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Oticon launches Opn hearing aids and Velox platform

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In reply to @Psocoptera

I’m also unsure why anyone would want to turn on/off lights with their hearing aids.

@Psocoptera said:

I think they could improve on the name - perhaps something for the next version!

They make it sound like a cure for dementia so the scaremongerers who tell people they will develop dementia without HAs will love it.

Not sure why I would want to control my programmable lights with my hearing aids. (I actually do have a programmable lighting system and it is just trouble now that it is 15 years old. Turns lights on and off at random and switches just decide not to work for a few months at a time then miraculously work again. Great when the system was new but terrible once it started to age and things started to malfunction. One time I could not turn off my bedroom lights for 36 hours and once I could I wasn’t game to use that switch again for a year.)

I am sure the hype will sell quite a few so real people results will filter through some time in July I guess.

In reply to @JustinHIS

Why can’t you have quality of sound & be able stream music / T.V or take a phone call ? I for one would like both as well as being able to deal with very noisy situations.

@JustinHIS said:

To clarify…

Features do not account for the majority of real world benefit. Benefit is in the results.

The reason I was mentioning features is because I see so many people, both in this forum and out, that focus so much attention on it. Even some of the manufacturers tout their features a lot. Siemens has been touting their binaural beamforming narrow directionality feature for a couple years now. Resound and Starkey have been touting their wireless connectivity/streaming feature for a couple of years now. Every time Widex comes into my offices they won’t shut up about their analog to digital converter… Ultimately, none of these features have resulted in any of these brands outperforming Oticon hearing devices. But patients keep hearing these buzzwords at my competitors and inevitably they come into my office and ask me about them. “Why are you recommending Oticon with 16 channels when I was just over at the Miracle Ear store and their devices have 48 channels?” “I was just at Costco and their device doesn’t have to use a neckloop to stream from my iphone.” All of these buzzwords and technical features just serve to muddy the waters for consumers. The challenge is that I basically have to explain to people constantly, “The number of channels is just a bragging point. It doesn’t really make a difference in real world benefit” “Yes, with Oticon you have to have a neck loop. But on the plus side, your battery lasts a lot longer, your hearing aid is smaller, and it sounds much clearer when you’re trying to understand what people are saying.”

Oticon’s emphasis has always been on what you just said… sound quality. And by that, I mean, speech understanding. The ability of the wearer to UNDERSTAND the words they are hearing. To get the most accurate clarity possible from their hearing devices. Not features. If you read the marketing pages/product announcements that have been linked to earlier in this thread, you will notice that Oticon emphasizes (puts in larger, more colorful lettering) the PERCENTAGES of improvement. That is a BENEFIT. “20% easier to listen” is a benefit. “20% improvement in memory” is a benefit. “30% better speech understanding” is a benefit.

The specs I listed above are hardware (feature) improvements. Oticon didn’t emphasize these items - they simply listed them on a spec sheet for nerds like me (because they don’t mean much to most consumers). I emphasized them because I found it interesting that the hardware improvements they did make seem to target the specific features that other manufacturers preach about so much.

If you don’t care about connectivity or streaming, I applaud you. I don’t care about these things personally, either. Like you, I prefer natural sound; but even more than that, I prefer UNDERSTANDING what people are saying. Oticon devices have done this better than any others, and with this new platform, they will do it EVEN BETTER. I don’t know much about your specific situation, but I am looking at your use of the phrase “natural sound”… Just keep in mind that with a hearing loss like yours, unless it happened overnight, you probably don’t know what normal natural sound is. In your right ear, you are hearing things VERY DISTORTED. So remember that any time you put on a different hearing aid (The new Opn included) , it will sound different than you are accustomed to. Does that mean the new device doesn’t sound natural? Or does it mean your hearing was jacked up to begin with and what you are now hearing IS natural?

Justin makes some interesting points. We do overtalk features. And, manufacturers do that too – Oticon included. You can’t be interested in this business without being exposed to it. Directionality is a current biggy. But, even though the names are different, every company has a hearing aid with a form of it.

Hardware-wise, we can consider them all the same. Yes, one says they do it in-house. The others use a foundry. But, the technology is known technology relying on technology heavily developed for computers/phones. None of the hype word size, band width, processor counts and all the rest that are the true specs for processor hardware. Even the 3 pricing levels use the exact same hardware platform.

So, like everything in computers, satisfaction resides in the software. The insides of a Apple are the same components as in a PC. Software differentiates. One manufacturer may have the best programming shop. Although, it isn’t clearly apparent. The science/formulas for audio have long been known. Audiophiles and HA users have something in common. I was never a person that could discriminate between an expensive speaker set and a lesser set. It seemed to revolve around volume more than pure highs/lows that other find.
But that’s where there is a separation. We can put 20# magnets for booming lows in something we hang from our ears. The miniature technology for aids is also very close hardware.

Musician loves his Bernafon; I like my KS6; many like their Trax42 and on and on. Every brand works best for their users. Justin loves selling Oticon and differentiates just like the manufacturers who use obfuscation to try to make their brand vastly superior. Its mostly hype.

HA end users are the same as computer geeks and nerds. The geeks want solid info and are turned away. The nerds want the best knowing they aren’t well informed. The industry hype addresses those nerds because the geeks would know better what they are doing.

So, yes, we overtalk features which is what the manufacturers want. The HA industry is driven by hype far more than by technology because the technology is all known and identical at the practical level. For all the studies and papers, it ends being a subjective decision.

+ve is a good chip, seems strong enough
-ve it appears they have rushed to market because there is no music programme, no insitu audiometry and no live demonstration. These features are to be added later in the year.

so the software/ programming software will be impoved.
so in the Euha congress we will have a good idea.

Phonak in the past had done the same with Target software (Spice Platform) had missing features at the start

So yes i would try the new OPN if i was about to purchase a new Hi-end …

Having spoken with a couple of people from the launch - Chip is great. platform only…

Seeing that this was going to change the World/Paradigm shift etc, they seem to have botched the release a bit.

It would be great if they are just half as good as they claim to be. For me the biggest issue I have is understanding what is being said around me. And also knowing when someone really is talking to me. That is why my stress levels stay so high, if I am around anyone, or a group I have to be on on my toes at all time to be able to hear if anyone is talking to me.

Just ordered a set. Hope they are as good as they say they are. They certainly are not cheap… Canada seems to be the last to get them but hopefully worth the wait.

You may be the first to get the Opns that I’ve read. I’m hoping to demo them within a week, but would love to get your initial impressions. I wore Agil Pros for 6 years.

I’m on my audiologist’s list to demo the Oticon Opn. Eagerly awaiting that telephone call. The left speaker of my Agil Pro is failing so I’ll see if her insurance plan covers a replacement for me. From my (below) it should be pretty clear that speech in a noisy environment, telephone (I have a caption call now), and radio are difficult to impossible to understand. Music? I have a pitch shift right about C 256Hz so the lower and upper registers are out of tune. Polyphonic music is also impossible - it helps that most of it is in my memory so sometimes I recognize the theme. Simple music is OK - string quartets, guitar, etc. A hearing aid can’t do much about some of this. I hate getting old.
R L
250 55 50
500 55 60
1K 65 75
2K 75 70
4K 100 75
6K 105 100
8K 100 100

Oticon Agil Pro (5 yrs)

I posted this on another thread. I’m trying to connect with people looking at the Opns.

I’ve been on a journey looking to get the Oticon Opns. I’ve worn Oticon Agil Pro for 6 years and like them. I’m ready for something new. I trialed Oticon Alta Pro 2 and like them, but during trial became aware the Opns were being launched. I returned Altas. I’ve looked around at pricing quite extensively. Local Audi quotes $6,900 for 2, discounthearingaidsofamerica.com quotes $4,990 for 2 (go to local audi and order through discounthearaidsofamerica.com), and buyhear.com sells for $3,598 for 2! You send buyhear your hearing test. They order them, program them, and sends you packet (including aids, of course) which allows them to adjust remotely over internet. They offer 60-day 100% money back guarantee. I ordered them and look forward to seeing if this works out. buyhear.com is probably not for everyone, but I feel confident enough to give it a try. I’ll post my experience after they come in.

I just checked your pricing, and the Opn on buyhear.com is for one device at $3598 (Makes them $7200/pair which is a fair price). discounthearingaidsofamerica.com is kind of a crappy, selfish way to go, realistically. You can certainly do it, if your goal is just to get yourself the lowest price and then put your local audiologist out of business by dealing with someone who is technically breaking the law (but if you do that, THEN who is going to make adjustments for you or send devices in for repair under warranty, or get you that replacement battery door, or be available for immediate assistance?)

I just put my Opns on yesterday. Its amazing. Never would have thought it could be this good.

Thanks for your mini-review Justin. What aids have you been wearing that are being replaced by the Opn’s? Since you are an I imagine that you are replacing recent state of the art aids. The Opn’s are really that much better?
Thanks.

In reply to @GWerkema

[quote=GWerkema;139331] Music? I have a pitch shift right about C 256Hz so the lower and upper registers are out of tune.

GWerkema, you say you have a pitch shift at 256Hz. That sounds kind of like what I’m experiencing. In a certain frequency range I can play a tone and plug one ear and the tone sounds at a certain frequency. Then I plug the other ear and the tone sounds slightly higher or lower. From what I have read, this describes a condition known as diplacusis.
I am a professional singer, so this is career-threatening. My audi has no idea how to diagnose or mitigate this problem and doesn’t know whom to refer me to.
How did you come to understand this “pitch shift”? Did your audi diagnose it? Do have any suggestions that might help me? Thanks.

In reply to @JustinHIS

@JustinHIS said:

I just checked your pricing, and the Opn on buyhear.com is for one device at $3598 (Makes them $7200/pair which is a fair price). discounthearingaidsofamerica.com is kind of a crappy, selfish way to go, realistically. You can certainly do it, if your goal is just to get yourself the lowest price and then put your local audiologist out of business by dealing with someone who is technically breaking the law (but if you do that, THEN who is going to make adjustments for you or send devices in for repair under warranty, or get you that replacement battery door, or be available for immediate assistance?)

I just put my Opns on yesterday. Its amazing. Never would have thought it could be this good.

Actually, the pricing $3,598 per pair is correct. https://www.buyhear.com/collections/oticon/products/pair-oticon-opn2 I ordered a pair yesterday. As I wrote, I don’t think that this is for everyone. The jury is still out on it, though. I am beginning this process with them, so we will see. I have a 60-day money back guarantee. After my trial period with my first pair of hearing aids 6 years ago, I only needed my aids adjusted once. I have my old aids that will get me by in case I need to send Opns for repair, etc. I do admit that I’m taking a chance, but willing to do that to save over $3,000. If that is selfish, then I’m guilty. :slight_smile: I don’t see that going with discounthearingaidsofamerica is selfish either. They have a network of audiologists (local businesses) willing to have clients purchase through them. The audiologists are freely making the decision to be involved in this arrangement as well. Also, is it selfish to go with Costco arrangement? I realize that I am not seeing things as viewed by probably most audis in this forum. Maybe they can help we clients/customers understand. Are there any audis willing to charge less for hearing aids and have a fee per service visit after trial period? Maybe this is an unworkable idea. Just wondering. Maybe I’m crazy. :slight_smile:

In reply to @JustinHIS

@JustinHIS said:

discounthearingaidsofamerica.com is kind of a crappy, selfish way to go, realistically. You can certainly do it, if your goal is just to get yourself the lowest price and then put your local audiologist out of business by dealing with someone who is technically breaking the law (but if you do that, THEN who is going to make adjustments for you or send devices in for repair under warranty, or get you that replacement battery door, or be available for immediate assistance?)

I’d prefer a transparent solution, where you pay for what you get. I dont wanna pay an audiologist for setting up a device that is useless if he hadnt set it up. The first fitting is not a service, it’s part of the product. If I bought an unadjusted online and bring it to an audiologist who needs perhaps 3 hours to set it up there is a common sense for what the compensation should be. After that, why not just pay for service like the things you mention when the customer needs it to be done. Why does hypothetical service in guarantee time have to be priced in, thus making the prices so much higher than in the store you name?

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