In my opinion, it’s not about the hardware, it’s about the person doing the programming.
If you decide to use a different vendor, I would not let them rely on the any previous hearing tests from other audiologists. Make sure they start from scratch, then they totally own the results.
Thanks for your input. I think these aids have the potential to be really good. That’s part of the reason I hesitate to give up on them. The audiologist is really trying. I only came across one other complaint when I googled issues with white noise. In Reddit, same issue I have, in a quiet room, a noise can trigger what that person called audio adjuster, and the very loud white noise comes on. Super annoying, not something I can learn to tolerate. I just wish there was a solution.
Thanks. My hearing test is from my ENT not from the audiologist fitting the aids. Results have been mostly the stable over the years, but definitely losing more loss in high frequencies. I have been informed it’s not a common hearing loss.
Thanks, I do write everything down as well. I can’t rely on my memory too much lol
The REM and other tests just give an initial starting point to the audiologist. It’s what happens next is that really counts. Unless they will extend the return window time, I suggest moving on.
I would definitely return your current HAs. Even before the return I would make an appointment at your local Costco. While I have several Costcos in my area you may not. It generally take 1 to 5 days for me to get an appointment. Yes, I do stay with the same location and fitter. Me advised not all fitters are equal. Weather it’s a private location or at Costco. Some are great and others are stinkers that are getting away with poor service and/or quality of adjustments.
As pointed out by others the Costco return policy is great. I don’t feel I abused it but I did return and start over 3 times. The first time was because of a crap fitter that had no idea what she was doing. Every adjustment was a crap shoot for results. I took a refund and went to a different Costco and stated the 6 month clock over. While my fitter was great I just did t like the HAs. So I test drove the 9040s and was happy. They came a week later and I’ve have them for about 6ish months now and I’m finally happy.
BTW, the hearing test at Costco is 100% free so let them give you and new test. To me that is a little assurance that it’s done correctly by the person fitting you. FYI, Costco also gives you 3 years of warranty with a 2 year loss and damage. If you try out a Costco HA and aren’t happy then do a complete return and start completely over. If you do an exchange for a different HA say a different brand then your 6 month clock doesn’t actually start over. But by doing the total return and then buying a different set the clock starts over.
Good luck,
30 days is not a long enough period for your brain to adjust. When I first got my aids the sound of my own voice sound odd and it takes time for the brain to adjust. So in my opinion, Bail! Bail! Bail! on your current situation. Find a provider with a much longer trial period and a fitter that gives you confidence in their ability.
Oh, I don’t know. Honestly I think I’ve got a good enough sense of a new pair of hearing aids a week after they’ve been properly fitted. But of course, the hard work of listening went into the fitting process! agreed, it may take longer than 30 days to properly fit a new pair of hearing aids. And yes, it takes time for our experience to adjust to new sounds, especially our own voice if custom molds are involved.
I don’t think that we folks who use hearing aids can afford to be “consumers”, in the sense that we expect the “product” meet our demands and perform right off the bat, like a vacuum cleaner or a light bulb. We have to be active participants in a process aimed at helping us to achieve our best hearing. This will Always take time. And the process is the opposite of “consumerism”.
We have to work with our providers in order to bring about a good result. I’m lucky in that my provider was able to make time for me every week in the process of dialing in the new aids that I was trialing, and them swapping them out for a lesser grade, cheaper model to see if those worked for me. Because of this I went beyond the 30 day trial period, at my audi’s suggestion. In the end I was happy.
But I worked with my audi to get the results I needed. We both learned from the process.
Thank you for the useful information! Good to know to make a return not an exchange!! Thanks!
Would you happen to know if your Audi tried a different formula? For example my Oticon Reals initially were set up with the DSL V5a formula which were way to bright for me causing ear pain. I had him switch over to the propriety VAC+ formula which is in my opinion much more balanced throughout and better results for me. My back up Costco Phillips 9040 are set up with the NAL NL2 formula. Which I don’t like as much as the VAC+ but gave me a good result regardless. So maybe if it hasn’t been done have your audi change the formula. Then fine tune things from there.
How there! I am going to suggest Resound, top of the line model. I have a similar loss profile and I have always been happy with this brand. I have used Phonak and like those as well, however this last pair of Resounds works well with my iPhone and I also bought the TV Streamers, so I feel I may be likely sticking with this brand.
Programming the aids is very important, so you will have to be working with someone that knows what they are doing. You may be able to upload your programming here as well. To get some help. I know there are people who do their own.
Wishing you the best!
Cynthia
@Eileen I have the same hearing aids and had a similar (or same?) issue. The way I described it to my audiologist was an amplified “wind” type noise. For example air coming out of vents in my vehicle or house registers would trigger some type of amplification of the noise. She contacted Starkey and they gave her a recommendation to try and it resolved my issue! I had to go back into the office for her to make the adjustment using Starkey’s programming software (it was not something that could be done via the My Starkey app). Unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly what the setting was, but it may be “Adaptive something” and it needed to be turned Off.
I’ll email my audiologist to get the exact setting and post an update, but in the interim if you are still struggling with this issue you may want to mention this to your audiologist and see if they know what setting it is (or have them email Starkey…I’d assume they’d get a similar recommendation).
Wow, thank you so much for this information!
I really appreciate how folks on this forum take the time to reply and really want to help. I’m so grateful.
Not that I’m happy you had this problem but I’m glad I’m not the only one! I only saw one other complaint about this online.
I had another visit with Audi today. She really doesn’t know how to program aids with my type loss but hopefully the person from Starkey who made adjustments knows what she was doing!
There was a hint of it in the car on my way home, but no where near as bad as before. Work environment has been the biggest problem with this issue. So I’ll find out tomorrow if the changes made will help there. I will certainly pass along what you told me if it isn’t resolved. Thank you so much!!!
Thanks for your help! My last pair was Resound and they were decent. I had to change hearing aid fitter due to insurance. They didn’t have Resound at the office, so I first tried Phonak, did not work for me, so I tried Starkey. I believe the problem is this audiologist is inexperienced, not so much the aids. But she will let me try Resound if this recent/today adjustment doesn’t fix the issue. Even though she reached out to starkey twice before, she believes the person who just reprogrammed them knew what she was doing. Fingers crossed she’s right. There are some things I like about these aids but I was happy with Resound, so I’ll definitely try them if this doesn’t work. Thanks for your advice!!
Thanks for your recommendation. I have so much to learn and I think my audi does too. Today she told me she was using Starkey formula but if this latest adjustment doesn’t work she’ll switch formulas. Someone from Starkey is helping her. They seem to know what they’re doing. Hopefully this works. Thank you!!
@Eileen I received an update from my audiologist. Not sure if this resolve your issue or not, but to fix my amplified “wind” type noise they went into the Starkey Sound Manager software and turned off “Consonant Brightness”. I believe the default was 2.
Thank you so much for checking and getting back to me. I really appreciate your help!! I will definitely pass along if the wind noise isn’t completely resolved. The Starkey person turned off a few things. Not positive if that was one of them. So far much improved, but I won’t know for sure until I work in the area that I had the most problems. So if it persists in that setting, I will be sure to try this. Thank you so much for your time and effort!! Happy Holidays!