old analog user trying to adjust to digitals, NEED HELP!

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stlcardinalfan

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Has anyone experienced "muffledness" when exposed to louder noises with digital hearing aids? It's frustrating because I am missing out on a lot of speech because of the muffledness. If the environment is quiet and the person in front of me is talking in a very normal tone of speech, his or her voice is crystal clear, even soft spoken speech. However, if their speech volume rises, the HA overshoots and sounds muffled, causing less clarity, especially in noisier environments. I know people have mentioned that there may be too much compression, but I've had that adjusted and it seems like it hasn't helped much. I've tried many different HA's without much success. The worst HA's with the muffledness were the Phonaks. The best that I've tried are the Starkey absolute power RIC's with Widex being a close second. I am currently wearing the Widex Clear RIC. I have severe hearing loss in the pure tone ranges.



Any advice on remedying the "muffledness" sound would be appreciated. Thanks!
I've worn digitals since 2008 and struggle with them mightily. Prior to that, I wore analog hearing aids with much success since the age of four. I am 41.
 
suffered the same way with my 2nd hearing aids but I adjusted to digital much better when I got my 3rd set. *I tweaked the volume down to make it sound like my 1st aids lol*
but since I have the streamer, I found it pretty cool!
 
stlcardinalfan said:
Has anyone experienced "muffledness" when exposed to louder noises with digital hearing aids? It's frustrating because I am missing out on a lot of speech because of the muffledness. If the environment is quiet and the person in front of me is talking in a very normal tone of speech, his or her voice is crystal clear, even soft spoken speech. However, if their speech volume rises, the HA overshoots and sounds muffled, causing less clarity, especially in noisier environments. I know people have mentioned that there may be too much compression, but I've had that adjusted and it seems like it hasn't helped much. I've tried many different HA's without much success. The worst HA's with the muffledness were the Phonaks. The best that I've tried are the Starkey absolute power RIC's with Widex being a close second. I am currently wearing the Widex Clear RIC. I have severe hearing loss in the pure tone ranges.



Any advice on remedying the "muffledness" sound would be appreciated. Thanks!
I've worn digitals since 2008 and struggle with them mightily. Prior to that, I wore analog hearing aids with much success since the age of four. I am 41.
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I am the EXACT same way. Have worn analogs since I was 3 years old. I am now 32. Switched to digitals...far too much quietness and muffledness in the signal for me. I need the power like an analog signal provides.

Have you adjusted the compression levels as low as you can (rather than high compression)? High levels of compression will quiet and muffle the signal.

I had the exact same problem of too much quietness with digital hearing aids until I did the following for my Unitron 360e. It is now insanely AWESOME and I love the settings.

1. Had my audiologist remove the filter inside the tubing (the part the ear mold attaches on to).

2. Had the signal processing switched over to linear so the processing is more like analog.

3. Had the compression decreased as low as it would go. Mine was at 1.9...I had it lowered to about 1.3.

4. Adjusted the default volume up a few dB.
 
Wirelessly posted

Digitals need to be adjusted, especially when you first get them. I always had a followup appt. A week or so after I got them. I kept a log of what was great and what wasn't. Then went to my audiologist and she plugged them into the computer & we adjusted according to my log. Then I "lived" with the new adjustments and went back if I needed something more "tweaked." Unlike the old style analogs, digitals can be more finely tuned. But you have to communicate and work with your audiologist. :)
 
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