Additional info my current Beltone's are 36 hr rechargeable. You can barely see them as they have various color options to blend in with hair. One drawback, I have many times been performing oral on a lady and as she gets excited she runs her hands thru my hair and grabs them causing feedback LOL
Well said Mayhem8 and that is not all. They have multiple settings customized to your ears and ready to choose,that cover the environment settings mentioned. They reduce feedback. They actually increase ONLY where you need help(specific tone ranges) to the level you need help. Take me for example. In low tones, I have almost normal hearing but I have horrible hearing in high tones. In some of the high tone zones it is so bad they cannot just elevate the sound. So they take those tones I cannot hear, change it to the nearest tone I can hear. If nothing else go to a Beltone or other reputable hearing aid vendor. The exam is free and they will make recommendations based on that exam. They can tell you exctly what you cannot hear and what vowel sounds cause you issues. Obviously there are various cost levels based on appearance and technology. I mention Beltone as I am on my 3rd set and have been as satisfied as I can be considering my hearing loss. I want to tell you, not being able to converse with my grandkids opened up my check book. What;s more important?
mayhem , well said.
My difficulty is sifting through the hyperbolic descriptions about these very topics.
john_paul - "I can hear just fine but I have trouble understanding speech."
This is the essence of the crux of "Do I need hearing aids?". People think that because they can "hear" that they do not need hearing aids. This is why the cheaper hearing aids that are really just sound boosters won't really help much. A true hearing aid allows you to boost the specific frequency ranges that they have trouble hearing.
For those that are older, a true hearing aid essentially miniaturizes the graphic equalizer booster that some people had on their component stereo systems. Some cheaper hearing aids basically just allow for adjusting the treble or the bass (high and low freq's) vs what a graphic equalizer booster did.
Better hearing aids have dual directional microphones and environment settings (i.e. indoors, outdoors, music, etc) and AI chips to bias and amplify the sound based on the environment you're in.
Are you a vet . we tried all those advertised on they suck, went to va and there's are great.
I've had Phonsks for the last 6 years. I agree they are steady work horses but a bit low tech. I can hear just fine but I have trouble understanding speech.
Costco has remarkbly high quality of evaluaive service and remarkably low prices.
I have basically no hearing in my right ear and about 40 in mt left(all ranges). My Ear Surgeon suggested Air Pods.use them in my L ear and works great for less than 300$. Must have I phone however.
I have used hearing devices since days of Oticon in the ear aids. I recently purchased over the ear Philips from Costco for less than $2000.00 including the TV sending device. I have major hearing loss for higher pitch sounds (my wife insists it is just selective hearing??). The Costco folks worked very diligently to give me the best product for my hearing issue. The Philips aids are very good as I can adjust them from my iPhone. The major issue that I have is arthritis in my fingers and inserting the hearing devices into my ears was a challenge but I am working through that issue. I do enjoy the quality technology built into these devices.
I am on my 3rd set of Beltones higher end aids. I have two. The technology is amazing with thinggs like they tale sounds I am incapable of hearing and replaces them with tones I can hear. I have profound loss in the high ranges so this is taking a high pitch abd transforming into a tone I can hear. Rechargeable 30+ hr battery , phone app to adjust levels and tones from numerous presets. Each one programmed to give me haring specifically where I need it, $5000 for the pair
FWIW - I have been using Blaids Neuro hearing aids for about 6 months now and like them. They are rechargeable behind the ear type. They are capable of streaming but not supported by my current (older) phone, but I don't use them for that anyway. I get at least 14+ hrs on a charge.
They have dual microphones and a built-in hearing test that can produces an audiogram that you can implement with the push of a button through an app that connects to the hearing aids. The hearing aid have 7 separate frequency bands that can be boosted. A lot of tech for the money.
Noise cancellation modes are General, Indoor, Outdoor, and Music. They have volume and mode change buttons on the receiver. One of the buttons is a little sticky, but otherwise I've had no problems with them so far. Cost was around $550 when I bought them on Amazon.
thank you. I have had similar experience with mine.
Phonak seems to aim for dependable but not quite cutting edge tech.
I also have a Phonak brand…. audeo Lumity model. Rechargeable and connects to my phone and flat screen. Specific environments like restaurants can be selected to address background or competing noises. Overall happy. Downside is it drains battery both in the devices and my iphone when using bluetooth. But I don’t need to wear them all the time so I maybe recharge them every third or fourth day.
Another oddity is the charging device doesnt hold a charge (available that way but an upgrade I think for another $100+ but holds one day charge) so i just bring my charging cable and usb. Its not a big deal. Quality wise, quite good. Especially impressed with the sound when I listen to music on my phone. Sound is like an Airpod, or JBL bluetooth. Oh price was around $2000. So not premium but I figure I will lose them eventually.
I am about tp retire my 8 year old Phonak M90R s. The batteries are due to go soon and replacements are expensive out of warranty.
Things have changed for the better since I bought them.
I am curious as to what others current experiences are.
This is vaguely reminiscent of walking into a computer store for the first time as far as my awareness of all the new tech.
