Switching from Widex Inteo élan to Phonak Micro Savia ...

[Gittje]

My audiogram shows following hearing loss :
125 Hz / R - 28 dB / L - 30 dB
250 Hz / R - 48 dB / L - 38 dB
500 Hz / R - 52 dB / L - 40 dB
1000 Hz /R - 41 dB / L - 40 dB
2000 Hz /R - 58 dB / L - 47 dB
4000 Hz /R - 50 dB / L - 51 dB
8000 Hz /R - 30 dB / L - 22 dB

I am a first user of HA and am trying out different aids. After having rejected the Widex Inteo IN-9 with conventional molds, I have tried out the Inteo élan IN-9é with open fitting. As the compression mode kicks in much to rapidely without any apparent reason and nothing can be done to solve this problem, my audio fitted me this morning with the Phonak Micro Savia.

A real delight, you don't even notice you are wearing HA, but the price is a total different matter : 4.700 EUR !!!

My audio is trying to reassure me that these "jewels" are completely covering my HL, even in the lower frequencies, and that the feedback suppression is one of the best you can have. Is this really the case ?

I fear that my hearing loss in the lowest frequencies aren't covered by the Savia's and certainly not for my right ear. I was in favour of trying out the Phonak Micro Power or the Phonak Micro Valeo, but it seems my audio thinks otherwise ...

[Admin]

As far as the coverage in the lows, I wouldn't worry about that at all, due to a phenomenon called upward spread of masking, where low tones can cover over high tones, thus reducing speech intelligibility.

You really don't need to push 250-500 hz very much to help your hearing loss and help you hear better.

The main thing is you are hearing better and feel fairly comfortable.

[Gittje]

Originally Posted by Admin

You really don't need to push 250-500 hz very much to help your hearing loss and help you hear better.

But it seems to me that the micro Savia fitting range in the lows doesn't match my HL. Am I correct ? And don't you need the lows to add more depth and warmth to the sound ?

Originally Posted by Admin

The main thing is you are hearing better and feel fairly comfortable.

I must confess that the Micro Savia's are a delight to wear. I encounter no problems what so ever. I suppose that my main problem consists of not being totally convinced that I really do need HA. I regard it more as a comfort problem, so I have mixed feelings about spending so much money for something I -maybe- don't really need.