Has anyone had any luck with programs with the Oticon Opn? Glucas published some programs that he found on a website and I’d be curious if anyone has tried them (or any others) and have they been effective. They were:
Car and Restaurant:
For Car and restaurant, the COMPLEX NOISE REDUCTION was adjusted to max.
For RESTAURANT, open sound transition was adjusted to high and the mid frequencies were turned up 2.
There was also a program for music posted.
We now have a custom programme for listening to music through the air (not Streaming).
Here’s the techy bit on how to create it:
Add a programme on NAL1
Untick Feedback Shield
Untick Noise Reduction
For directionality: Select Pinna Omni
On the fine tuning screen, click on the Compression Ratio box, then click on all on the main adjustment, increase all by 10 or so clicks, then turn down louds+moderates, then the moderate+lows - until the compression for moderate to louds is around 1.0I
These would be the 3 programs that would make most sense for me (if they are effective).
I haven’t had much luck with various OPN programs I tried, not because they were bad, but because I couldn’t really tell much difference between them.
Here are the programs I’ve tried:
Mode 1. Default program built based on my answers to the OPN setup questions to fine tune it to my taste. The noise reduction is set to medium here. I also had the 4K & 5K down 1db and 6K and 8K down by 2db on the right to reduce the distortion I hear at high frequencies.
Mode 2. Same as default program but with noise reduction turned up on max -> I can’t tell any difference between this and the default mode 1. Can’t tell any more noise reduction.
Mode 3. Directional mode program with max noise reduction -> Can’t tell any difference that it’s in the directional mode. Sounds omnidirectional to me just the same. Negative artifact -> start hearing very noticeable low frequency floor noise in this mode.
So I told the audi to scrap programs 2 and 3 above. And I asked her to just put max noise reduction for my mode 1 (the default one). I complained to her that in very noisy environment, I cannot hear speech very well. For example, while driving at freeway speed with a lot of road noise, I can’t hear a female speech sitting in the back seat. She consulted with the Oticon trainer on how to tweak my program to help with this, and the trainer suggested to her to try another program for me:
Mode 4. Copy my mode 1 (default mode), change noise reduction to maximum, BUT also open up everything. I asked her what does that mean, “open up everything”? She said it means that instead of using the settings based on my setup profile answers, just assume that I prefer to hear everything wide-open without much restriction (except that we still implement max noise reduction). I think the idea here is to hope that the wide open settings can help me pick up speech better in very noisy environment. I haven’t notice much difference between this mode and my mode 1 so far. But then I haven’t had a chance to replicate and be in a very noisy car again with a female talking in the back seat to compare between the 2 modes. So the verdict is still out on this.
The bottom line is that with my older HAs, it was very easy to tell the differences between each mode (regular, music, noisy environments, etc). But with the OPN, you can have multiple programs all you want, but the question is whether you can really hear any significant differences between them or not? The answer for me so far is no. Maybe that’s why they only propose 1 default mode in the first place. Maybe it’s because the “open” paradigm is such that you’re supposed to be able to hear everything anyway, so there’s no need to have customized programs because they’ll still all sound the same to you.
Actually I have 2 more distinct modes:
TV Mode -> obviously only for use with the TV adapter
Autophone mode -> turned on to have the HA automatically switch to this mode when I hold a phone (or headset) up to my ear(s).
Thanks Volusiano. This is disappointing. It seems that the ’s were at their best when I first got them and all attempts to tweak or improve them have had a negative effect. I was relatively impressed with the default setting but also believed that some improvement would be possible. Maybe not.
1.) Did your audiologist set up a separate program for the TV streamer? My aud-guy said he had to “dedicate Program 3” to run the TV streamer. But when I want to stream the TV, I don’t go to Program 3 (as indicated by 3 rapid beeps); instead, I hit the program button on my left aid and it makes a double-beep that goes: ding-DING! (like a musical sound with two distinct notes: one at one pitch, the other at a HIGHER, louder pitch). If this is what streams the TV into my aids, why do I need Program 3 set aside?
2.) You’d mentioned AutoPhone before in one of my posts - but tell me: how do you like it? Do your aids switch from AutoPhone to default or some other program if the phone is moved just a smidgeon from your ear? I have opted not to have AutoPhone enabled for now, so I wonder how you like it. With my power domes, I seem to have ZERO feedback from either ear, so I can put a phone up near, on top of, in the general vicinity of the mic on my Oticon Opn and hear perfect on the phone. Would AutoPhone offer anything better?
1.) My audi didn’t have to set up any program for the TV streamer for me. She didn’t even know I bought a TV streamer. Like what you did, I followed the TV Streamer’s instruction and I paired my OPNs with the TV streamer myself (by rebooting them while they sit on the TV Streamer), and that was it. Once linked to the TV Streamer that way, the OPN got set automatically with a TV Streamer mode that makes the ding-DING sound like you said. The regular program is 1, and you may also have program 2 or 3, etc. But the TV Streamer is the LAST program in the sequence. If you’re in Program 1 and hit the button on your left , it cycles DOWN to the last program in the sequence, which is the TV Streamer program. If you hit the button on your right HA, then it cycles up through your program 1, then 2, then 3, then TV streamer (last program), then back to 1, etc.
I think your audi needs to read the instruction of the TV Streamer first. I wonder who told him he needs to set up a dedicated Program for the TV Streamer? What did he even tweak with such a program?
2.) I like the AutoPhone a lot. I use it to talk on the phone for hours on work conference calls everyday. Because I use a headset to trigger the AutoPhone to enable the phone mode in the OPN, I leave my headset pretty much alone and the OPN rarely cycles in and out of the phone mode. But even if I fidget around with my headset a little bit, the OPN doesn’t cycle in and out of the phone mode much, unless I completely remove my headset from my ears. When I put my headset on the OPNs (not on my ear canal, but a little bit higher right on the OPNs that sit behind my ears), I would hear a 2-tone chime signifying that AutoPhone detects my headset’s speakers’ magnet and automatically goes into the OPN phone mode. I can hear clearly after that. If I move the headset around a little bit, it doesn’t really cycle out of the phone mode. But the sound volume may reduce a little if the headset is not directly over the OPNs (not the receiver, but the actual OPN unit that sits behind the ear). But the only time the OPN cycles out of the phone’s mode is when I completely remove the headset from my head. Then in about a second or two, I’d hear the OPN chime back to program 1.
If I don’t use my headset for conference calls, but use my Samsung Note 4 to answer incoming calls instead. although I don’t hear the Autophone chime when I put the Note 4 over the OPN, I can still hear the Note 4 just fine. If I really want to pick up more volume (especially more high frequency sound), instead of holding my Note4 normal parallel to the side of my face, over the ear, where the phone’s speaker over the ear canal, I would move the Note 4 up a little higher, so that its speaker is closer to or on top of the OPN’s mics at the top. Again, even with moving my Note 4 around the vincinity of my ear, I’m always constantly in the OPN phone mode, there’s no cut in cut out like your audi warns you.
But I think the worst advice your audi gave you is not to enable the AutoPhone mode on the OPN. There’s NOTHING TO LOSE by enabling it. It doesn’t interfere with ANYTHING ELSE, it doesn’t mess up any other program you’re on. So what have you go to lose to have AutoPhone enabled? And even if it’s finicky to use (and again, I don’t believe it is because it works great for me), it’s still better than nothing. So what do you do currently if your Samsung phone rings and you happen to have your OPN on? You still gotta answer it, don’t you? At least with the phone mode you can hear the phone better than without the phone mode.
Here’s another point about the AutoPhone mode never gets in your way of doing anything else: Let’s say you don’t need that Program 3 that your audi set for your for the TV Streamer (because there’s already a built-in program for it when you link your OPN with the TV Streamer), then you still want to ask the audi to remove that program 3 because it’s useless and it gets in your way. You don’t want to have to step through an extra and useless program as you cycle through your programming sequence. But with the AutoPhone enabled, the OPN phone mode is turned on and off AUTOMATICALLY for you as you apply a speaker on your OPN. You don’t even have to cycle through it like you do with an extra program if you don’t use it. Don’t want to use it? Just don’t apply a speaker over it and it will never be turned on. So AutoPhone should be invisible and NEVER gets in your way if you choose never to use it. That’s why it’s a no brainer to enable it ON, in case you ever need or want to use it.
I don’t think your audi has thought these things through enough and gave you bad advice by suggesting you not enabling the AutoPhone because he heard of other patients of his complaining. He should have just enabled AutoPhone for you and let you try it. If you don’t like it, no need to disable it. Just don’t use it and it will never get in your way again.
Seriously, before, I thought I could hardly wait to have the still-to-be-released ConnectClip so I could stream for phone calls. But now with AutoPhone working so well for me, and having the TV Streamer already for watching TV and listening to music, I think I’m all set and I’m no longer in a hurry to even need a ConnectClip. Heck, I’ll probably even wait until I can find a good deal on it before I buy it, instead of rushing out and pay full retail for it the minute it comes out.
^^^^ OK THIS IS GREAT!! Thank you SO much for the detailed info on TV streamer program and AutoPhone. If I understand you correctly, I only need to cycle through my existing programs to get to the TV streamer one. Turns out, I don’t need Program 3, so I’ll have my aud-guy remove that.
AutoPhone sounds intriguing… and like you say, what have I got to lose trying it out? What I wonder is: how do you use a headset so easily? I have a headset phone at home (my hubs uses it for long calls), but when I put that up to my aids, I can’t hear a THING, the volume is so low. I try to position it over, above, on top of, somewhere close to the actual mic on my Opns, but to no avail!
Luckily, with the (L) power domes on my aids, I hear beautifully on cell phone or landline with NO dedicated phone program, no streamer, and no headset. But there are days (OMG, literally DAYS) when I am on the phone with Anthem for so long I nearly sprout a 3rd ear. I simply can’t hold that phone up to my ear for an hour or MORE. (I don’t want to go the “IoT” route for streaming to my Samsung Galaxy S6.) So I still use my Agil Pro aids with the old StreamerPro necklace for any call longer than 5 min.
You say that you don’t need a streamer to listen to music - does that mean you’ve paired the Opns with some device that plays music? Or do you listen to it through the TV streamer?
^^^ Before I had the AutoPhone mode enabled, I could not hear anything from my headset either, like what you found out for yourself with your husband’s headset. After I have the AutoPhone mode enabled, I would hear the phone mode chimed in when I put the headset on over the . So it is the AutoPhone mode that allows me to use my headset with the OPN. The AutoPhone mode, when enabled, detects the magnet on the speaker of the headset when you put it on your OPN, and the AutoPhone feature then turns on the phone mode in the OPN (not your audi’s phone program, but the built-in phone mode). Although some people don’t think there’s a tcoil inside the OPN, I’ve seen some literature showing evidence that the OPN has a tcoil in it. I believe the phone mode (enabled by AutoPhone and applying the headset over the OPN) allows the tcoil to pick up sound in the form of the induced magnetic field generated by the speaker of the headset. That is how you can now hear the sound from the headset clearly, when AutoPhone enables the phone mode for you.
If you have a landline phone, and you put the handset on your ear, you’ll probably hear the phone chime as well when the handset’s speaker’s magnet activates the OPN’s phone mode.
When using the cell phone by itself instead of using the headset, at least on my Samsung Note 4, and probably on your Samsung S6 as well, I don’t think the cell phone activates the OPN’s tcoil. I don’t know why, but I’m guessing because these cell phone don’t have a big enough magnet on their speaker to activate the OPN phone mode. But I can still hear the sound OK from my cell phone. I’m guessing that in this case, it’s the OPN’s mics that pick up the sound, not the OPN’s .
My headset is a wireless Bluetooth Plantronics Focus. It’s paired with my Samsung Note 4. I use it for phone calls, but I also use it to listen to music from my phone (or laptop which also has Bluetooth connection). It also comes with a USB dongle to connect to laptops that don’t have Bluetooth as well. It produces great sound and deep bass also very suitable for music listening. But, I can also just hookup the TV Streamer to any music source for music listening without any headset or headphones, but via direct streaming as you already know. However, the TV Streamer is pretty clunky with all the wirings so it’s not very portable. For portability, I just use my Bluetooth headset.
^^^ OK - got it! I look forward to trying out the AutoPhone then, and seeing which of my phones at home (Ooma landline, headset phone, Samsung cell phone) will let the program “kick in”. I am very fortunate that these Opns work super with the Samsung for now. I guess I just needed the larger power dome for a better seal in my ear. But the volume is considerably LOWER on the Ooma phone, and the headset is useless for me right now.
I’ll post an update after my next app’t on Wed.
Odd aside: I find that when the battery starts to wind down on these Opns, the overall volume decreases AND TV streamer gets really flaky. I guess I don’t mind, cuz I keep an eye on the calendar (where I mark the day I changed my batts). It’s just curious that I never seem to let the Opn get to warning beep, cuz I can tell they are just not amplifying sound like they do with fresh batts. (or am I just crazy?) So far, I am going like SEVEN days between battery changes, but then the only streaming I do is for maybe 2-3 hours a night with the TV streamer.
The phone is only heard on both if you use a headset that has speakers on both sides. If you use a headset with a single speaker, you can only hear sound on the side where the speaker is
It’s not streaming so it doesn’t send the sound to both sides. It’s just good old fashion picking up the sound from the speaker(s) of the headset or handset.
It’s very simple. You put a speaker that has a magnet near the HA and if Autophone is enabled, it’ll activate the phone program. You’ll then hear the sound from that speaker.
But the volume is considerably LOWER on the Ooma phone, and the headset is useless for me right now.
You should download the Oticon ON app for Android phones. This app will allow you to increase the volume on your remotely via the phone to help compensate for the lower volume of the Ooma phone or of the headset. It’s much more convenient than trying to increase the volume by messing around with the button on your right HA, while holding a handset or wearing a headset that is in the way.
My headset volume sometimes is low, sometimes is OK. When low volume, I use the On app to increase the volume. Very easy and effective.
Odd aside: I find that when the battery starts to wind down on these Opns, the overall volume decreases AND TV streamer gets really flaky. I guess I don’t mind, cuz I keep an eye on the calendar (where I mark the day I changed my batts). It’s just curious that I never seem to let the Opn get to warning beep, cuz I can tell they are just not amplifying sound like they do with fresh batts. (or am I just crazy?) So far, I am going like SEVEN days between battery changes, but then the only streaming I do is for maybe 2-3 hours a night with the TV streamer.
My TV Streamer gets flaky on low batteries, too. It actually stops pairing with the HA.
I usually don’t notice a slight volume reduction when my battery goes low. I usually get the low battery warning chime first. But I notice that you have pretty heavy hearing loss in the mid range, so maybe that’s why your HAs are more sensitive to low batteries, because the receiver probably uses more battery juice trying to pump out sounds in the mid-range.
7 days between battery changes is very good. I get about 4.5 days on mine. But I may use streaming a little bit longer than you do.
I get about 4-5 days depending on streaming, do you guys accept that? At the end of the day it is okay… however a size 13 battery would be more convenient for me. Still get no Info on when and if a size 13 will come out soon…
Based on users’ feedbacks from the other threads on this forum, that seems to be about the average, 4-5 days. I’m seeing the same thing. And yes, more streaming would suck up more juice faster, based on my observation, too.
yeah guys, I’m just ranting because of the lack of a size 13 version, how long does it have to take, it’s nearly 6 months now since the 312 came out, I want 13
I may sound paRaNoiD! but I will simply never use anything on the IFTTT. Trading off personal security & privacy for easy access to unrelated apps just sits like an icy chill of Big Bro on my shoulders. I’ll gladly wait for any kind of clip-on streamer or just use my old Agil Pros + Streamer Pro if I need super quality audio. Now I’m hoping to get in to my aud-guy today as SNOW is in the forecast, wouldntchaknow.
You should download the Oticon ON app for Android phones. This app will allow you to increase the volume on your HAs remotely via the phone to help compensate for the lower volume of the Ooma phone or of the headset. It’s much more convenient than trying to increase the volume by messing around with the button on your right HA, while holding a handset or wearing a headset that is in the way.
My headset volume sometimes is low, sometimes is OK. When low volume, I use the On app to increase the volume. Very easy and effective.
Having used size 13 on my Agil Pros for many years now, I SO want the longer battery life (vs 312). But wouldn’t this also make the aids BIGGER? I guess my concerns would be: 1.) bigger, heavier aids sitting on top of my ears (as it is, they are a bit sore from the miniRITEs!) and 2.) if aid needs to be bigger, would it require the straw/tube + plastic earmold? If so, I’d be out of the running, as I am hideously allergic to either clear plastic or rose-tinted plastic ear molds. <:-(0)
yeah guys, I’m just ranting because of the lack of a size 13 version, how long does it have to take, it’s nearly 6 months now since the 312 came out, I want 13
What really worked well for me (the last 4 years) as far as Battery life was my Siemens Pure 7’s.
They used 312’s - BUT they were RECHARGEABLE 312s.
I never had to remove the the batteries to charge them as the Siemens ’s were designed to simply set the entire HA into the re-charger base, and two mental contacts on the HA would make contact with the charger (no fiddling with batteries).
I would place them in the charging base when I went to bed and they were charged by morning.
Every morning I knew that the batteries would last about 18 hours on a charge so I never worried about losing power in the middle of a meeting/lunch etc…
After about a year on the batteries they would start to decline an I would replace them when they hit about 12-14 hours of holding a charge.
Sooo nice not having to fiddle with little batteries AND knowing (almost to the hour) when your battery was going to start to peter out…
Folks will be along soon to tell you the evils of rechargeable batteries. I have the Carat bx7 aids with 13’s… Never less the 20 hours per overnight charge and dry. I do use replaceable batteries on road trips to save on baggage.
NJ
Munich
