This is what I learned on the internet:
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Although they are familiar with the terminology many fitters have no real concept of usable gain. There are very discrete levels of gain that can be achieved with any given hearing aid configuration. It has nothing to do with the power of the hearing aid. Many manufacturers will provide more power in the amplifier than can be used in the ear without feedback. Starkey is one of the worse at this. They will put out a CIC with 50 dB to 60 dB of gain. Fitters believe them when they say the feedback manager can handle this. No it can’t. We’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of hearing aid wears come into our office with feedback and speech understanding problems. When we scope their hearing aids we find that yes, the hearing aid has a powerful amplifier but the hearing aid is set to deliver only 30% to 50% of that power. Why? Because physics dictates maximum power levels for every given configuration. When fitters tried to fit the Air 60 above a certain loss level they ran smack into the laws of physics. But, if your loss is mild to moderate, the Air 60 was a great hearing aid.
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How much gain can a CIC deliver max without feedback? What about a mini open fit for the lows and highs? What about a powerful BTE HA? My HAs appear to be giving me as much as 75db gain without feedback! Anyone know what's the most gain a manufactor can make a BTE? 90db? 100db?
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Although they are familiar with the terminology many fitters have no real concept of usable gain. There are very discrete levels of gain that can be achieved with any given hearing aid configuration. It has nothing to do with the power of the hearing aid. Many manufacturers will provide more power in the amplifier than can be used in the ear without feedback. Starkey is one of the worse at this. They will put out a CIC with 50 dB to 60 dB of gain. Fitters believe them when they say the feedback manager can handle this. No it can’t. We’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of hearing aid wears come into our office with feedback and speech understanding problems. When we scope their hearing aids we find that yes, the hearing aid has a powerful amplifier but the hearing aid is set to deliver only 30% to 50% of that power. Why? Because physics dictates maximum power levels for every given configuration. When fitters tried to fit the Air 60 above a certain loss level they ran smack into the laws of physics. But, if your loss is mild to moderate, the Air 60 was a great hearing aid.
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How much gain can a CIC deliver max without feedback? What about a mini open fit for the lows and highs? What about a powerful BTE HA? My HAs appear to be giving me as much as 75db gain without feedback! Anyone know what's the most gain a manufactor can make a BTE? 90db? 100db?