Hearing Aids in 2023 .. Questions

I’ve been using Signia’s for the past 5 years or so and they’re a game changer. Absolute necessity in the office, and when I take them off for the day, it feels like jabbing a pair of cotton balls in my noggin. Love their flexibility and sound quality, but haven’t experienced the "phone ringing" that @wlutke  mentioned. I’ve got very mild tinnitus and mild high frequency hearing loss, which are probably related, so what I lose while listening to music is the air and ambience. Your application may be different which will affect your use case.

I now wear them all the time to the symphony and theater performances. Even have worn them to amplified concerts without any problem (the aids automatically compensate for loud noises). But the purist in me (coupled with just my mild hearing loss) takes them off while listening to two-channel in the media room - I just turn it up. The day of reckoning will come for sure as my hearing gets work as I get older: I won’t be able to turn up the volume any more without forcing my family out of the home or pissing off my neighbors. 😏

@christian 

I’ve recalled more detail of the feedback conversation (Hey, I’m 69 and it was a year and 1/2 ago!)  The high frequency gain is borderline max and I may (now do) need a step up to more power.  

I purchased in 2023 Rexton bi-core ITE (in the ear), rechargeable, hearing aids from Costco, Canada. $3400 CAD a pair. These are a custom mold acrylic shell. I use two programs and switch and configure them with the Rexton iPhone app. One program for speech and one for music. For the music program I lower the volume and the treble. Speaker or live music, via HA microphones, is better as the midrange drop is EQd, the electronic circuits are high quality, and there is plenty of bass. I prefer listening to speaker or live music with the HAs in. Bluetooth support is good for control and speech (phone call) but not for music as the bass is filtered out.

I'm 70 and have used hearing aids for 5 years. Signia, programmable aids.

I take them out when listening to my system.

Difficult? Yes. I only really enjoy it when the family is out.

However, it seems crazy to me to have paid MANY thousands of dollars on my system to have the overall quality reduced to the quality of my hearing aids. Their quality is well below the quality of my system.

Good luck with your research.

Wow, lots of variables here and like everything else, the results seem to be quite individual.  I didn’t expect so many great responses.  They are appreciated.