Hearing loss

[MacDoc]

Fencing with Amplifon on a lower cost alternative with battery. Phonak with 675 battery which lasts 14-20 days at a cost of $4 each..... meanwhile
partial decision on Hearing Aids made.
I looked at Jaspa 3 early on and then went trolling in the sewage pit that the HA business is.

USE JASPA 3 AS YOUR PRIMARY HEARING AIDS!
Lots of our customers have made Jaspa 3 their primary hearing aids.
The development of the Jaspa 3 technology utilises averaged hearing loss data as a means of the development of 4 custom designed sound programs, to clarify dialogue in a variety of listening environments. The Jaspa 3 is equipped with 10 volume levels, and can be used at soft or loud listening volumes. It is suitable for those with mild, moderate and even severe levels of hearing loss.

Jaspa 3 features and technology rival the technology found in hearing aids that cost thousands of dollars, but for a fraction of the price.
Two Jaspa 3 devices will give you superior hearing if you have aidable hearing loss in both ears.

https://www.foundhearing.com.au
Have a set coming. No App to deal with, no streaming and will cost nothing out of pocket. Rather put the money to a new bike.

 

[MacDoc]

Shifting sands...
Hearing Aids were tolerable to excellent yesterday tho some of the high frequency sharp sounds were annoying.....as if the microphones were reaching out for ambient sounds, increasing volume and then I get hit with a sharp transient ( think china on a stone surface, cutlery on a plate. ).
One of the programs is Autosense that controls the settings as the ambient noise changes and generally it works well but then under quiet circumstances seems to have trouble with sudden sounds.
It also brings sounds like crickets etc in closer and then that's when the sharp sounds intrude sometimes close to painful level.
Watching media the HAs certainly improves speech clarity in the media.
Streaming to them is hopeless from the TV - from the computer in a quiet background the streaming into the HAs have very good fidelity when I use a high end music source.

So plan still remains to try the $800 solution arriving next week under similar conditions since I have the privacy afforded by partners house sitting to compare outcomes.

Turns out the rechargeable batteries can be replaced for $250 by the manufacturer ...very similar to a Mac laptop. That changes things. Puts that issue to bed.

I may also decide to drop to a lesser Phonak model but in the same product line.....not sure I can get the white box version of the lower end so that is a factor narrowing the financial decision to stay with the more sophisticated HAs....if I go that route.
Asking about repairability now.

 

[MacDoc]

Getting along with the Phonak except for the sharp sounds. Going in Wednesday for an appointment and try to address some of the sharp spikes and get them to reduce the omnidirectional aspect. Went to a live small orchestra concert today - certainly was more enjoyable with the HAs in tho the sharp external sounds were distracting.

Got the Jaspa 3 today.
First impression very good tho fiddly. Harder to put in tho that may change with use.
Very prone fo feedback if I put my hand near them they squeal ....certainly will be no napping with them.
Intelligibility is surprisingly good without intrusion of exterior noise.
They are realllllly small. The one ( of four programs ) addresses my specific hearing loss and appears to do it well. Muffled is gone. Have to see how they are doing that.

The feedback might make them a non-starter.

Well these cheapies are pretty good…some annoyances but direct comparison on the same material they were as good and maybe better than the phonak- have to understand how they are pulling it off.

 

[MacDoc]

Getting along with the Phonak except for the sharp sounds. Going in Wednesday for an appointment and try to address some of the sharp spikes and get them to reduce the omnidirectional aspect. Went to a live small orchestra concert today - certainly was more enjoyable with the HAs in tho the sharp external sounds were distracting.

Got the Jaspa 3 today.
First impression very good tho fiddly. Harder to put in tho that may change with use.
Very prone fo feedback if I put my hand near them they squeal ....certainly will be no napping with them.
Intelligibility is surprisingly good without intrusion of exterior noise.
They are realllllly small. The one ( of four programs ) addresses my specific hearing loss and appears to do it well. Muffled is gone. Have to see how they are doing that.

The feedback might make them a non-starter.

 

[Chris-CJ]

Getting along with the Phonak except for the sharp sounds. Going in Wednesday for an appointment and try to address some of the sharp spikes and get them to reduce the omnidirectional aspect. Went to a live small orchestra concert today - certainly was more enjoyable with the HAs in tho the sharp external sounds were distracting.

Got the Jaspa 3 today.
First impression very good tho fiddly. Harder to put in tho that may change with use.
Very prone fo feedback if I put my hand near them they squeal ....certainly will be no napping with them.
Intelligibility is surprisingly good without intrusion of exterior noise.
They are realllllly small. The one ( of four programs ) addresses my specific hearing loss and appears to do it well. Muffled is gone. Have to see how they are doing that.

The feedback might make them a non-starter.

Most (quality) HAs can be tuned to reduce the feedback.
With the Signia there is next to none.
However, wind-noise is something else. None of the HAs that I have tried, could tune that out. Reduce it yes, but it is still there.

 

[GreyGhost]

Most (quality) HAs can be tuned to reduce the feedback.
With the Signia there is next to none.
However, wind-noise is something else. None of the HAs that I have tried, could tune that out. Reduce it yes, but it is still there.

Wind noise is really tough to solve with math. Easy to fix by blocking the wind but most ha wearers don't want giant fuzzy covers near their ears.

 

[MacDoc]

The Jaspas are programmed to suppress feedback and it seems to depend on the seal of the in-ear tube to reduce the feedback.. The Phonak uses a double seal insert ( like some of the IEMs ) and the Jaspa a single of different sizes.
The Jaspas came with the smallest insert and I switched one ear to the largest and it has less feedback than the smaller one so that seems an okay solution and it's only when I brush very close to the large insert HA there was any last night.
I don't think it's an ongoing issue.

High tech is near magic and in this case there is a hint of it.
The damn things work to address the hole in my hearing....maybe better than the expensive ones and without the need for a phone app or adjustment appointments,
Four programs of which one suits my hearing loss.
10 levels of volume control.
Batteries easy to change and not expensive tho there is a rechargeable version which I will not pursue.

So here is the source manufacturer

AUSTAR: Hearing Aid Brand, Manufacturer and Supplier

Founded in 2003, AUSTAR is the best manufacturer and brand of hearing aids with medical standards in China, with ISO13485, CE and FDA certificates, providing affordable hearing aids and hearing solutions for global distributors and the hearing impaired.

www.austar-hearing.net

Leaning towards the cheapies now. Don't know exactly what the signal processing is doing but it works