Help needed for a long time analogue user

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A unhappy deaf

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Hello i am in need of some advice but before i start i will give you some information about me and my hearing:

I am 23 years old and profoundly deaf in both ears since birth, I have worn analogue hearing aids since a child.

But last year 2011 I accidentally dropped my hearing aid and it broke so I went to my Audiologist and was told that it could not be fixed and I would be replaced with a digital hearing aid.
I was reluctant to try the new hearing aid at first but I had no choice as I was told that Analogue hearing aids have been discontinued so I then had my new digital hearing aid setup and have been back to my Audiologist about three times to have the settings tweaked but I still couldn't get used to it and complained that it sounded quiet so my audiologist turned up all the sliders in frequency settings from
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To

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She said it was now at max.

It sounded a little bit louder so i went off on my way and tried to get used to, it had been over eight months since I had it fitted and it is not right as I thought I would give it time so my brain could adjust to these new sounds but I still cannot adapt to it and miss my old analogue hearing aid.

So i spoke to people on this forum and they said that my digital hearing aid can be programmed to sound analogue so i went back to my audiologist and she did the following

  • Set the microphone setting as an omnidirectional microphone
  • Turned off all compression but setting the compression ratios to 1.0
  • Turned off all noise features like noise reduction, and all other modern features
  • Set only two programs on my aid 1=universal 2=telecoil
  • Set the maximum output control (MPO) to a comfortable level

While i was there i asked for a new mold to be made and it sent to my address as i had my current mold for over 7 years.


I went off and got used to the new analogue setup on my digital aid and found it so much better in listening to music and everyday life, My new mold came and i connected it to my hearing aid and everything was loud, bassy and boomy and high pitched so i went back to the audiologist and she turned down the low and high frequencies down.
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It was much better but it has been about 2 months since i last saw her and i am due to see her next week so i am here today asking for advice for my problems so i can tell her next week.

My complaints are:

  • My certain sounds in my voice sound weird like too much is being picked up in the mid range sounds and my voice is soft but loud like saying "La La La" is loud and soft i do not like it.
  • The sound of Plates and cutlery when put down are very sensitive as if the sound dominate all sounds for a split second.
  • Soft sounds seem louder than other sounds like my voice and other sounds, They tend to sound as they are overriding other sounds
  • When putting things in the fridge the clunk sound overrides other sounds and sounds like too much is being picked up in that sound frequency

I believe the final solution to my problems in just down to the fine tuning of the hearing aid, Would me telling my audiologist to reset the frequency shaping back to how it was a year ago when my aid was first set up be the solution to my problem?
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And then work from there?

My hearing aid is a Siemens Impact DP

Thank You very much.
 
This is what I got for my wife 2 years ago. It is old tech analog and has the same power as the old Oticon E28P's, which is what I used to wear before getting the CI's.

Surprisingly it has been extremely reliable so far. If you order it, compare the db gain settings on your old one and turn the dials in the new one to the same spot.

I think this aid is made by the same factory that makes Starkey's old analogue aids.

The ebay seller has been very good at answering my questions.

LiSound HB66P Powerful Hearing Aid Moderate - Profound | eBay
 
that's interesting and U know what? I still have my old analog and it still works! (left works, right needs a battery door since it's hard to get it back on)
*my analogs are Siemens*
 
I have Siemens Reflex DSPs after using analogues my whole life, they also have compression switched off. It took me quite a while to get used to at first, they were quieter than analogues. Some sounds, like plates clattering were irritating at first and even now, after four years, when my dog barks close to me I get feedback. However, I found that with time I got used to them. You could ask your Audi to try the original settings again, if it doesn't work out they can always change it back again, or maybe it might take a bit more time for you to get used to them. I suspect that your new moulds are probably a much tighter fit than the old ones, that could make a difference too.
 
{{{I feel you}}}

I had the same problem when my analogs went kaput and there was nothing to do but face the digital word.

I was extremely unhappy as my first experience with the digital HAs was so crappy.
But you know what? After meeting my third or fourth - I can't really remember the count - audiologist, I am so glad there is such thing
as the digital hearing aid.
It really works better if you know how to properly set it up.

First of all, judging from the pictures - it doesn't say sh*t.
How are we to judge if this is right or wrong if we aren't professionals to being with.
Second, we don't know your hearing loss, your specific audiogram graph.

Third, adjusting the digital aid properly to your specific need is a long process, done on the computers,
for me it took solid two to three hours for both hearing aids over minimum three appointments.
I kept coming back, once or twice months later for more adjustments.

It took everything from me to be angelic patient, not to burst into tears, not to jump out of the chair and run away from the shop.
Also, the audi has to be a patient and polite person as well, not to show irritation or displeasure - it's his/her paid job to do that
during the fittings. This is what they choose to do for paid work.

All this is only about the hearing aids and adjusting the programs to your hearing.
The other question is - are you sure you have the right HA model for your hearing loss? maybe you need more powerful model?

If indeed the programs in your HA were worked out carefully and are set at optimal settings according to your needs,
yet still you can not hear as well as before with your analogs,
then I wonder maybe it's not the program but the model that is not right for you.


As for the programs available in your existing HAs - you should have been thoroughly explained what your digital HA can/are supposed to do.
For example, can they increase the background noise and increase speech if they have such program.
so audi manipulate controls, and you listen, and you say -"now I am happy".
next they may increase bass, and you listen, then they increase trebles, and you listen
and you ask them to reverse and go forward as many times as you are sure you got it right.
meantime you get confused from exhaustion so you have every damn right for a 5-10 minutes break, and start anew.

And so on.

Did you do all that? how did your programming of the HAs went? how long? how many times?

Fuzzy
 
ps.
after re-reading your first post, I doubt even more your audiologist is doing
a good job. in fact ANY job adjusting your digital HA.

Turning all the controls up to max or down or the middle is NOT fine tuning.
Not even tuning. That is NOT what the idea of digital hearing aid is of.


Fine tuning is when certain sounds are tested almost individually, and then
harmoniously balanced together.

I am pretty sure my controls didn't look anything like that.

I think you should keep looking for another, better audi.

Fuzzy
 
I am currently wearing Starkey S series 5, these were my 3rd digital pair and are supposedly top of the line and best out there? After these quit helping me thats it besides CI....
They were hard to get used to, the BTE processor has a wire instead of a tube/earmold, to an earmold that houses a powerful speaker system. Certain sounds including my voice will warble at certain levels and drove me nuts especially in a car where its the worst I guess due to confined space? It took weeks on end to get it right, some sounds overpowered others, one was louder than the other... all those crazy combinations... Just keep going back once a week till they nail it, fine tuning is the hardest to do, it sounds ok in the office but once you get in the real world its a whole new ball game. Put some change in your hand and shake it and listen to each side for high frequencies, drop a book or tap a table for bass, play some music and listen to the ranges, are the highs crisp or piercing your ears, are the basses booming or sound too high pitched or cut out? List what sounds bother you or need improvements and take items that produces those sounds when fine tuning.
 
Smart, experienced audiologists are very hard to find these days. Many are young and still learning, others are hard-headed.

I blame a number of factors, and computers are one big reason. Many people today depend on computers to do all the calculating, troubleshooting, etc, for them.

As soon as an audi makes the statement "But, the computer says there is nothing wrong, it should be working fine", I immediately stop seeing that person and find another.

With analog aids, what you hear is what you get.....with digital aids, there are many, many ways to set up what you want to hear. Just because the default programs in those aids were set up by using 10 people as examples, it does not mean they should work with everyone.
 
green427 said:
Smart, experienced audiologists are very hard to find these days. Many are young and still learning, others are hard-headed.

I blame a number of factors, and computers are one big reason. Many people today depend on computers to do all the calculating, troubleshooting, etc, for them.

As soon as an audi makes the statement "But, the computer says there is nothing wrong, it should be working fine", I immediately stop seeing that person and find another.

With analog aids, what you hear is what you get.....with digital aids, there are many, many ways to set up what you want to hear. Just because the default programs in those aids were set up by using 10 people as examples, it does not mean they should work with everyone.
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My audiologist would adjust mine through the computer while Im wearing them, we wold talk, make noises and so on all the while he kept tweeking them, How is that? Too loud/too low? How about that? and finally it all sounded good, Id leave and it sounded different outside, gave it a week to adjust to the new sounds and if they were still off I could make an appointment and go back for more adjustments. Took about 2 months but finally got it right. Last time during a factory repair the factory didnt reset them and when I got them back the sound was so screwed up... The audiologist was mad that they didnt reset them as they are supposed to do to the original settings as they received them... luckily the audiologist saved my file and took him about a minute to set the settings back. But as he said once these quit helping me, thats it for hearing aids. Gave me a number for a specialist to see about CI... just havent went yet, dont know if I want to do that?
 
sonocativo said:
My audiologist would adjust mine through the computer while Im wearing them, we wold talk, make noises and so on all the while he kept tweeking them, How is that? Too loud/too low? How about that? and finally it all sounded good, Id leave and it sounded different outside, gave it a week to adjust to the new sounds and if they were still off I could make an appointment and go back for more adjustments. Took about 2 months but finally got it right. Last time during a factory repair the factory didnt reset them and when I got them back the sound was so screwed up... The audiologist was mad that they didnt reset them as they are supposed to do to the original settings as they received them... luckily the audiologist saved my file and took him about a minute to set the settings back. But as he said once these quit helping me, thats it for hearing aids. Gave me a number for a specialist to see about CI... just havent went yet, dont know if I want to do that?
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Sounds like you have a good audi, one that listens to you.

I can't tell you whether you should get CI's or not, but, I suggest that you exhaust all hearing aid possibilities before getting CI's. If you can understand some people without looking at them, I would put off the CI's until you get to the point where HA's are not doing their job.
 
green427 said:
Sounds like you have a good audi, one that listens to you.

I can't tell you whether you should get CI's or not, but, I suggest that you exhaust all hearing aid possibilities before getting CI's. If you can understand some people without looking at them, I would put off the CI's until you get to the point where HA's are not doing their job.
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Yes, He said these were the last... Once these get to the point that they quit working for me the only option would be CI... Im kind of feeling to stay away from the CI from what I have researched and read on them...Basically Im confused about them. I hear they help some, others they dont and then I read that you dont hear what you think you will hear ( noises and brain re-learning? ) But like I have said before I havent seen a specialist yet.
 
sonocativo said:
Yes, He said these were the last... Once these get to the point that they quit working for me the only option would be CI... Im kind of feeling to stay away from the CI from what I have researched and read on them...Basically Im confused about them. I hear they help some, others they dont and then I read that you dont hear what you think you will hear ( noises and brain re-learning? ) But like I have said before I havent seen a specialist yet.
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I'd give the Widex Super 440 a try. I wore Starkey all my life as analogs and thought they'd be great for digitals, but I was wrong. The sound is awful, Starkey just doesn't cut it with digitals. Widex has given me the best sound right out of the box. I think it was 12 plus visits with the Starkey and the sound was still terrible and they were hard to get used to; I really hated wearing them. Two visits with Widex and it's been aces. I'll be staying with this brand myself.

Laura
 
Ok, most of the others Ive worn were Siemen and another brand I cannot remember but when I went back to them as they were maxed out already I still couldnt hear out of them since my hearing has went downhill drastically since using them, so it tells me that these are at their last leg as well.
 
Whether OP comes back or not, this thread can be useful to anyone who has similar problems with his/her first digital HAs, so, there :)

My first serious try with digital was with Phonak, and immediately I was impressed. The audio showed me a set programmed for someone else
to entice me into digital world as I came in hope to also fix my dying analog.

Even with the wrong program, I could tell I can hear somewhat better anyway (with a wrong program, that is) and she assured me that with a proper,
fine tuning I would really be able to hear so much better than with any analog.

But in the end, what happened while I was looking for better prices - I came across a firm who recommend a newest Siemens model on the market,
so new that I would be one of the first people to have it in Canada if not the very first, lolol

I decided to try Siemens, as I had it before twice, (also I had Oticon, and was happy with it, too), and I am so glad I listened.
I got to get wonderful, eager to please, intelligent and truly listening audi who made a world of difference!
He assured me over and over that it's okay to take as much time as I need, not to be nervous and TELL the TRUTH! whether or not it "feels right".

Like someone very importantly mentioned before, it is us, not computers, what, when and how we hear thru these damn things!!!!!!

yes, yes, that's right! - if the audi says "but the computer says ...." get up and go somewhere else.

Unless the audi is willing to listen to you.

My audiologist would adjust mine through the computer while Im wearing them, we wold talk, make noises and so on all the while he kept tweeking them, How is that? Too loud/too low? How about that? and finally it all sounded good, Id leave and it sounded different outside, gave it a week to adjust to the new sounds and if they were still off I could make an appointment and go back for more adjustments.
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That's actually great. That at least shows he is interested in your opinion,
and adjust 'controls' to your needs.
If the sounds are different outside - well, in the soundproofed, comfortable audi cabin the sounds would be different outside.
Ask your audi if it is possible to go outside during a session for a minute or two to see how does it "feel" outside then make as best adjustments as possible to the environment outside.

It's probably wind most of all, people taking and the traffic hum that overwhelm everything else.


My Siemens can have up to 4 or more separate settings for different purposes.
I can have program set for 'general' listening.
Then I can have for "one on one talk" when the background noise is reduced to be used in noisy environment, e/g - restaurant, at the games, parties etc. btw, it really does help.
you can have it set for TV - for me, it is simply set so the voice sound level is increased just so it can be as clear and loud as possible while everything else is muted and at about the same level - for example
a sudden noises like an explosion, music etc does not overpower the conversation.
last but not terribly necessary, b/c the reduced background option can work as well or even the general one increased as well - is the telephone setting.

With my remote I can switch to any which at any given time.
It took ages to get to that and numerous adjustments, but it was oh so worth it!


Ask your audi if it is possible to do such settings with your HAs?
One for inside, one for outside?


The bottom line, IMHO, of programming is this -

I T 'S YOUR M O N E Y.

Whether you paid $1000 or $5000 for your HAs,
I am sure it wasn't like just merely spitting on the floor - having to pay this kind of money.
It took an effort to whip up the money for the aids, I'm sure,
and those who chose for their work programming these things, their better do their job properly.
You, as a customer have every right to a proper service - is that simple.
(and also as a customer, an obligation to be a good customer as well.
be firm, but polite. :) )

So - don't be shy to ask for what you need. If you feel your HAs does not perform as well as they should be, ask for more adjustments.

At the same time, please remember, these are not miraculous devices- just digital. You won't hear thru them a whole lot better than thru the analog.
Just a bit better.

But they DO should work AT LEAST as well as your analog did, yes.

Fuzzy
 
Siemens Impact DSP are suitable for severe to profound losses.
Siemens Impact DP are suitable for moderate to severe losses.
Siemens Impact M are suitable for mild to moderate losses.
The Siemens Impact R and L are open fit.

If you have the Siemens Impact DP and are profoundly deaf and are still finding things like plates etc too loud then why dont you have your hearing re tested to see where things are at.

The Siemens Impact range is NHS range in the UK.

You wouldnt be able to have speech in noise program etc if you aids are set up as linear (analog setting), why dont you get your aids set up as semi-linear, that way you get best of both worlds. Sound like analog but you also get to have programs such as speech in noise etc.

That would help you with things sounding so loud.
 
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Remember you saying in another post that you found the DSPs way to loud for you. I would honestly get your hearing re checked as things could of improved.

The most commen complaints from going from analog to digital is that things sound to quiet. You seem to be the opposite. For that reason I would get my hearing re checked if I were you :)
 
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