Resound or Oticon?

I can only wear one aid, as my right ear is not "aidable." I spent $1,600 for a Bernefon Zerena (Oticon) at Salem (Oregon) Costco and have had amazing support from the fitter. I have Meniere's, have gone bilateral since buying the aid to combat age-related deafness in my "good" ear. That means that my "good" ear now has the same problems that made audiologists note that my right ear wouldn't benefit from an aid, but the woman at Costco is more aware of what's out there and the peculiar problems of Meniere's than either of the, ahem, audiologists at the CI hearing center! She is aware of Live Transcribe, which neither audi knew about. Both audis are totally clueless about Meniere's, but the Costco fitter understands and works hard to make it possible for me to be part of the world. FWIW, Costco sells Phonak, as well as several other brands, generally for about half their cost elsewhere. Unfortunately, not all Costco fitters are so willing to be helpful--at least there are some bad reviews of certain stores. I drive over an hour each way to reach the Salem Costco; if that person wasn't doing a superb job, I could drive a little further and have a choice of several other Costcos without affecting my warranty, free parts and adjustments, etc. The only thing I pay to get are batteries, and 312s are only $8.95 for six packs of eight at Costco--cheaper than a single 8-pack at the local pharmacy!

The best advice I can give to anyone who is planning to purchase their first hearing aids or to replace those they have been using, is to try what's out there without being stuck on a brand name. I used Phonak years ago and thought they were the best. I loved them because the manufacture was promoting assistive technology back then and it really helped me. I switched to Widex at some point and I have had marvelous success with Widex hearing aids for my profound hearing loss. I'm bimodal as I use both a CI and a hearing aid. My problem is, and it's a big one, is that the Widex aid is not compatible with the accessories I use with my cochlear implant. I have the N6 by Cochlear Corp. When I was fitted with the hearing aid I'm using now, I tried 5 different ReSound aids because that is the brand that is compatible with Cochlear products. I really wanted ReSound to work for me. Unfortunately, I did not get near what I was getting with the old Widex I had, so I ended up ordering a new Widex. That was 3 years ago. I will try ReSound again when I get a new aid because I am somewhat 'captive' to at least trying it. I wish the CI manufacturers would work with all of the major brands instead of making compatibility brand specific. My message here though, is that what is great for one person may not be the best for another. And, the only way you know what works 'best' is to try different brands. Use a provider that sells different brands. And be sure you have a qualified provider who allows you to try different products. My first hearing aids were sold to me by a hearing instrument specialist. They were top of the line, and cost $500 apiece. That was in the mid 1970s. I thought the price was horribly high then. I'm guessing that those Over the Counter aids that are coming soon (legally), may be in that price range. They will likely work for people whose hearing loss is in the mild to moderate range. But I'm betting that a lot of them will end up in a drawer unused. Try before you buy is good advice, but far too many hard of hearing people are hesitant to challenge what their provider suggests. 🙂

I use the 312s in my hearing devices. I buy my batteries from Amazon, the brand is Power One. I can get 60 batteries for $15.20 and with Amazon Prime free shipping.

T-coil, t-coil, t-coil ! I second Tony's motion that you should ask for a t-coil in your hearing aid. I've been using hearing aids for well over fifty years. Mostly they were Oticon, but the most important aspect is that they ALL had telecoils. They helped me in business and at home for using the telephone. Now they help me at church which has an FM system so I hear the sermon and the announcements while I sit way in the back when I'm an Usher and behind the pulpit when I'm a Eucharistic Minister. If you are in a theater, or church, or store which has a hearing loop, just flip on your t-coil and you are good to go. I also have a cochlear implant (with t-coil, of course) so my hearing in any case went from 35-40 percent speech discrimination to 90-95 percent. Loud coffee hours and noisy restaurants are still a problem, but you can't have everything. As a hearing loss advocate, I cannot speak highly enough of the t-coil. (And it's been the law in Florida for your audi or specialist to advise of this tiny miracle since 1993; I've been told that many break this law by keeping quiet about it.)

LIKE JUDY MARTIN says....Use you t-coils in your devices always. And if you don't know if you have them - then as Dr Juliette Sterkens, our National HLAA Hearing aid/Hearing Loop Advocate says - ask your audiologist to turn them on. If they look at you with a blank stare...just stay quiet and watch them until they say something to you. They will either say YOU do not have t-coils in them or that she/he didn't order them with the t-coil in them because they figured you didn't need them. Not a good thing for you. They made a judgement call on your behalf which was NOT A GOOD THING. In this case, they need to rectify the problem and correct it for you. You always need t-coils and they will need to give you hearing aids with coils in them so you can HEAR ON YOUR CELL PHONES which is one of the purposes of the coils. Of course there are some aids that are too small (in the ear) to have coils in them - so that is where the assistive listening devices are used to complement the hearing aids. Check with your hearing aid dispenser to see where you can get the best hearing aid for you money's worth today and make sure the Certified AuD tells you all about the t-coil.

Tcoil s is a must - for loops( Amtrak stations etc) - for music - have worked for me with TVs And sometimes in restaurants

My Starkey Hearing aids came with a remote microphone/ Bluetooth to act as a hands free cellphone when driving...which also works for me in really important phone calls where I need to work the computer while talking..

How do t-coils work with TV??? I switched to an Android phone in the hope that Live Transcribe would save my mind during meetings, but I don't have any way to get sound to the phone, so I gave up use of the t-coil w/phone for zip, dammit! Of course, since we live where there's no reception, I can only use my cell when I'm away from home, so I still have big problems with the extended-range phone system that works with out cable provider (only one we can get). I need extended range phone because, due to no cell reception, that's the way my invalid spouse can reach me when I'm outside on our acreage. I'm royally confused and totally confused about present-day tech, because none of the young fellows who sell tech stuff in the cities can even imagine not having cell reception! They've been unhelpful because it's not something they've ever had to think about.

Yes it’s strange. You should have see the face expression on my audiologist when I told her about it’s helps with tv and at restaurants sometimes. I am told since my hearing aids are 15 years old that some of the sounds like music is better with my aids
. I have some knowledge due to going to conventions( HLAA Bluetooth does not replace recoils. Separate thing entirely and both are needed. T coils for loops-( Amtrak- train announcements are enableD by loops which needs tcoils for access. Bluetooth- connects wirelessly for cellphone use, listen to music from your phone to your instead of hubby/ boring teacher, etc

I live in a very small coastal town an hour away from two other small coastal towns. I've yet to discover any venue that has a loop. You'd think that some of the newer hotels with meeting rooms would have one built in, but there's apparently not enough demand. I have lots of meetings at the OSU Marine Library, which was built during the late 70s and at a luxury lodge that was built during the early 60s--both of them long before loops were used. This little town doesn't have lots of things, but it has great people and is in a drop-dead beautiful location. I moved out of the big city to live here full time after spending three days most weeks here for decades. Now, when I drive back to the city, I often ditch the list of things to do just to get back to peace and quiet and beautiful surroundings with lots of animals and birds nearby.