I’ve had the Oticon Opn for 3 years and I’m very happy with them. Oticon is usually rated one of the top hearing aids. Phonak Marvel are getting very good reviews too. Check out the reviews on Utube by Dr. Cliff, AudD.

I am trying linx octticon resound and the sound is the worst excuse for sound i have ever heard my old aids r far better sound and more real…..so far i hate these things.

@1bohawk– I posted on August 9th that i was getting new hearing aids. My audiologist is wonderful, and very lenient about trial periods. I've tried Resound, Signia, and currently Phonak. Resounds were OK, although I did have some issues with them and they were not right for me. I hated Signia for a lot of reasons. Phonaks are great for me, and I plan to go ahead and purchase them. I think it is a very personal decision and a brand that is best for one person might not work for another person.

@1bohawk welcome to Connect. Am I reading your message right that you're testing both ReSound LiNX and Oticon? It is a frustrating journey of testing, calibrating and personal decision making. Are you making any headway?

On the Internet, I see Oticon [World's Most Powerful] Xceed 1 SP/UP BTE Hearing Aids for Severe-Profound, priced at $1499.00 each. However, the equipment is bing sold in USA is for $2400.00 each.
Last week I was fitted a pair for $4800.00
This is price gouging.

I'm happy with my Phonaks…a pair for $7,000.

I have had both …I absolutely prefer Oticon( worn these for over 5 years now ) and my next pair will be Oticon as well( later this year) …. Phonak just didn’t measure up as far as longevity and ease of use ( for me at least )

Sparklegram- Just to clarify, the. ‘Buds’ that nurseheadakes is referring to are not fitted to the ear canal, they are small flexible ear plug looking things usually pale grey or clear. Do not wash fitted-to-your-ear-canal ear molds with water.

I have Phonaks, which are first pair I've had. I was new to the hearing aid world, so went with what was suggested as one of the best. I have been fairly satisfied with them, but when I need my next pair, I will definitely be checking out other brands/options. I paid $7,000 for the Phonaks, and now several years later, I question whether there aren't equally as good hearing aids that could be purchased for less…..

Cherriann, the answer is yes, you can get equally good aids for less MONEY. It may come at the cost of better service. The Costco aids are made by Phonak. Certain features, such as a telecoil, may not be an option though. Also, Costco employs mostly Hearing Instrument Specialists (HIS). There are good ones out there, but they will not have the training that an AuD has. Depending on your loss, you may not even need a high end aid. We will see Over the Counter (OTC) aids in all the major drug stores soon. One of those products may be sufficient. Much depends on how severe of a loss you have and what types of features you desire.
Tony in Michigan

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.