I have a relatively flat 85db hearing loss and have been wearing Phonak custom HAs for years. I ran into two problems when I was trialing a Widex Moment RIC model that I had never experienced before.
The first is, while I could hear more sounds, especially more soft sounds, I found it unbearably noisy in restaurants( usually with 75-80db ambient noise), compared with my current HAs. I always felt like sitting aside a waterfall while in a restaurant, although it did not mean I could not hear a person talking across the table completely. It just becomes a little difficult, if not more difficult than with my current HAs. I heard that Widex’s noise reduction is not the best, if not the worst, of all the major brands. How is it compared with Oticon, Phonak or ReSound in this respect as far as their latest RIC models are concerned?
The second problem is even more novel to me. I found my conversation with another person get more prone to be disrupted by a sudden voice or sound popping up from nearby when wearing the Widex RIC model. That used not to be a big problem for me because I seemed to be able to “ignore” these sudden sounds or voices, at least to some degree, in conversations when wearing my current HAs. I wonder if it is because the Widex RIC has amplified these sudden sounds more than does the Phonak custom model? Or is it a problem unique to the RIC model no matter which brand it is?
So my question is, are these problem solvable with adjustment of the Widex RIC HAs, or should I look to another brand? For example, I heard that Oticon Reals have a Sudden Sound Stabiliser function that could suppress sudden sounds. Could it solve my second problem if not the first one?
Any input would be much appreciated.
Everything you have mentioned is based on how the aids are programmed in my opinion.
Most modern hearing aids have more similarities than differences. The differences are usually the fitter/audiologist.
If you are close to a Costco you could try 3 quality hearing aids to compare. Phillips/Oticon, Jabra/Resound and Rexton/Signia. All three are top of the line aids.
From reading here on the forum in the ear hearing aids typically have a fuller sound. With the aids being inside the ear the sound can be less harsh than aids outside of the ear.
Rick i have found that RIC aids with custom ear molds are as good sound wise as ITE aids, and maybe even better sound wise. The key for me is custom ear molds and an audiologist that listens, knows how to adjust the aids beyond the simple software adjustments and is patient enough to not just say this is all that can be done.
First hand experience is hard to beat, thanks for the explanation.
Seems I remember Neville saying what I posted but not positive.
I can see how RIC and BTE aids being better at processing left and right separation compared to in the ear aids but it’s just an opinion.
Ask your audiologist to install the Party program on the Widex RICs.
I found it works well in noisy restaurants, but with volume increased from 5 to 7
Are your RIC aids fit with domes or a moulded ear piece?
If you go on the HearAdvisor site there’s a good comparison of different aspects of the latest tech
I don’t know whether a separate Party program would work, but I did try that by switching to the Party program on the app and pushing the volume to the maximum. But the improvement was minimal, perhaps because I have a far worse hearing loss than yours.
It is a moulded one but not made specifically for my ear canal. So I suppose it was better than an open dome.
That would be great news for me because It means my problems are solvable, although I don’t know exactly how they were caused by bad programming. I can suppose the first was caused by insufficient noise reduction. But how about the second one? What re-programming do you think could be done to solve it?
I have no idea without being involved with the initial programming.
If you are unhappy with the aids you are trialing move on to another fitter. Odds are it’s the fitter, not the aids.
Curious, did they set these aids up with custom ear molds?
I will mention Costco again. They use best practices to fit their aids.
Good luck.
@Raudrive This was certainly case with me and Phonak P90s. It took him a long time to sqeeze the high frequency gain out of them. First fit is poor.
Peter
My own experience with two different models of Widex aids that I wore for 12 months each about ten years ago was that they are totally unusable in really noisy environments, for example in restaurants and parties.
I tried Widex again about 5 years ago and to me they sounded awful for music. So I have stuck with Resound, which works for me. The Resound Omnia that I have at the moment is fine in noisy environments and works for me with music too.
But a lot of it is in the fitting and the best hearing aids will perform badly if the fitting is incompetent or slapdash.