Thursday, December 10, 2009

Lyric replacement time

So I had to do a test on my audiologist today. Hopefully she won't be mad, but it has a good ending :)

My left lyric has seemed a little quiet the last day or 2, so I sent my audiologist an email this morning and asked if I could come by for a replacement. She replied an hour or so later and said I could stop by anytime this morning.

I pulled up into the parking lot at 11am exactly and walked into the clinic. I waited about 1 min before she stepped out of her office, swapped the devices, turned them on and I was good to go. I just got back in my truck and looked at the clock and it said 11:09am. Awesome! And that even included a quick chat on how things are going.

I'm not sure my audiologist is the exception, but that is the way it is supposed to work with these devices. It kills me to read stories from other users that get poor customer service from their audiologist after spending all that money. It just isn't that hard.

14 comments:

Kendor said...

Dane, thanks to your excellent reporting, I started my trial today. Because I too am a technologist, I found your blow by blow to be very insightful and really helped me prepare me (good and bad). Only a few hours for me, but so far so good. They feel more natural then I expected.

P.S. I shared your blog with the audiologist and the PA who took care of me... like the folks you appear to be dealing with, these guys are very customer friendly too.

Dane said...

Hey Kendor. Thanks for the feedback on the blog. I'm so glad you're giving them a try. I really hope they work out well for you. Is this your first set of hearing aids?

I'm also happy to hear another good experience with an audiologist. I visited 4 different ones when I first got my hearing aids to find the best one. I was surprised at how many are so out of touch with technology. The Lyric forced me to change audiologists, but I couldn't be happier.

Good luck with your trial!

Kendor said...

Dane, this would be my first hearing aids. I have nothing to compare them to, although I know that you had a lot to compare them to.

The last time I had my hearing evaluated was 8 years ago. The technology at the time would have had me had a very obtrusive type device that I wasn't ready to wear. Call it vanity, but I wasn't ready. The ENT I was seeing agreed that since I was functioning OK, we'd come back and take a look down the road.

As a technologist, I'm attracted to what Lyric is doing, especially from the standpoint of trying to make the "user experience" be organic and natural. It may not be 100% there, especially in terms of "fit," and perhaps the granularity of adjustability for the user, but what I picked up from you is that it's getting there.

As an healthcare technology entrepreneur, I like what they are doing business model wise. If you do the quick math, the potential for them is enormous, even if they capture a fraction the market. I'm 50. I could conceivably paying monthly fees to them till I'm 85. I like that the user isn't subject to static delivery model... in other words, they improve the technology, you have access to it continually. Cool stuff.

--Kenny

Kendor said...

Dane, this would be my first hearing aids. I have nothing to compare them to, although I know that you had a lot to compare them to.

The last time I had my hearing evaluated was 8 years ago. The technology at the time would have had me had a very obtrusive type device that I wasn't ready to wear. Call it vanity, but I wasn't ready. The ENT I was seeing agreed that since I was functioning OK, we'd come back and take a look down the road.

As a technologist, I'm attracted to what Lyric is doing, especially from the standpoint of trying to make the "user experience" be organic and natural. It may not be 100% there, especially in terms of "fit," and perhaps the granularity of adjustability for the user, but what I picked up from you is that it's getting there.

As an healthcare technology entrepreneur, I like what they are doing business model wise. If you do the quick math, the potential for them is enormous, even if they capture a fraction the market. I'm 50. I could conceivably paying monthly fees to them till I'm 85. I like that the user isn't subject to static delivery model... in other words, they improve the technology, you have access to it continually. Cool stuff.

--Kenny

Unknown said...

Hey, Dane--

Thanks for the terrific recounting of your experience. I start my trial on January 4 (audie is closed between XMas and New Year) and am really excited about it. Never wore aids before and have been really concerned. But, your experience makes wish I could get started tomorrow.

Jeff

Dane said...

Hey Jeff. Sounds like a great new years resolution. Keep me posted on how the trial goes. It always seems more challening to those who haven't worn hearing aids in the past, but it certainly is worth the effort. Good luck!

Phil Larsen said...

Dane,

Please, please, please keep up this blog. It has been very helpful. I thought we lost you for a while ;-)

I have called Lyric several times wondering when they might open a Seattle office. No such luck yet. I am a little surprised to see their slow roll out with such amazing success!

It would take me 8 hours in a car to go get them fitted, etc., but I am sure they are worth it.

Dane said...

Hey Phil.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to keep up my posts :)

It's a bummer to hear that they aren't available in your area. I've heard that they have taken a very conservative roll out approach to try to keep the quality of the Dr.s up, but it is frustrating to not see them available everywhere. Utah has gone from 1 location to 4 or 5 in the past year and they are trying to not get a lot of overlap in regions.

I'm not sure how far I'd drive to get these, but it would be a ways. Still, the few occasions where I've had to go back more often would make that a real pain. I would keep bugging them and I would also try to find an audiologist that can bug them to carry the device. I think an audiologist may carry more weight than just a single consumer. Make sure it's an audiologist with an ENT on site though. I'm pretty sure that is still one of their requirements.

Good luck!

Unknown said...

After the trial I decided to take the plunge with the new year. The right aid has always been a bit more obtrusive than the left for some reason (I'm hardly ever aware that the left is even there).

I was a bit surprised how long it took to truly get used to these (these are my first aids). I've now had them in for about 6 weeks, and I'm just starting to feel like I'm getting used to them, both physically and perceptually.

Dane said...

Peter,

That's great to hear. Thanks for the update. I found it was several months before I stopped thinking about them on a daily basis. Not that they were bothersome, but there were still situations where my brain hadn't adjusted and things sounded different. It is a great feeling when you recognize you haven't thought about your hearing loss for a few days! :)

Have you tried using different sizes on your right ear. I actually just went to a larger size and am finding that they stay put even better.

Unknown said...

Here's a weird one. Just for laughs, I tried a silly program for the Palm Pre called "Teen Repellent" that's based on the high-ptiched sounds they play outside stores in Japan to keep kids away without bothering adults.

Anyway, my fiancée could hear them very clearly at a range of frequencies from 8 KHz to 22 KHz, and she said they were loud and annoying.

I had my Lyrics in and *could not hear a single one*! Is this some sort of noise suppression of continuous tones?

I'm going to ask my audiologist, but I thought someone here might know.

Dane said...

That's funny.

Yes, hearing aids in general filter out frequencies that aren't typically used for speech, such as these mosquito frequencies. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't even passing that frequency in, and if they are, it probably is not amplified very much.

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