Anyone Wearing Sonic Innovations Balance?

[Bill C]

Hi - I currently wear Sonic Innovations Natura 2's CIC, however, within the next month I'm getting a BTE set. Currently, on my 'short list' are the following:

Siemens Centra or Acuris
Oticon Syncro
Phonak Savia

and, my last addition to the list: Sonic Innovations Balance

I really haven't been able to find out much about either the Acuris or Balance.

Anyone here wearing either model, or anyone with additional information other than the marketing hype?
Thank you,
Bill C

[Admin]

I think all 4 of the models listed above are awesome hearing aids.

It is just that the Savia Art (Savia has been out for a while, but Savia Art is brand new) and the Balance are the newest additions (Fall, 2006), whereas the other models are a little dated now.

With the Savia, things are more automatic versus the Balance, which is more user controlled.

Both work extremely well.

I prefer the Balance for patients who need to hear and understand as best as possible in noisy environments, such as in restaurants and social situations.

Yet, it would be difficult to not find any greater results with any of these 4 hearing aids.

Please keep us informed of what you end up with and your progress.

[Bill C]

Originally Posted by Admin

....snip....
Please keep us informed of what you end up with and your progress.

Absolutely! I'm glad I found this forum - plenty of useful information. I already gave my audiologist a 'heads up' that I'm coming fully prepared to discuss various options and models with him.
Thanks to all.
Bill

[tom]

I have a question about the SI Balance. Can the micro-BTE model be fitted with a thin tube? Also, can you use a closed or "tulip" style mold (similar to Resound Air Plus) for a bit more low frequency amplification? Thanks. I am currently using Sonic Innovations Natura 3 CICs, which I like very much.

(My audiologist used to fit Sonic hearing aids but stopped after the company started marketing an automated audiometer.)

[Admin]

Sonic Innovations does not support the use of the thin tube on any of the balance products as of yet.

Yet, we have used them with the slim tubes very effectively, using the same tulip tips and this tubes as both the Resound Air and the Sonic Ions.

The nice part about this setup is that the Balance has a much better adaptive feedback cancellation system, so when you cover your ear with a phone, for example, it can detect and cancel the feedback better than with the Ion or Innova, with pricing being about the same or slightly higher than Ion.

One note...the software does not allow for this combination, yet it can easily be adjusted to match the acoustic characteristics of the slim tube.