What hearing aid would you recommend for severe-profound loss (in 2018)?

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Presbyter

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need recommendations on shopping for a new hearing aid
 
I looked at some of your older posts and see that you were wearing the Naida S UP. Not sure how that compares with a Naida B UP, but that one seems to be the go to aid in the Phonak line for severe/profound loss.

Have you been happy with Phonak? Or are you looking to switch brands? Or are there specific features or accessories that you require?
 
PinballWiz said:
I looked at some of your older posts and see that you were wearing the Naida S UP. Not sure how that compares with a Naida B UP, but that one seems to be the go to aid in the Phonak line for severe/profound loss.

Have you been happy with Phonak? Or are you looking to switch brands? Or are there specific features or accessories that you require?
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anything that helps me understand. I like Phonak. how much better is naida B UP? it has to be better for me to get it. I don't want to get something to same as my S UP. how do other brands compare? maybe I need an updated software on mine. will that help?
 
Presbyter said:
anything that helps me understand. I like Phonak. how much better is naida B UP? it has to be better for me to get it. I don't want to get something to same as my S UP. how do other brands compare? maybe I need an updated software on mine. will that help?
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Most of those questions are probably best for your audiologist. As far as the comparison from the S UP to the B UP, I could not say as I've only (recently) gotten the B. And this is my first high power aid.

Is it more volume that you're seeking, or better clarity? If it's volume then I'd guess something like the B UP is about as much as you're going to find. (Again, I can't compare it to the S.) But if it's clarity that your seeking then another brand might use different speech processing that you'd find to be better. Honestly, my older Starkey's had more clarity, I felt, but simply didn't provide the amplification. Hence my switch to the Phonak.

Hearing devices are very personal so it's hard to give guidance to someone else on what is "best." Try and work with an audiologist who will let you try a few models.
 
I know you like Phonak, but Oticon Opn plus power is really cool (and internet connected too, check that out too) *yes, I love to be trendy here LOL*
but yeah, looking forward to this after my birthday too ;)
FYI, OPN goes up to 105 if you're not bad as the others but their Dynamo goes up to 110 if that's optional too if you want to go small
 
Sarfarigirl2011 said:
I know you like Phonak, but Oticon Opn plus power is really cool (and internet connected too, check that out too) *yes, I love to be trendy here LOL*
but yeah, looking forward to this after my birthday too ;)
FYI, OPN goes up to 105 if you're not bad as the others but their Dynamo goes up to 110 if that's optional too if you want to go small
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how does oticon sound compared to phonak in the speech area
 
Presbyter said:
how does oticon sound compared to phonak in the speech area
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Oticon? it's freaking fantastic! (never worn a Phonak, I grew up on Siemens and Oticon as a child)
FYI I love that Oticon has their hearing aids pretty tiny too if you see my picture above
 
I wear Starkey aids. I used to have bicross aids but they were broken after a seizure..Medical covered the cost of the hearing aids I have now..personally I don't get many benefits from my present aids..I still have alot of problems communicating..often I hear ppl speak but clarity is a huge issue for me. I do hear things with my aids that I can't hear without them..like the sound of my shoes.on a hardwood floor as I walk or the sounds of the TV or radio..though I can't really make sense of the sounds( like talking)...If I am in a small room and only one person is speaking to me at a time I generally get the gist of what's being said, but there's still a lot of geusswork involved. When watching TV I have to use captioning. I don't know if more expensive Starkey hearing aids would work better for me..and I probably never will know because I am on a fixed income.
 
I’m profoundly deaf and have trialed the Naida B90 UP and the Naida Q90 UP. I personally couldn’t get on with the Naida B90 as it had to many options in the automatic program and all I could hear was the hearing aid changing.

I then went on to the Naida Q90 and that was perfect. It gave me the Speech in Wind program which I wanted but has less options in the automatic program.

I get really good clarity of speech and I can hear really well in background noise.
 
I've had both of them. While they both are equally good and does the same job, they do have different sounds and their programming works differently. While there are pro and cons to both, the only way to know which you like better is to try both of them cause what may work for one won't work as well for others.
 
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I use to have Starkey and now have Oticon's with a remote that I have hanging off my neck that I use many times a day to adjust to hearing people and to adjust to environment sounds. The remote is simply the best. The difference between the Starkey, is the sound is more natural. With the Oticon the sound is different somehow, yet clearer and louder than the Starkey, at least for me it is? Starkey may have improved their product since I had them, but that is my opinion between the two? Nothing though is perfect but it's better than without?
 
stephaniep said:
I use to have Starkey and now have Oticon's with a remote that I have hanging off my neck that I use many times a day to adjust to hearing people and to adjust to environment sounds. The remote is simply the best. The difference between the Starkey, is the sound is more natural. With the Oticon the sound is different somehow, yet clearer and louder than the Starkey, at least for me it is? Starkey may have improved their product since I had them, but that is my opinion between the two? Nothing though is perfect but it's better than without?
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What do you think about phonak even though you may not have tried it? I wear the early version of Phonak nadia up. 5-8 years now, I think. the watertight seals in battery compartment is a joke. the gasket turned gel like thick cream. epic failure of all time. What was phonak thinking? I had Oticon sumo years ago. the highest frequency I've heard in my life were on oticons. I guess I heard borderline feedback on high frequency sounds. maybe more like how jimmy Hendrix liked his sounds wailing with feedback. maybe it was the borderline feedback I was able to hear represented the high frequencies. I couldn't deal with too much of that but it was louder in the high frequency range. I had a friend who stopped using her cochlear implant for most of her life. she couldn't stand to salt pouring over the table. I'll do anything to hear that but maybe I wouldn't like it either.
 
I grew up with Widex hearing aids. From analog to digital. Currently have the Widex Dream. I think I had tried Octicon and some other kind but it was really odd and everyone sounded like they were underwater. I kept expecting bubbles to come out of their mouths! Anyways, I do enjoy my current ones. Again like everyone says above every hearing aid will sound different to each person depending on your hearing loss level. You might be able to "test drive" some hearing aid brands before deciding? That can help. :)
 
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