Kix -
I KNOW what you're talking about!!! The tinny sound that is. Here's my experience:
My first testing of any type of BAHA was a Cochlear - and it was not only horrible sounding but the experience was bad too. (the ENT told me that it would only be good to 'hear' that there was someone talking to me on my deaf side so I could turn my head to actually hear them - this group put my mind at ease and told me that WAS NOT TRUE!!!) The other issue was that they were using a very old Cochlear product as their demo unit - so in defense of Cochlear, I probably didn't hear what was available on the current market. I left that practice and never returned. The ENT was cavalier and snotty about my even wanting one!!!!
Then I went to another ENT locally (the only other one that did BAHA surgery) and tested an Oticon and it was a WORLD of difference!!! The first demo on the Cochlear unit sounded like the OLD transistor radios that I remember from my childhood back in the 60's and 70's. (or the tiny portable tv's that you could have in your bedroom....) That tinny sound. The Oticon wasn't quite up to what I had hoped, but I was assured that I was hearing it through tissue and it would be much clearer once I had the abutment. I liked that practice and began the process of having the surgery after testing the Phonak Cros system and hating it. The problem was (and I didn't know this) but this practice was falling apart. Their ENTIRE audiology department walked out one week later! I further rocked the boat when I refused to sign a paper guaranteeing that I would pay $500 to them that the insurance company usually doesn't pay (the activation and adjusting of the processor - this is where it goes into the realm of a hearing aid and insurance sometimes doesn't cover it) By this point I knew the ropes and knew what this paper was - I refused to sign a paper to a non-existent department. Push came to shove and the ENT refused to do my surgery without it. I now know that all ENT's make very little money on BAHA's - that the expense is mostly incurred through surgery costs and the unit itself - very little goes to the doctor. And I suspect that this $500 was their attempt to recover some costs. This practice was also a little shady in that they insisted on using their in-house CAT scanner to "see where the viable bone was" in my skull. I assure you - I had nothing strange in my surgery and the ENT I finally found (that was an hour and a half away from me) shook his head over this - he said it was totally unnecessary because it was OBVIOUS where my bone was! But when you have an in-house machine ($$$$) with a full time staff person ($$$$$) to run it, you need to cover your operating costs. I also found out later that this was in line with why the entire audiology department walked out - because they didn't agree with what their patients were being charged for in unnecessary procedures. (or they were being told they had to require of their patients) So good riddance to them!
So long story short, I got my processor activated back in September, and like you, didn't care for the quality of sound being so tinny sounding. Jan - this is the first that I've seen you comment about thinking it was tinny at first. What I DID do, is I had the opportunity to meet with Clarice (from this forum) when she was visiting my city (small world!) and I was able to pepper her with questions. THEN I got bold - she always commented that her "sound" was more like good-quality stereo speakers and that's not how I would describe my sound at all! So I asked her if I could try on her Oticon BAHA because I also had an Oticon unit and the abutment is the same. Believe it or not I DID hear a difference! It was much more mellow and natural sounding - not a huge amount, but enough for me to be able to notice.....and we switched back and forth quite a few times to ensure I was actually hearing a difference. She also tried mine on and said that she noticed a difference as well - that she could hear more high frequency sounds - that speech was more "crisp" than with hers. So right now I'm waiting to have her audiologist (with her permission) send the settings to mine and let mine compare them and see where it's different. Because I at least want what I heard in hers!
Now here's what I've been thinking anyway - everything to me sounds like someone played with the stereo dials and has managed to put too much treble into my mix.....and I do have some high frequency hearing loss due to age (I'm 56 and probably went to too many concerts as a teen and college student!) so I'm wondering if my audiologist has tried to restore my high frequency back into my processor to "cover" both ears. I was hearing fine before the surgery and didn't have ANY problem with understanding what people were saying. But it IS the high frequencies that give us speech recognition.....so it's a double edged sword. Since I have to pay for my adjustments (I located the audiology department that walked out - now in their own practice - because I liked them and the fact that they defended their patients enough to walk out!) so I don't have to drive an hour and a half for adjustments. The cost of gas would come close to matching the low cost of an appointment for me.....
So all this to say - be patient. Let your brain get used to it first - at least a month before you go into making changes.....since our hearing is a brain thing, it's not as easy as just tweaking this or that. Our noggin has to play catch up.....
Pam
