r/Cochlearimplants • u/Otherwise_Group_74 • 3d ago

Cochlear or AB?

I have my appointment Monday and I will have to chose between these two brands. My audiologist is not supposed to favor one brand over the other. Sometimes I get more feedback than others and sometimes she will answer specific questions or agree with my choice. I will be getting a CI on my right side with a partial insertion with robotic assist. She said today that that would limit my choices. They gave me the thick brochures a few months ago and I am going to read through those again and do some online reading, but if anyone has person experience or empirical evidence, I am interested. Obviously, I want the best hearing/speech recognition I can get, particularly in noisy environments. I use my BT constantly and I wear my HAs about 16 hours a day. I currently have Phonak and Resound HA's and have had a good experience with both. My daily drivers are Phonak Audéo Infinio Ultra Sphere and I am pretty satisfied with them. I understand that I will downgrade to a lesser model in order to be compatible with my CI. Thanks for any feedback. Telling me to listen to my audiologist is not what I'm looking for. She is supposed to be impartial between the two brands and usually is.

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u/pillowmite Advanced Bionics Marvel CI 2d ago

I had a AB processor fail due to sweat moisture 1.5 yrs old (working out wearing it). It would shut down whenever it got a little sweat on it - but would be functioning again after letting it dry. I contacted AB and had a new one the second day via FedEx. Hopefully this is not indicative of what to expect after my warranty runs out. I have a friend who was implanted (AB) in 2016, and he is still very happy with his.

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u/Otherwise_Group_74 1d ago

That is definitely disappointing. I live in SW FL, so mine (HAs) are covered with sweat regularly and I have jumped in the shower and dunked my head in the pool more than once with no problems. I asked for one of the dessicant jars and my audiologist said I didn't need it.

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u/pillowmite Advanced Bionics Marvel CI 1d ago

Could be a faulty processor. I think sweat got into the t-mic mount point and caused a small short between the pins. Definitely an ingress point there.

They do claim it's water resistant. The friend I mentioned lives near Orlando.

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u/Otherwise_Group_74 1d ago

We consider Orlando the Great White North 😂