Thanks for the link, Glucas! It looks like the most recent Nov 8 blog also shows a setting for a music listening program, too.
I asked my audi about a music setting and she told me to use the normal mode for that. The implication is that the OPN single main mode should be good for almost everything, music listening included. Not sure if I believe it.
It looks like some audis are willing to create new OPN programs for patients and others aren’t (maybe because they don’t know how). But Oticon is not helping on this by not offering any pre-programmed modes anyway.
Glucas,
Thank you so much for posting this URL link for creating a Custom music program. ♫
Your contribution to this Thread was a tremendous help to me.
Ron ♫
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I wouldn’t want to have only 1 program that suppress background noises all the times. Actually in certain situations, I don’t want any noise suppression at all, like when I listen to the music, for example.
Currently my Rexton CIC is set with a normal mode with only nominal noise suppression. Then there’s a noise mode with maximum noise suppression. Then there’s a music mode with no noise suppression at all. I think this would be the ideal setting for most HAs, the OPN included.
It looks like Oticon likes to advocate a single “open” mode only because in the new paradigm they’re promoting, they want you to hear everything. They do suppress noise but only if it competes with speech. That’s fine and dandy, but if you’re on an airplane, you don’t want to hear the plane noise droning on for hours on end if you’re reading a book or sleeping. That’s why so many people wear noise reduction headphones on the plane. Also, when you listen to music, you want to hear EVERYTHING, including all the fine nuances of reverbations and melodic background that might be attributed to noise by the OPN and suppressed in between the sounds of the main instruments. So there can’t be one single mode suitable for all environments. There can be one “commonly used” mode for most of the times, but there needs to be a max noise suppression mode and a music mode as well, because even the OPN with its advanced technology still can’t guess and know and adjust perfectly to every single the environment the user encounters. The ultimate choices still needs to rest with the users.
So yes, I want to buy into the new “Open” paradigm Oticon is selling. But that doesn’t mean that I must also be pigeon holed into this paradigm. With all that new technology the OPN has, more power and choices should be put at the hands of the user, not taken away from them. It’s almost as if Oticon is trying to go the Apple route and wants to simplify things for the user, maybe a little too much. Some users may want options and flexibility and control that Android offers. Needless to say, you can probably guess that I’m an Android user.
I agree with you here and that programms will always be necessary, however the more tech you put into an aid the more you need to school poeple on the software, which becomes cumbersome, for the user since most fits are not really were they need to be, as long as your fitting will allow aditional programs next time to your liking I still think oticon is on the right track. the more your Audi might be able to change, the more he might screw up, I have little faith in Audis after my experience
I had my fifth fitting this evening (the second fitting with the Oticon rep there). There were 3 objectives for this fitting: 1) See if they can program in and implement background noise reduction in the case that speech is not present, 2) Fix my distortion issue on the right , and 3) Fix the volume imbalance (should be an easy one).
On 1 (noise reduction), the Oticon rep thought that they should be able to achieve this objective. They tried maybe 4 or 5 different things and had me try going out to my car each time to test it out with the car fan set to max. But none of these new settings helped, so we just ended up back at the original setting I had before this fitting. At least with this original setting, noise was reduced when speech is present. In the various settings they tried, sometimes noise was not reduced even when speech was present.
On 2 (distortion on right HA), they switched me from a single vent bass dome to a double vent bass dome. That didn’t help with distortion. It even brought back a little bit of feedback when I have my Bose headphones on. But I think the double vent will help with the occasional occlusion I felt when I talk in a noisy environment. I brought along my TV adapter and played a video clip on my phone where I could hear distortion consistently on this clip, as a test to verify right away if the adjustment helps or not. I asked the audi to drop my 6 and 8Khz range down 2 db. That helped just a little bit so I asked the audi to drop my 4 and 5 Khz range down 1 db as well. That seems to help a little more.
The volume on my right HA was also taken down a couple of notches across the board for overall volume balance adjustment because the right HA sounded louder than the left HA. So this also helped take some more edge off the distortion problem as well.
I’m fairly happy overall at this point after 5 fittings, but will need to do a few more outings in noisy eating environments before the final verdict is in.
I have one double vented for left ear and an open dome for the right ear. I had a few problems with the double vented dome in the left ear and on my own, cut a larger vent in one area, large enough for the tip of my ballpoint pen to be inserted without distortion. I no longer have problems with that ear.
The biggest relief it gave me was the “plugged ear” effect so that when I talked it was like I stuck my finger in my ear.
I found though that I DO have to have the hole in the upright position because it seems to be blocked off in other positions so that the original problems return. My ear canal must not be round.
Question for RayJay and Gery_R and any others who have the TV Adapter 3.0. On mine, if I have the input volume on low when watching on my laptop (into the RCA jacks), the TV Adapter seems to cut out and go back to standby mode after a while, as if because it detects no sound on the input. If I increase my input volume, then it comes on again (with the 2 LEDs turning green). If I leave my input volume to a high enough volume, then it wouldn’t cut out anymore. But then the volume would be too high for me to listen to. I suppose I can control the volume on the instead, but I prefer to leave the volume at the default level on the HAs so I can hear other things around me going on.
I just want to see if you guys have the same behavior on your adapter? I don’t think it’s a defect, I think it’s just the designed behavior to automatically shut off if doesn’t detect sound on the input at a certain threshold level.
I haven’t noticed that problem myself but then I can only use the tablet to listen to what is stored on it. When the TV adapter is turned on, the tablet looses connection to the WIFI (hooked to the TV or the tablet).
Oticon hasn’t solved the problem as they say it’s a tablet problem not an Oticon problem.
I have used 3 different brands of routers now and it’s the same with all three.
I actually wanted my aids to be able to go low enough in volume so I could barely hear it so the base setting has been reduced significantly. When I turn the adapter on, I set the aids program for the adapter and then lower the volume all the way.
This allows me to sit and read my books while having the TV on, and when something catches my ear, I can up the volume and back up the TV to replay it again, this time listening to it while paying attention.
I only tested toslink for pc and consoles and chinch for my 3ds, however the sound wasn’t loud enough for me to turn it down significantly on the source. So I never expirienced such a problem.
Well, I hope I can provide some honest feedback for you on the topic of recent model vs the new Opn! I am in my second week trial of Oticon’s Opn miniRITE … and sadly, they are going back. I am really discouraged, cuz I wanted them to be the miracle aid I’ve been looking for for more than 30 years. Currently, I’ve been wearing Otcon’s Agil Pro aids for 4 years. While I’m very happy with the overall sound quality (rich, full), ease of use on any/all phones (landline, cell), enjoyment of music, yada yada, I have found that as I get older, I tend to wake up more swollen all over. That makes it increasingly difficult to get my ITEs seated in the ear. On top of which, the material and tight seal of the ITE style leads to more moisture and unhealthy ear condition. That was my driving reason for exploring a BTE style.
Granted, I am a very difficult patient to fit: I have an 80dB loss in both ears, with little at the low/mid range, and steep drop-off from there at the high end. Even so, my audiologist programmed the Opns with my current hearing test results, so I’m guessing this is as good as it gets? Here’s my final take on the Oticon Opn miniRITE BTE vs my Oticon Agil Pro ITE:
Issues:
[LEFT] Sound quality: these BTEs simply do not sound as rich and full as my current Agil Pros. There is a distinct “P.A. system” harshness – perhaps because they lack the low/mid-ranges, or perhaps because the power I’d need would lead to distortion. They are crisper at the high ends, but still sound thin overall.[/LEFT]
[LEFT] Speech clarity: related to the above, it is more difficult to understand speech (conversation, TV, etc.,) than with my Agil Pros. I found myself straining to hear lower voices, as the aids have little low or midrange. [/LEFT]
[LEFT] Music: again related to sound quality, any kind of music playing through the home hi-fi sounds tinny, flat and like it’s being played through a Public Address system – far inferior to my current Agil Pros.[/LEFT]
[LEFT] Phone: Unfortunately, these aids are also completely incompatible (for whatever reason) with my current Ooma landline phone. The dedicated phone program was no better than default program 1, and no matter what program I used, I was unable to hear a thing on the Ooma landline phone. They work OK with my Samsung Galaxy S6, but not as well as my current Agil Pros in terms of feedback or steady volume. These BTEs’ volume seems to fade in and out on the phone, making it more stressful and difficult to hear conversation. Perhaps that’s a noise cancellation issue?[/LEFT]
[LEFT] Streaming device: Does not exist for the Opn miniRite BTE. Email with Oticon Tech Support indicates they have no plans for a physical streamer; and I prefer not to have such an app on my phone. Since I require a streamer for long phone calls, I’d end up having to use my old Agil Pros anyway, which would require my having two battery sizes on hand at all times.
[/LEFT]
[LEFT] Battery life: runs about 6 days on 312 with the BTEs vs 11+ days with my size 13 in the Agil Pros - no doubt a function of the smaller size and less power available from the BTEs.[/LEFT]
[LEFT]
[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Final conclusion:[/LEFT]
[LEFT] The look, fit and light weight of the BTEs is exceptional! But it’s possible that for someone with my level of hearing loss, these are just not robust enough to address all the issues: sound quality, speech comprehension, ease of phone use, and music in particular. Even if adjustments could be made in the frequency ranges, they’d still be difficult to use with phones in addition to lacking a streaming device.
[/LEFT]
Can you post your loss profile in your signature so we can see exactly what it looks like? But from what you described, it sounds like a typical loss profile with many people, little loss in the low/mid range and a steep drop off to the high ends.
What you described here is not characteristic of the OPN at all. I think I have similar loss to yours (little loss in low/mid and steep drop off on the highs), and I was able to get very nice low/mid amplification from my OPN. Music sounds very good for me, and speech clarity is excellent. I think you really should have your audi contact Oticon support to see why yours is not getting the low and mid amplification like most people do. It may be an error in the programming, or maybe the audi fitted you with the incorrect receiver. Did you get the 65 or 85 receiver? I think at the minimum if you have 80db losses in the highs, you should have been fitted with the 85db receiver
Not sure how you use your OOma land phone or your Samsung S6 with the OPN? It would be harder compared to your previous aids for sure because the OPN’s mic is behind the ear now and no longer in the ear. So you’ll have to position your phone’s speaker right above your ear where the OPN’s mic is in order to be able to get the amplification you need. Yes, this is more unconventional than with your in the ear , and my previous HAs are in the ear as well, so I know how you feel. But to me, this is just a temporary solution until Oticon comes out with the ConnectClip streamer in Q1’17 to enable Bluetooth streaming with non-Apple devices like your Samsung S6 or my Note 4. Oticon will also have a USB dongle available on your PC for Lync/Skype soft-phone options as well. And they will also have an adapter that will work with the ConnectClip streamer for land-line phones as well.
I’m not trying to talk you into keeping your OPN if you don’t want to, of course. I’m just pointing out that maybe your audi is not programming your OPN correctly so that’s why you’re not satisfied with its low/mid range performance. Your audi should have also explained clearly to you the streaming options that are going to be available soon so at least you can make an informed decision of whether you want to wait for the streamer or not, instead of assuming that there won’t be any streamer option at all whatsoever.
I think either you misunderstood them, or Oticon support did you a disservice by telling you that there’s no plan for a physically streamer for the OPN because in their marketing literature it clearly shows the ConnectClip Bluetooth streamer, although it’s not available yet until Q1’17. Common sense would make you question why Oticon wouldn’t make plan for a streamer for their top of the line model in the first place. My audi called Oticon support and they confirmed that the Connectclip will be available in Q1’17.
Volusiano, First off: THANKS for the honest and detailed feedback on Day 1 of your Opn trial! I included your quote (below) to address your concerns. How I can relate!!! I have worn aids for 30 years now, and like you, I am not only very discriminating in knowing how I want to hear, but also very articulate in letting my audiologist know the areas I’d liked fixed.
My Oticon Opn miniRITEs are from Sept 2016, so they likely have some features that others here have found lacking (altho, streaming on a Samsung Galaxy phone is not one!).
After my 2nd visit, I added 3 more programs to the default on my Opns, so I now have: 1.) default 2.) noisy environment (directional!) 3.) phone use (minimal feedback), 4. music program - yes, I call this “dumb ears” cuz I basically have all noise management turned OFF (or do I?). Like your experience, I found little if any difference in the “noisy environment” setting. However, the directionality of it helped me hear the person across the table. In all other respects, environmental noise was NOT cancelled out tho, making it a struggle to actually HEAR. I seriously wonder what-all the phone program does! On my Samsung Galaxy S6, I can hear better with my Agil Pros than with these new aids. I find that volume fades in and out on the phone - WHY? As for music played on a very high-end hi-fi system at home, it sounds thin, harsh and like it’s pumped through a public address system - again in stark contrast to my Agile Pro . Reading the posts here have given me an idea tho: perhaps I could swap in a power dome (more occluded sound, but able to boost volume more, I think)for my current Plus dome (shaped like a tulip).
Like you, I am WAY past the honeymoon stage of getting new aids. In fact, I am discouraged that in 2016 hearing aids are still largely a cludge: trial and error, countless appt’s with audiologist, never quite meeting my expectation. As I get older, I can only imagine getting deafer with even fewer options in terms of suitable aid with power, ease of use, speech clarity, etc., It’s pretty grim.
I am also intrigued by the favorable posts about BUYHEAR.com1! What a revelation! I’ve always thought having a dedicated audiologist was the way to go: you get service, they know your story & issues. But how I would LOVE to download a program and adjust my aids at home till they sound good, rather than return over and over and over to the aud. I also find that my long-time aud guy is clueless about music: the dynamic range that’s so crucial for listening pleasure.
I haven’t read all the posts in this thread, so it’s possible you have persevered with the Opns, and moved from trial to full-time use. For me, the jury is still out. I seriously wonder if someone with my level of loss can ever be fit with a short of having the custom mold and plastic “straw” tubing that is not only HUGE and ungainly, but in fact, I am highly allergic to the type of plastic used on those molds. I’ve tried two trials over the past 10 years, both resulting in great discomfort, allergic reaction, subsequent otitis, NO aids worn for a week as that heals, and me just wanting to jump off a bridge with utter frustration!
Good luck to you in your final choice. Thanks again for a very spot-on post.
I’m a long time hearing aid wearer (25+ years), most recent model was a pair of Rexton Insite+ CIC from Costco. Yesterday I was fitted with the Oticon OPN. I was very excited about it because my audi set high expectation with me (she wears the Oticon OPN and really likes it herself). Plus all the readings on Oticon’s marketing materials as well as testimonials here on this forum got me excited as well.
I just want to share some of my initial reactions to it here after having worn it for about a day. Will report more as my experience with it progresses.
My audi had only 1 setting set on my OPN to start with. She said she had it on medium noise management. I was fitted with a single vent dome, although she thinks with my loss, I’ll likely need a custom molded dome for better fitting and to keep out feedbacks.
Initial reaction: the medium noise management my audi put me on does a poor job of recognizing what is “droning” noises (like road noise from tires, fan noise in car, running water noise from faucet) and eliminating them. With my Rexton, I can tell that the droning noises get reduced right away after a few seconds. It makes me wonder why the OPN can’t do the same. Surely it must be easy enough to put in the smart to differentiate between droning noises and speech or other more unique sounds to dampen out the droning noise and bring out the speech and other unique sound. But the OPN doesn’t seem to do this effectively, at least at the medium noise reduction setting my audi has it on. It was disappointing to me and the continued amplification of the droning noises actually makes my hearing becoming VERY fatigued in noisy environment. The marketing bit on the OPN brags about noise reduction so fast that it can be suppressed even between words in speech. I wonder what noise reduction they’re talking about there because I don’t even notice any noise reduction, period. For sure in the next adjustment I’ll ask my audi to crank up the noise reduction up a bit more. Hopefully this is just a setting issue.
Second reaction: the ability for better speech understanding in noisy environment without suppressing surrounding sounds (marketing info says 30% better). I tried it out in my company cafeteria over lunch and I didn’t have this advertised experience at all. The “without suppressing surrounding sounds” bit is true alright. I could hear a lot more surrounding sounds. But I didn’t experience any significantly better ability to understand speech of the people sitting at my table when they talked. If anything, I had to strain a bit more to listen to them because of the cacophony around me that was not suppressed but all allowed to go through the aids now. It was just overwhelming at times because I had to hear everything that I didn’t care to hear (droning conversations around me that I ultimately consider noise). Reducing the volume helped but then it also took away my ability to understand speech of the people who sat at my table. For sure I didn’t experience 20% less listening effort as advertised.
What I had thought/hoped would happen is that the OPN technology would be smart enough (and fast enough) to recognize and suppress all the chatterings of people around me (that in my opinion has essentially become just droning noise), and be smart enough to recognize and differentiate and bring out only discrete/unique noises that only present themselves at times. For example, if people around my table speak, the OPN would bring it out to me. If a waiter approaches and speaks, the OPN would bring it out. If somebody drops a plate in the background, the OPN would bring it out. AND I hoped that I wouldn’t have had to hear the constant and droning noises made up by conversations carried out by dozens of the tables around me. Unfortunately, I’ve had to hear everything. It’s just like the OPN doesn’t (know how to) suppress anything. I expected but don’t see any intelligence from the OPN to process and decipher and categorize and manage sounds in an effective manner like I was hoping it would.
This is only my initial reaction after only wearing the OPN for 1 day, and I know that I’ll also have to allow my brain to adjust to the differences between what I’m used to on the Rexton vs the new OPN as well. And it may very well be that the noise reduction feature is not set properly to my taste by the audi yet. So there’s still a lot more tweaking around to be done.
Some of the pluses is that the amplificiation on the high frequencies seem to be much stronger than my Rexton. And in less noisy environment the OPN seems to perform fine. Feedback suppression seems to be good and effective. Music listening (from loud speakers) is enjoyable. I haven’t had a chance to try music listening through streaming because I don’t own an iPhone (I have a Samsung Note 4). But I just found a good deal for a new TV Adaptor 3.0 from eBay for only $125 (just single item sale by an individual), so I’ll report back on streaming later. I’m used to hearing a little bit more mids from my Rexton that seems to be missing from the OPN. But I think this is because I had more mids boosted on the Rexton on purpose, and also the stronger highs on the OPN may overpower and take away focus on the mids.
Some final notes, because I’ve been wearing hearing aids for so long now (6 pairs so far, my first pair was 100% analog, and my 2nd pair, although digital, had no processing abilities like noise reduction or anything), I know exactly what I want and I no longer have that honeymoon effect (of first time wearers in wonderment of being able to hear everything), so I’m a lot more critical of what I expect from each newer generation of HA. So maybe I set my expectation too high on the OPN to begin with, what’s with all the marketing stuff they did on it. And it’s also very likely that I still need a lot more time to adjust to the OPN as well as tweaking it a bit more to my liking. After all, it’s only been one day on the OPN for me. But on the other hand, because of my experience on wearing HAs, I know what I want, I don’t need to take too long to form an opinion of it.
Will provide more updates on it in the future. This is only initial first day reaction so far!
Thanks for your follow-up post on this, 1BlueJay. I agree with you that the OPN is not the “miracle cure” that you and I had hoped for. They have done an excellent job with their marketing and I was hyped up maybe way too much before I had a chance to try them on. So it was a bit of a let down for me initially after the trial because they didn’t live up with my expectation as advertised, either. But like you said, I readjusted my expectation and tried understand their new “open” paradigm better so that I can evaluate their merits based on this new “open” paradigm. It was after I readjusted my expectation and reevaluate based on this new expectation that I’ve begun to find their merits based on this new paradigm.
I too find that they have a lot of power on the highs. In fact almost to the point of causing distortion all the times on my right . And this probably took away the emphasis and focus on the low and mid if you try to lower the overall gain down to reduce the powerful highs, because you’ll have reduced the low and mids as well. What I had to do on my adjustment is to only reduce the gains on the highs (2db lower on the 6K & 8K, and 1 db lower on the 4K & 5K range) in order to reign in the too powerful highs, and still not affect the low and mid performance. If I hadn’t made this customized adjustment, then I would have only heard and focused on the high end amplification and come to the same conclusion you did, that it’s just too tinny and because of this, lacking low and mid.
I’m also very interested in the ability through buyhear.com to be able to make my own adjustment in my own home with the equipment they send, instead of having to rely on the audi for this. No discredit for the audi or anything. It’s simply because it would be so much easier to have an adjustment made and be able to see how it works right away, instead of having to leave the audi’s office and find out that the adjustment the audi made is no good at all. It would just simply speed up the adjustment process considerably without having to go back and forth to and from audi appointments. I’m still not impressed at all that most audi offices are not equipped with test tracks to simulate environmental sound so you can at least see whether adjustments are helpful or not while in their office. I know that it’s not the same as trying it out in a real environment, but at least it’s better than nothing. And right now the audis offer nothing in their office for testing purposes.
I’ve had more chances using the OPN in a lot more different environments in the last few days now compared to the first 2 weeks of trialing the OPN. Here are some further impressions:
Inside a car going at freeway speed with very loud road noise: the OPN gets an F for handling a soft spoken female voice in the back of the car. I can hear a normal male voice sitting in the front next to me OK, though. This is VERY disappointing considering all the marketing hype about the OPN’s ability to bring out and enhance soft spoken speech. There was zero, zip, nada soft spoken voice enhancement, or noise reduction for that matter, that I noticed at all that could have helped me understand a soft spoken female voice in the back. I had to ask that person to repeat what they said to me almost every single time they said something to me. At lower speed, like when driving around the city at city speed (25-30 mph), then the female voice in the back was more intelligible.
In a busy restaurant where we sit in a small round table, I can hear this soft spoken female voice who sat on my left OK, but I’d have to focus to understand her speech because of all the other noises around me. I didn’t feel like the OPN brought out or balance her speech for me to make it more intelligible.
Although I’ve mentioned before in other posts that I could notice noise reduction on a loud fan inside my car when I started talking out loud by myself, in this new situation where there were 2 other people in the car (male in the front and soft spoken female in the back), I did NOT notice any noise reduction at all while they were talking. If there were any NR, it must have been subtle enough that as soon as they stopped talking, I could hear the road noise again immediately. So I couldn’t really tell whether I could understand their speech just because my brain tried to focus on their speech, or because somehow the OPN actually helped improved their speech with noise reduction. I sure didn’t appreciate any 20% less listening effort as advertised.
Overall, here’s how I would rate the OPN on these marketing claims:
a. Soft spoken voice enhancement claim: I’d give it an “F”. Don’t notice any at all whatsoever.
b. Overall noise reduction claim: I’d give it a “D”. If there were any, I only notice it in very extreme cases. But in overall noisy situations, background static noise like road noise or fan noise or droning chatters in restaurant, airport, car, or on the streets, etc, is ever present and proves to be a drag on my hearing, causing more hearing fatigue if anything.
c. 20% less listening effort, 20% more remembering of what’s being said, 30% overall more understanding: I’d give it an “F” for now because I don’t feel like I’m reaping any benefits from any of these claims. But I understand that maybe I need to give it more chance until I’m more used to how the OPN operates under this new “open” paradigm and eventually my brain may benefit from these claims. But for now, I’m still trying to get used to having to deal with way too many sounds, especially when there are constant droning noises.
Overall, I still like the OPN a lot and see a lot of benefits with it. But I’m also starting to be able to test it out in a lot more environments as time goes on, and I think it’s time to call BS on many of their marketing claims that they tout about so much.
Volusiano, I appreciate your replies! To catch up with you on both of your posts: 1.) I will definitely ask my audiologist to give me the written profile on my hearing test that I can use in my signature here. You will be shocked at how DEAF I am. I don’t have it in front of me, but I believe I start at a 70dB loss in the low/midrange and then the drop-off at the high end to nothing. It’s a hereditary condition that has been my albatross my entire life. I can’t tell you how many peeps have tried to placate me by saying, “But look at Beethoven and all that he accomplished!” Funny aside: I used to be great at lip-reading until I got my first pair of aids way back in the '90s. Now I would love to hear folks on a trail, f’instance, as they walk in front of me, behind me; also in noisy settings with lots of people jabbering at once. I simply can’t do either with the current Opn set as they are.
I was listening to Pink Floyd with both the Opn and my old Agil Pros - world of difference! The music sounded brash, harsh and awful with my Opns, but warm, rich and deeply musical with the old Agil Pros! I’ve often wondered if the cup of my ear makes sound more natural with vs , with the mic in back of the ear (resulting in a very thin, microphoned, “P.A. system” type of sound).
I agree that my aud guy has not fine-tuned these Opn’s enough. So I go back on 12/1 for another (3rd) fitting. I’m doggedly persistent, but admit I am daunted by the lack of being able to use my Ooma landline (I get business calls on that, as my Samsung Galaxy S6 is for personal use only). Perhaps using a power dome will be the answer. I believe Oticon also makes a hard-case receiver connected by wire for BTEs for folks with profound loss like mine? Another avenue to explore.
Interesting that you say a streaming device IS in the works for these aids!!! My aud guy said the other day that his rep from Oticon was coming by this week, and he’d ask him once and for all. The line I got in my email last month (Oct) read: <<We anticipate the interface for streaming from Android phones will be available early 2017. The interface will incorporate conversion for the different Android devices as well as the streaming function. We aren’t aware of plans to develop a Streamer Pro-like device for Opn.>>
So what does that mean? I am just not comfortable with using my cell phone as a streamer. Call me paranoid (or maybe just old-fashioned), but I do not want any cloud-type server to store all the numbers I call, what I say to whom, and oh BTW perhaps use my cell phone as a robot to hack into my own computer, server or that of others. That is what’s happening with “The Internet of Things”. It’s just another strategy to gather information and STORE it in UT at the NSA’s data dungeon. Augh, I rant, but I long for a simple streaming device that keeps my calls & data personal.
I definitely want to give these aids yet another trial - after the frequency adjustments have been made. I am very familiar with what you had done on your aids, cuz that is exactly what I’ve been doing on my last 3 pairs of Oticons. Each generation has more channels to tweak and fine-tune, and I find I want less high end bleeting and more richness and fullness in the low & midrange. Fingers crossed he can make this adjustment - but like you say, we walk out of the app’t and then have to grind our teeth thru 2 weeks of trial before we can get back in to see the audi!
I have posted on a few other threads here, cuz in the past 2 months, I’ve also tried out the Widex Unique UF-S Receiver-in-the-Ear for 2 weeks (GONG!) and lasted about 3 torturous minutes with the Resound LInx. Again, I am a super challenging patient to fit with aids due to my loss. I recall 30-odd years ago, a hearing aid dispenser told me, “What you really need is a large, refrigerator-sized device on wheels to hear!” I told him I’d beamed down from my planet in outer space hoping he could fit me with something more ergonometric! <:-(0)
Volusiano, I have a very similar experience as you. To be frank, the OPNs do a shit job handling noise. Ive had countless settings adjusted regarding the noise handling and all settings have failed. I’m 4 months into the OPNs so I’m afraid I’m stuck with them. Has anyone seen the ad where the guy is at a table conversing so easily with every single person? Yeah, that’s total marketing BS.
Interesting that you say a streaming device IS in the works for these aids!!! My aud guy said the other day that his rep from Oticon was coming by this week, and he’d ask him once and for all. The line I got in my email last month (Oct) read: <<We anticipate the interface for streaming from Android phones will be available early 2017. The interface will incorporate conversion for the different Android devices as well as the streaming function. We aren’t aware of plans to develop a Streamer Pro-like device for Opn.>>
I think what they’re saying here is probably all true, but they mixed apples and oranges and that caused misunderstanding on your part.
While they said that there’s no plan to develop a Streamer-Pro-like device for the OPN (and I’m not too familiar with this device because I don’t own it), they also said that there’s a new streamer coming in Q1’17. So I think all they meant was that there won’t be a streamer for the OPN like the Streamer-Pro used for previous models, BUT, there’ll be a different and brand new streamer altogether for the OPN, and it’s called the ConnectClip.
The ConnectClip is a streamer with a built-in microphone. It connects to Android phones via the standard Bluetooth protocol to allow users to listen to sounds from Android phones and to speak into the ConnectClip microphone for phone conversations. This is different than the OPN interface with Apple iPhones because no streamer is needed for the iPhones, streaming is direct between the OPN and the iPhones via the Apple proprietary Bluetooth low energy protocol. But the disadvantage with this connection is that you’ll still need to use the iPhone’s mic to pick up your voice, so you’ll need to hold the iPhone close to your mouth when talking. With ConnectClip, your voice is picked up by the ConnectClip which presumably will be worn on you, so you can put your Android phone away on the table and still carry on a phone conversation.
The ConnectClip will also work with a USB dongle on your PC/laptop in case you use the soft-phone VoIP options like Lync or Skype.
I believe the ConnectClip will also work with a landline phone adapter of some sort, although I’m not sure exactly what kind of adapter it is. I’m assuming it’ll have a land phone line plug. This will probably work with your Ooma phone option.
Volusiano, I have a very similar experience as you. To be frank, the OPNs do a shit job handling noise. Ive had countless settings adjusted regarding the noise handling and all settings have failed. I’m 4 months into the OPNs so I’m afraid I’m stuck with them. Has anyone seen the ad where the guy is at a table conversing so easily with every single person? Yeah, that’s total marketing BS.
I agree with you, Abarsanti, that Oticon did themselves a disservice with too much marketing BS. What they should really have done is to explain more about this new “open” paradigm and set the right expectation with users about what to expect from it from the get go. But then they don’t even train their reps about the caviats of the noise reduction in their new “open” paradigm in the first place, so how can they even bother to set the right expectation with users?
I think they do apply noise reduction. But they should have warned users that the noise reduction they apply is very different and subtle compared to the traditional noise reduction, maybe even to the point of being imperceptible. They should have explained to users that users will hear EVERYTHING now, NOISE included. They should have set the expectatioin that noise reduction is now only applied during speech to help make speech more intelligible, and only to a certain degree.
I’m still going to keep my OPN, however, despite my disappointment with the marketing hype. That’s because I think the new “open” paradigm is still a better way to address the issue and limitation of directional hearing that the old paradigm has. I just won’t expect the OPN to give me any magical cure and lets me hear everything clearly in a noisy environment. I hope that over time, my brain, not the OPN, will learn to do this magical speech filtering for me instead.
At least with the OPN, it lets me hear everything around me, noise and warts and all. I don’t know if the other can pick up everything around them as well as the OPN can or not.
For those in your existing HAs wanting to try out this “open” paradigm without having to trial the OPN, I think you can simply set it to your music mode where noise reduction is turned off, and there you have it!
Yes, I totally get it now! That is good info. I’ve actually seen a “ConnectClip” similar to the one Oticon says they’ll come out with: it was for use with the Resound aids I tried out a few days ago. So that would be PERFECT for me! Currently, my StreamerPro device (compatible with my 4-yr old Oticon Agil Pro aids) is about the size of an iPod, but it hangs on a necklace - which a lot of people quibbled with. I’m not fussy - give me a clip or a necklace. As long as it streams with my aids, I’m very satisfied! Imagine holding a phone up to your ear when on the phone with Anthem, or some call center help desk?!?! Yes, my StreamerPro even travels the world with me, cuz I never know when I’ll need to use it for a long, tedious phone call.
I’m glad you have revised your expectations for the Opn platform and what it can deliver in terms of its newer, more open paradigm. Now here was my latest test in the Battle of Agil Pro vs Opn miniRITE : last night, I watched a 2-hr show on nutrition. I switched my aids out several times and this is what I found: the maximum volume on the Opn was about the same level as my Agil Pro aids set about 2 steps below their default volume. My Agil Pros still had 2 more steps ABOVE default for increasing volume. So … I think this is my deciding factor. If I have to strain and hear at about a 20% reduction in volume in the “best case” setting on the Opn, it’s really no contest. I simply have to face the reality that I need POWER. And that is likely to require a big, fully ITE-seated aid. I can probably forget about any cosmetically more attractive BTE as I’d never get the raw power I need to simply HEAR.
Augh. The dilemma of my situation bugs me, but it is what it IS. I will likely return to my aud-guy on 12/1 and ask about full iTE aids that Oticon has. I do think that this company offers the BEST sound quality I’ve tried (which, over the years have included Starkey, Widex, Phonak, more recently the Resound - UGH). This is a great forum to hang at and learn about what’s out there, where to buy these aids, for how much, and get real user feedback on the different aids!
I’m glad you have revised your expectations for the Opn platform and what it can deliver in terms of its newer, more open paradigm. Now here was my latest test in the Battle of Agil Pro ITE vs Opn miniRITE BTE: last night, I watched a 2-hr show on nutrition. I switched my aids out several times and this is what I found: the maximum volume on the Opn was about the same level as my Agil Pro aids set about 2 steps below their default volume. My Agil Pros still had 2 more steps ABOVE default for increasing volume. So … I think this is my deciding factor. If I have to strain and hear at about a 20% reduction in volume in the “best case” setting on the Opn, it’s really no contest. I simply have to face the reality that I need POWER. And that is likely to require a big, fully ITE-seated aid. I can probably forget about any cosmetically more attractive BTE as I’d never get the raw power I need to simply HEAR.
I would think that the overall gain should be programmable easily to your taste. And usually type should be able to deliver more power than type HAs. The OPN has a 100db size receiver if you really need more volume.
I wouldn’t conclude that the OPN can’t deliver as much power as your Agil Pro ITE until you’ve had your audi review the overall gain adjustment on the OPN to make sure that it has exhausted the max headroom yet or not. And if yes, explore the 100db size receiver option.
Again, I’m not trying to talk you into buying the OPN or anything. I’m just saying that sometimes important issues that you think are deal breakers for you don’t have to be deal breakers and may be easily addressed if you give it a chance and check with your audi first. I really think that the OPN as a BTE model should easily be able to deliver the volume level that you want when compared to your Agil Pro.
Munich
NJ