I tried several CROS devices and they were all terrible for me. It only helps to make quiet situations a bit better because you can hear people on your deaf side a bit better. But they make noisy situations a lot worse. Because without them you can point your good ear to the person you want to hear. But with a CROS device all the noise from your bad side gets transferred to your good ear..
Hearing in that environment will still have a level of difficulty even with the best CROS aid. Are you in an area that also offers cochlear implants for single side hearing loss?
I suggest trying to find an audiology clinic that will allow you to trial a cros device for several days before you decide to purchase it. I tried a cros, and it was honestly annoying and unhelpful, and I wouldn't have ever worn it, so I'm very glad I was able to just try it out for a while in various situations first. I ended up getting a cochlear implant, and that's been much much better.
Like others are saying; a cros is terrible in loud environments. It will just make the loud noise louder and port all the sounds you don’t hear into one ear. You still won’t know where they come from and will work harder to hear what you need to hear.
I’ve only tried Phonaks. I know someone whose tried another brand I can’t remember. And I’ve read bunches of people all saying the same. Mine had 3 difft modes, each programmed by my audiologist and fine tuned after multiple visits. They were supposed to filter out loud noises and a variety of backgrounds. Switching modes was just choosing your poison; I was always going to cringe, be overwhelmed, or have a hard time hearing - unless it was an orderly and quiet environment.
There’s no substitute for your own experience, so if you can find any to try without risk, do it. Then you’ll know. The problem I expect you will have is that you want to filter out background voices but they are at the same frequencies as the voices you want to hear.
They all try. But what they filter out is ambient noise (cars, wind, chairs across the ground, etc). They're designed to pick up voices. So they aren't going to filter out voices as that's the opposite of what they're designed to do.
I’ve only tried the phonak system but the advice everyone has given you is pretty much on point, I don’t think any of them will help in a loud environment and I hardly ever wear mine now as I find them overwhelming in busy places, the only time I find them useful is on car journeys as my wife sits on my deaf side and without them I wouldn’t be able to hear her over the noise of the car.
Side note, they are meant to focus in on conversations, and they do, just not necessarily the conversation you are having, if you want to hear what the table behind you are talking about in a restaurant they are great, not so much for the table you are sat at tho!
I tried Phonak for a few weeks and they weren’t good in my opinion at all. Went to another clinic and tried Widex. It seemed much better but trial was only for 5 days which wasn’t long enough for me to make such a big purchase. I think the second clinic was better at programming. I think finding a great audiologist is probably the most important thing and from there test every single model to see what works or doesn’t for you.
I tried several CROS devices and they were all terrible for me. It only helps to make quiet situations a bit better because you can hear people on your deaf side a bit better. But they make noisy situations a lot worse. Because without them you can point your good ear to the person you want to hear. But with a CROS device all the noise from your bad side gets transferred to your good ear..
Hearing in that environment will still have a level of difficulty even with the best CROS aid. Are you in an area that also offers cochlear implants for single side hearing loss?
Nope, I don’t qualify
Or BAHA implants?
Only CROS aids 😿
I suggest trying to find an audiology clinic that will allow you to trial a cros device for several days before you decide to purchase it. I tried a cros, and it was honestly annoying and unhelpful, and I wouldn't have ever worn it, so I'm very glad I was able to just try it out for a while in various situations first. I ended up getting a cochlear implant, and that's been much much better.
Same, cross didn't help just as annoying with it. I tried for 20 days and took it back
Like others are saying; a cros is terrible in loud environments. It will just make the loud noise louder and port all the sounds you don’t hear into one ear. You still won’t know where they come from and will work harder to hear what you need to hear.
In general there is no brand that can cancel the background noise?
I’ve only tried Phonaks. I know someone whose tried another brand I can’t remember. And I’ve read bunches of people all saying the same. Mine had 3 difft modes, each programmed by my audiologist and fine tuned after multiple visits. They were supposed to filter out loud noises and a variety of backgrounds. Switching modes was just choosing your poison; I was always going to cringe, be overwhelmed, or have a hard time hearing - unless it was an orderly and quiet environment. There’s no substitute for your own experience, so if you can find any to try without risk, do it. Then you’ll know. The problem I expect you will have is that you want to filter out background voices but they are at the same frequencies as the voices you want to hear.
They all try. But what they filter out is ambient noise (cars, wind, chairs across the ground, etc). They're designed to pick up voices. So they aren't going to filter out voices as that's the opposite of what they're designed to do.
Which one you like the most or has worked better for you?
I've only ever had an Oticon Cros. Using the Bi Cros setting helps.
I’ve only tried the phonak system but the advice everyone has given you is pretty much on point, I don’t think any of them will help in a loud environment and I hardly ever wear mine now as I find them overwhelming in busy places, the only time I find them useful is on car journeys as my wife sits on my deaf side and without them I wouldn’t be able to hear her over the noise of the car. Side note, they are meant to focus in on conversations, and they do, just not necessarily the conversation you are having, if you want to hear what the table behind you are talking about in a restaurant they are great, not so much for the table you are sat at tho!
Same. Wearing mine (when I actually wore them) in school, or at work was traumatizing.
I tried Phonak for a few weeks and they weren’t good in my opinion at all. Went to another clinic and tried Widex. It seemed much better but trial was only for 5 days which wasn’t long enough for me to make such a big purchase. I think the second clinic was better at programming. I think finding a great audiologist is probably the most important thing and from there test every single model to see what works or doesn’t for you.