I\'ve heard about the issues Widex is having with the FDA and the Clear 440\'s. It sounds like a lot of politics and game playing- I suspect this isn\'t Widex but its the FDA at fault here. Long story short- Widex might be backing out of the U.S. market altogether.

Hi Mike, Yeah Im happy with the sound quality on the 115 model that I'm wearing- but after three years I've become intimately acquainted with these design flaws you mentioned. I haven't had a cracked case yet but I've had to return my aids for repair every 8 months or so.

As for my audiologist not providing me an extra pair of speakers-I was annoyed with the stingy sentiment behind that- I didn't feel they were going to lose much by doing so. I think they told me something about the warranty being voided if they did so. Nonetheless- small gestures like that would have brought me back in that office for future aids. I won't be going back- I've found another audiologist to work with for my future aids.

Thanks for your comments and the work you've been doing Miles..

On a side note: I've been wondering for a while about the Widex Mind. Those aids have a feature that provides several different musical medleys that are supposed to help mitigate tinnitus.. I'm wondering if people have responded well to them? Do you happen to know about those?

Hi Norb- thanks for your comments. Re: hokus pokus. I'm getting equally annoyed with the trend toward consolidation in this industry- 3 manufacturers that supply hearing aids that cost so much that they are out of reach for average folks (like myself!). The warranty on my Widex aids is better than some- but it has now run out after 3 years and I'm faced with a 600/year bill to keep myself protected from loss/damage. Ouch! I'm forced into this because hearing aids DO break from time to time and I'll be faced with paying far more than $600 if something goes wrong.

I'm about to start writing a lot more about this topic...

Hi Yasmine- good to hear from you.

So to answer your question- At the time (3 yrs ago now), I didn't find any other manufacturers that were making a hearing aid that had this feature built into a hearing aid. What I did find were specialized hearing aids that had transpositioning built into the aid and it could never be turned off! I didn't like that.. Especially because when I'm listening to music I don't necessarily want to have higher frequencies made low...and its doing all kinds of processing that makes the music experience worse.

I need to do more research- but I don't think a lot of companies are jumping into this. I wish they were. the competition would be a good thing. I know that a lot of adults just don't respond well to the transpositioning thing...it certainly sounds quite unnatural. Little kids being reported to respond very well to the feature and their understanding of consonants (ph, th, sh, s) is going through the roof- as it is for me.

I'll be in the market for a hearing aid and I don't think Ill consider a hearing aid without this feature. Its really made life different- I'm participating in conversations more than I was. Its actually a bit scary sometimes- I feel like I'm so dependent on this technology and this one little feature and I don't want to be without it.

Thanks for this. I have signed it. I'm also really enthused to see that H.R. 3101 passed. Check it out: http://www.coataccess.org/node/9668

I agree- at the end of the day a hearing aid helps me understand my friends, co-workers, lover, e.t.c better. Thats a good thing for them and me.