Well my ha is shot

Phi4Sius said:
Oh, and it gets better. My analog doesn't work now so I have a loaner from my audiologist. I have nothing but awesome things to say about my audie (been going to him for years).

I have two aids that I need to decide between now he recommended for me. The Phonak Exelia and Unitron 360+.

overthepond - how do you like your unitron? Is there somewhere I can find reviews about it? I've seen and heard nothing but good things about Phonak but don't see anything about Unitron on this forum.
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Phonak owns unitron BTW. The Exelia's are great, but expensive. What is your hearing loss? Moderate? Severe? Ect?
 
Oticon analog hearing aids are excellent as well.

I owned a pair of Oticon 380Ps that worked for 15 years without requiring a single repair and they still work to this day (according to my CI audi). That means they are still working perfectly after 19 years and 15 years of daily use.
 
Oticon has the 410, 420 power, 425 power plus, 380p, and 390pl still available. That's on top of the Sume E and XP.
 
I'm wearing the analog hearing aid right now (loaner) its Oticon Sumo XP (analog version of DM) it don't have good feedback cancellation like dm does but otherwise its good for extra power it have like 85 db gain or something but toward to residual hearing so you don't get all sound but that's normal for all hearing aid just this one is most powerful. You should trial with sumo you can try digital one first or analog one first whatever you want don't listen to audi if she/he's against it, and exelia is ridiliciously expensive sure it have all the bell and whistle but you should be more concern on how much of a benefit you will get from hearing aid and if you like something else better than what audi offer you to buy so you looked thru all possible options.
 
SkullChick said:
I'm wearing the analog hearing aid right now (loaner) its Oticon Sumo XP (analog version of DM) it don't have good feedback cancellation like dm does but otherwise its good for extra power it have like 85 db gain or something but toward to residual hearing so you don't get all sound but that's normal for all hearing aid just this one is most powerful. You should trial with sumo you can try digital one first or analog one first whatever you want don't listen to audi if she/he's against it, and exelia is ridiliciously expensive sure it have all the bell and whistle but you should be more concern on how much of a benefit you will get from hearing aid and if you like something else better than what audi offer you to buy so you looked thru all possible options.
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That's the problem with analog aids, they don't have feedback cancellation. To stop the FB you either get a tight fitting ear mold or turn the high frequencies down.

This isn't a bad option: http://www.gnresound.com/pro-sparx.html
 
SkullChick said:
I'm wearing the analog hearing aid right now (loaner) its Oticon Sumo XP (analog version of DM) it don't have good feedback cancellation like dm does but otherwise its good for extra power it have like 85 db gain or something but toward to residual hearing so you don't get all sound but that's normal for all hearing aid just this one is most powerful. You should trial with sumo you can try digital one first or analog one first whatever you want don't listen to audi if she/he's against it, and exelia is ridiliciously expensive sure it have all the bell and whistle but you should be more concern on how much of a benefit you will get from hearing aid and if you like something else better than what audi offer you to buy so you looked thru all possible options.
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That Oticon Sumo XP looks great! Are you able to turn the volume dial to 4 or whatever the max is without feedback(that anyone around you can hear) I could never turn it past 3 without feedback back in the days when I wore analog HAs.

Is the Digital verson of the SUMO as high a gain/spl as the analog? I noticed it has about 5db more low frequency gain/spl than my Phonak Naidas. Is it worth trying those, maybe they could be 10+ db better in my ears? I am getting about 10db less than the supposed maximum gain with those Phonak Naida V UP HAs. My dad keeps insisting that my Phonak Naida V UP HAs have been maxed out in the mid and high frequencies. If so, the "claim" of 80db gain(at 1000Hz) is wrong because im getting only 70db(110db loss, 40db aided) gain.
 
Thanks everyone.

Well, my audie cleaned out both HAs and they're still shot. But, anywho, I ended up deciding on the Phonak Exelia. I'll have it on Monday. Whoo-hoo!
 
Phi4Sius said:
Thanks everyone.

Well, my audie cleaned out both HAs and they're still shot. But, anywho, I ended up deciding on the Phonak Exelia. I'll have it on Monday. Whoo-hoo!
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Did you order a pair? Are you ever going to aid your bad ear?
 
Oticon Sumo is the king of the bass far as hearing aids goes. It might sound louder than the Phonak just by the fact it goes a bit deeper in the bass as far output is concerned. It uses a special kind of receiver that reminds me of a slot loaded woofer speaker design. The Sumo receiver uses a extra can cover around the receiver to take the sound that is coming from the slotted vent back into the output tube to prevent feedback. If you need more deep bass that one of the hearing aids to try. For me too much bass just will lose clarity of speech in the mid range. While I have digital hearing aids, Supero 412 I perfer to use the Phonak Super Font analog hearing aid with my CI implant just because both ears worked together better under that arraignment.
 
deafdude1 - Well, any existing aid on the market will cause pain in my left ear, because by the time it's aided appropriately enough to hear voices, that sound nears 3 dB below the pain threshold. With the 16 dB dynamic range of voices, hearing voices will fluctuate louder and softer with that dB level, and the risk of rupturing the ear drum in my left ear increases significantly with each dB increase of speech. I can already see what he's talking about regarding this, because my current loaner aid is a super power analog, which causes discomfort with loud sounds in my right ear (so I turn it down to where it doesn't).

Using a hearing aid in my left ear will also cause interference with the sound in my right ear, because my right ear is clear as can be with its aided results. With muffled sound coming from my left ear, along with vibrations from the powerful amplification of the aid, it will do nothing but detract from the great sound/clarity that I still have in my right ear. That's why my audie suggested I look into the cochlear implant, because it is an option that will amazingly provide the clarity and hearing in my left ear that matches (or becomes very close to) the hearing in my right ear, resulting in true bilateral hearing.
 
Phi4Sius said:
deafdude1 - Well, any existing aid on the market will cause pain in my left ear, because by the time it's aided appropriately enough to hear voices, that sound nears 3 dB below the pain threshold. With the 16 dB dynamic range of voices, hearing voices will fluctuate louder and softer with that dB level, and the risk of rupturing the ear drum in my left ear increases significantly with each dB increase of speech. I can already see what he's talking about regarding this, because my current loaner aid is a super power analog, which causes discomfort with loud sounds in my right ear (so I turn it down to where it doesn't).

Using a hearing aid in my left ear will also cause interference with the sound in my right ear, because my right ear is clear as can be with its aided results. With muffled sound coming from my left ear, along with vibrations from the powerful amplification of the aid, it will do nothing but detract from the great sound/clarity that I still have in my right ear. That's why my audie suggested I look into the cochlear implant, because it is an option that will amazingly provide the clarity and hearing in my left ear that matches (or becomes very close to) the hearing in my right ear, resulting in true bilateral hearing.
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Basically your left ear is useless. Does it even let you hear some environmental sounds? What is the pain threshold, how many db? Is the pain threshold supposed to be much higher for deaf people than hearing people?
What if you aren't a CI candidate since you other ear is too good? Will you just wait for a cure then? Do you plan to stimulate your auditory nerve in the left ear so it doesn't atrophy?
 
deafdude1- I haven't heard anything out of my left ear since I was around 4 years old, so no I don't know if it will ever let me hear environmental sounds even with a hearing aid. But that's my audie's primary concern: that I will only be able to hear environmental sounds and that I wouldn't be able to pick up voices once it's amplified to the point of me being able to hear voices.

I would guess that the pain threshold is the same for many people. Depending on the person's sensitivity to sound it could be a few dBs higher or lower.

My left ear hasn't been used for 25 years - so more than likely it has atrophied already. I won't know until I get further into the CI candidacy process. I don't know what my decision's going to be if I'm determined to be a CI candidate. I'll wait until the verdict on my candidacy is determined. :)
 
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