Advance Elite did not compare well at all. The Oticon Dynamo BTE (2015 tech) did the best. It was fantastic. I could hear my wife and daughter with amazing crispness and it achieved this amazing sound separation whereby I could hear the music as well. The KS10 was 2nd best - on the whole a good experience. The Advance Elite was poor. The music in the background I could hear but the voices of my wife and daughter did not come through at all well above the noise of the music (mirroring the experience in loud noise in the pub), and worryingly, I could not hear my own voice. With the Oticon I could hear my own voice brilliantly.
Because of the really poor performance with these aids in noise, I am now at a crossroads. I have a follow up appointment on the 27th. As it stands I will be returning them. I am unconvinced by their performance in loud noise, and do not like that I cannot hear my own voice, which seems to be a consequence when loud noise is present. This happens with the KS10 too, but it’s not as bad. Unless the audiologist can perform a major tweak, my next port of call with probably be the Naida Lumity or Oticon Real.
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Hi glucas
I have recently purchased the Advane Elite in Australia after my 7yo Phonaks had done their job. I had high hopes BUT so far am very disappointed. I find the sound is always muted - background noise as well as those I’m talking to, no noticeable difference in traffic or noisy restaurants, and trying auto vs other options does nothing for me. I am considering trying a different brand but this will cost me double. Has anyone had this experience? Any advice? I’ve had them adjusted twice and still no joy.
Hi Bab,
Sorry to hear that. Do you know the make of your hearing aids though? The reason why I ask is that I think the Advance Elite in Australia could be a Signia.
That is not to say that is the reason for your issues. I would in your position make sure you get them programmed using REM. If that doesn’t work and you are still unhappy, perhaps reach out to some people on here who have experience with the Signia.
Failing that, if you are on a tight budget, it might be worth asking about other aids in the Advanced range at Specsavers. One might be a Phonak.
Sorry I can’t help more. Good luck.
Hi glucas
Thanks for your reply. Sonova make the Advance range for Specsavers however I see Specsavers has listed their elite model as having the same features as multiple Signia models and phonak paradise 90.
My issue is the Advance Elite which I have purchased seems to dampen ALL sound instead of background noise as desired. After 2 adjustments I’m starting to lose faith and may return them.
I was wondering if you resolved your issues with yours or changed brands?
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Hi Bab,
In the end I kept the aids. I spoke to the audi about my concerns and she added a program that was missing - “speech in loud noise,”. I am still within the 100 day trial program but I think, on balance, I will hang on to them, as there have been a lot of benefits, that I described above, in spite of my concerns about the noise. I have had a better experience using them with my Roger On iN accessory and I was also made aware of the graphic equalisier on the app, which can be more finely tuned in the noise program. I have also found that in a lot of one and one situations there is a definite improvement.
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That’s positive! I have another final appointment on Tuesday and it’ll be make or break for me. I’ve started making another plan for others in case as I’m that disappointed. But with luck this next visit will resolve my issues.
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Don’t give up on those hearing aids too soon.
Tell the audiologist to turn up the sounds in your environment if they are too quiet.
If the sound is not deep enough, tell it so, so it will lower the highs and boost the deeps. And tell him if it’s the other way around, if it’s too deep and not high enough.
Think about the details, if necessary, put on old hearing aids and compare how you hear. maybe an audiologist can improve the sound.
Thank you however I’ve done that. I’ve kept a list of all my difficulties and she has made adjustments to try to help me. The app (in Australia) is so basic too that I can’t adjust anything except volume or sharpness but I don’t want to be doing that each time I start my day and not convinced this helps in any way. I can work with the Audi but my trial is running out and I’m not going to accept them if they can’t resolve my issues in the next week.
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If they’re Phonak, in my experience this could just be down to bad programming, as the first fit has been as you describe every time sonce Phonak Marvel.
Have they, maybe, given you domes, where moulds would be more appropriate for your loss? My UK NHS revommended domes for my loss, which was wholly inappropriate. They were just being lazy.
Peter