Starkey Destiny BTE Hearing Aid

Alex,

I recantly started wearing 2 phonak BTEs. They have a musician's program built into them. I actually have 3 programs on them.

The default one will filter everything above a particular decibel level that is outside of the normal frequency range of the human voice. This is great for me because I used to have a very difficult time hearing people. My guitar and other music sounds like crap like this though since they have a huge frequency range.

That's where program 2 comes in. It is the musician program. It doesn't pick on any particular frequencies at all. It mainly amplifies every frequency evenly so they can be heard and filters all of them evenly if they are to loud. I find the tone qualities of this one the most desirable and may eventually have my audiologist make this the default.

Program 3 is what I call my shopping mall setting. Way to much noise of every frequency and they go into super filtering mode. They filter non human frequencies AND turn off the back mics on them making this environment more comfy. I may trade this one off though for the telephone program.

I feel like a real n00b trying to give any advice here since I am very new to the world of hearing aids but being a musician myself, I couldn't stay quiet about it.

Pat
 
I wear two Bernafon win 112 btes. They have only one program with compression so I don't have a change to get a music program . Yet, I enjoy music much better than my old analog(Oticon E26P) . I've especially liked being able to hear 'stereo' mode cuz I couldn't wear two has in the past due to money problem . ( I have 92 dbl loss in both ears and one aid didn't offer me enough power and hearing in the past .. two has are a must )
 
SteveAUD said:
. It does not utilize directional microphones (two mics), because the majority of severe-to-profound hearing impaired people (who likely have been wearing hearing aids since childhood), hate directional microphones. They commonly state when they get into noise, the hearing aids get too quiet. They are used to the 360* sound they got with one mic.
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Thats not true that people with a severe hearing loss hate directional microphones. Being born with a severe hearing loss I need all the noise reduction I can get when talking with people. I was upset for a long time that manufactures with a very few exceptions did not put in noise reduction features that are available in the lower power aids in their high power aids.
 
Canuckian_Chick said:
see I wouldn't have known that lol.. smile (blushing)... so anything stronger than that kind of hearing aid?? what's a newer one??

Also,the smarklink I'm getting any other accessories - do i need microlink?? I know I need such as the antenna as needing to hook up my ipod as well as in meetings so on.....

I'm gonna try to check into phonak una as well... needing to hear softer sounds as well since I'm down on the 95 to 105db level.. but i do hear some bird chirping if it's quiet around me... or fire sirens ... so on...
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I have the una and so far I love it! I don't have any programs yet but I go on friday for an adjustment and to tweak anything I don't like which isn't much...I have the Una M AZ so I will have audiozoom added to one of my programs and an fm program for my smartlink and then i'm not sure about my other 2 yet...the una has 4 programs for sure and i think 4 channels...Oh and with my una I am getting the ML9S reciever for my bte since it integrates into the ha so it won't look bulky...I don't have my smartlink yet, i get mine in sept. but when i get it and use it ill tell u all bout it..unless u get the smartlink first:ty:
Hope that helps a bit:cool:
 
WHAT!?!?!? said:
Alex,

I recantly started wearing 2 phonak BTEs. They have a musician's program built into them. I actually have 3 programs on them.

The default one will filter everything above a particular decibel level that is outside of the normal frequency range of the human voice. This is great for me because I used to have a very difficult time hearing people. My guitar and other music sounds like crap like this though since they have a huge frequency range.

That's where program 2 comes in. It is the musician program. It doesn't pick on any particular frequencies at all. It mainly amplifies every frequency evenly so they can be heard and filters all of them evenly if they are to loud. I find the tone qualities of this one the most desirable and may eventually have my audiologist make this the default.

Program 3 is what I call my shopping mall setting. Way to much noise of every frequency and they go into super filtering mode. They filter non human frequencies AND turn off the back mics on them making this environment more comfy. I may trade this one off though for the telephone program.

I feel like a real n00b trying to give any advice here since I am very new to the world of hearing aids but being a musician myself, I couldn't stay quiet about it.

Pat
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Thanks for sharing your experience with your Phonak hearing aids, Pat. Unfortunately, my Starkey hearing aid doesn't come with a musician's program built-in. That would've been cool if it did. Right now the second program/mode is better than the first mode, but I'm still not satisfied as it still filters out some sounds when I play my guitar. Will pay my audiologist a visit again one of these days.
 
john57 said:
Thats not true that people with a severe hearing loss hate directional microphones. Being born with a severe hearing loss I need all the noise reduction I can get when talking with people. I was upset for a long time that manufactures with a very few exceptions did not put in noise reduction features that are available in the lower power aids in their high power aids.
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I said the majority don't like them. You would be in the minority that does. Take for instance the person who's worn analog hearing aids for 15yrs. They have gotten accustom to receiving sound 360* around them. When they try to go to a hearing aid that knocks sound down from the sides and the back, they traditionally complain that everything gets too quiet when they get into a noise situation. Couple that with the fact that some never get accustomed to digital hearing aids and you have someone thirsting for more power. I didn't say all, but it is certainly something I warn long time hearing aid users about when we sit down to discuss new hearing aid options.
 
SteveAUD said:
I said the majority don't like them. You would be in the minority that does. Take for instance the person who's worn analog hearing aids for 15yrs. They have gotten accustom to receiving sound 360* around them. When they try to go to a hearing aid that knocks sound down from the sides and the back, they traditionally complain that everything gets too quiet when they get into a noise situation. Couple that with the fact that some never get accustomed to digital hearing aids and you have someone thirsting for more power. I didn't say all, but it is certainly something I warn long time hearing aid users about when we sit down to discuss new hearing aid options.
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SteveAUD, I have a question to you. I wonder what could be the side effects of adding 'directional microphones' to super power hearing aids. In the past , Don Schum from Oticon said that adding directionality to super power hearing aids is difficult and can cause other problems to the user.

I was also a long time analog aid user and has been wearing digitals for 11 months and I can be said I got used to the digital sound but my aids don't have directionality and I wonder if I could benefit from directional microphones ? My loss is around 92 dbl in both ears and I need to speech reading in even quiet situations most of the time. What's your opinion ? :ty:
 
SteveAUD said:
I said the majority don't like them. You would be in the minority that does. Take for instance the person who's worn analog hearing aids for 15yrs. They have gotten accustom to receiving sound 360* around them. When they try to go to a hearing aid that knocks sound down from the sides and the back, they traditionally complain that everything gets too quiet when they get into a noise situation. Couple that with the fact that some never get accustomed to digital hearing aids and you have someone thirsting for more power. I didn't say all, but it is certainly something I warn long time hearing aid users about when we sit down to discuss new hearing aid options.
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This was most certainly the case for me. I wish my audi would have sat me down and explained that because of the fact I was a long time analog HA user of over 20 years my adjustment to digital HAs *might* be more difficult. I spent 6 months trying to become accustomed to my digital HAs, but was never satisfied with them. They didn't provide enough power (or so it seemed to me) and sounded distorted in comparison to my analogs. Of course, at the time I received my digitals (Oticon DigiFocus II super power), they were just entering the market, so not much was known about the overall capabilities of digital HAs vs. analog.
 
highlands said:
SteveAUD, I have a question to you. I wonder what could be the side effects of adding 'directional microphones' to super power hearing aids. In the past , Don Schum from Oticon said that adding directionality to super power hearing aids is difficult and can cause other problems to the user.

I was also a long time analog aid user and has been wearing digitals for 11 months and I can be said I got used to the digital sound but my aids don't have directionality and I wonder if I could benefit from directional microphones ? My loss is around 92 dbl in both ears and I need to speech reading in even quiet situations most of the time. What's your opinion ? :ty:
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Adding directional mics to super power hearing aids will reduce the overall gain/power of the hearing aid. Coupled with the fact that directional microphones tend to produce a low frequency roll off when activated. This has not however stopped hearing aid manufacturers from producing superpower hearing aids with directionality (Siemens Centra SP, ect).

What model heairng aids do you have?
 
SteveAUD said:
Adding directional mics to super power hearing aids will reduce the overall gain/power of the hearing aid. Coupled with the fact that directional microphones tend to produce a low frequency roll off when activated. This has not however stopped hearing aid manufacturers from producing superpower hearing aids with directionality (Siemens Centra SP, ect).

What model heairng aids do you have?
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Can It be said that directional mics are much less helpful for severe/profound loss ? I say this cuz low frequency region is vital for most people with severe/profound loss.

I wear Bernafon win 112 btes :) . My loss changes between 70 to 95 decibels ( 92 dbl in average ) and it is around 80-90 decibels in high frequency area.
 
highlands said:
Can It be said that directional mics are much less helpful for severe/profound loss ? I say this cuz low frequency region is vital for most people with severe/profound loss.

I wear Bernafon win 112 btes :) . My loss changes between 70 to 95 decibels ( 92 dbl in average ) and it is around 80-90 decibels in high frequency area.
Click to expand...


Directional mics are something I wouldn't tell you not to try. The advantage of todays hearing aids is that if they are on the hearing aid, you don't like them, I can disable them and leave the hearing aid in omni-directional mode. However, yes, people with severe-to-profound hearing losses typically crave the power in the lower pitches, so when the D-mics activate, they tend to complain it gets too quiet. The Bernafon Win 112 doesn't have an option for direction microphones and the 105 will likely not be powerful enough for you. If someone wanted a superpower with D-mics I'd tell them to go with Siemens.
 
Thank you , I now guess that directional microphones probably wouldn't offer me significant improvements in noisy situations.. I had better go see my audilogist and ask him to re-program my aids cuz I can't get speech clarity yet.

One more question ,Are my Bernafon win 112 btes powerful enough my loss ? Do I really need more powerful aids such as Sumo DM ? How can I calculate the approximate required gain value for my loss ? Thanks.
 
Hear Again said:
Alex,

I may be wrong about this, but it sounds as if your digital hearing aids have the compression setting enabled on them. You might want to ask your audi if this is the case and if so, to disable this setting.

When I wore digital HAs (Oticon DigiFocus II super power BTEs), I asked my audi to disable compression because of sound constantly fading in and out. This was especially problematic for me when I was outside traveling because the compression setting caused my HAs to cut in and out whenever a loud vehicle passed me by. Once my audi disabled the compression setting on my aids, I found that the sounds I heard were smoother and more consistent.

Let us know what happens at your audi appointment. :)
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OMG this could have been my entire problem with my HA back when I wore them! I absolutely hated it because anytime there was a loud sound or snap it would automatically shut off and I hated it. During the day at my school it would cut in and out and drove me absolutely up the wall. I dont know how many fights I had with my parents over the stupid thing and hated wearing it and often I would take it out when I got to school. Ever since then I hated HAs and never wanted to wear one again. If I had known this prior - then I would have said mum/dad - my HA is not set right for me to comfortably go through day-to-day life0 I need to have it properly adjusted.

Bad part about it is I uh - 'accidentally' threw it out................................................................................. :ugh3:
 
Steve,

I've had a Sumo DM for about 6 years now but I wore it for only about a month and hated it. I went back to my old analog aids. I've tried about two other digital aids and my biggest problem is that I feel like I I'm in a box most of the time. I thought this might be because the mics were directional, but then I read your post about the Sumo DM being an Omni Mic. Is there anything else that could be contributing to the boxed in feeling other than the mic? I figure I should just throw up my hands and dive into digital. Might as well get used to it...
 
Alex said:
Thanks for sharing your experience with your Phonak hearing aids, Pat. Unfortunately, my Starkey hearing aid doesn't come with a musician's program built-in. That would've been cool if it did. Right now the second program/mode is better than the first mode, but I'm still not satisfied as it still filters out some sounds when I play my guitar. Will pay my audiologist a visit again one of these days.
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how is your current status ? maybe you switched to another hearing aid ?
 
I have ditched my digital hearing and use this old Oticon PerSonic analog hearing aid these days. All is good...for now. :fingersx:
 
Alex said:
I have ditched my digital hearing and use this old Oticon PerSonic analog hearing aid these days. All is good...for now. :fingersx:
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you have hearing aid! really I am surprised :D
 
Alex said:
I have ditched my digital hearing and use this old Oticon PerSonic analog hearing aid these days. All is good...for now. :fingersx:
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interesting , I do wear digitals and I enjoy music as well. It may be due to the fact that my hearing aids have three channel processing . More channels such as eight may lead to unnatural changes on sounds except speech ?
 
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