Update: I tired the CROS for a month. I liked the CROS, but I still had this feeling that the sound could be better. I decided to go for the SoundBite. It's been two weeks that I have been using the SoundBite and so far I love the sound that I get from it. With the CROS, I felt that I picked up too much background noise, any sound coming from wind or crumpling paper was too distracting, and I was picking up too much sound while in a crowded room that I had a hard time focusing on one conversation. With the SoundBite, I feel that the sound is much cleaner and I am not picking up as much background noise. Without the extra background noise, I can focus more on the sounds I do want to pick up. I can hear the conversation at a dinner table without the distractions of the extra background noise. I was worried that the mouth piece would be uncomfortable and I was surprised that it was not that bad. It does take time getting use to it, but it was less than a week for me.
The SoundBite comes with two month pieces. I was getting some feedback from the device, but I found that one of the pieces fit better than the other. When the fit is not correct, feedback will occur. I plan to bring this up to my audiologist at my follow up visit. For now, I just wear the piece that fits best more than the other piece. I did notice that my tooth became sore when I attempted to wear the device all day. I also only really wear it when I leave the house since there is the white noise that it picks up. It is also not super easy to eat with the mouth piece in, but with time it has gotten better. Overall I am happy that I made the switch. I know it can be expense, so it you can swing the cost, it is a fine option. Only time will tell if I uncover any other issues with the SoundBite, but I will try to keep posting updates.
