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DIY - Self Programming the Oticon Opn – How To

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Edited

There are two methods of programming the Oticon Opn hearing aids, with a wired programmer (mini Pro/Hi Pro) or you can use a wireless programmer namely, the FittingLINK 3.0 wireless programmer, and in the future maybe the Noahlink Wireless programmer.

For both methods (wired and wireless programming) you will need the Oticon Genie 2 software.

Wired Programming:
If you choose wired programming the cable connections will be exactly like the cable connections for the Oticon >>Alta2024<< <<Look at the Alta pictures

Note that you could also use another wired programmer specifically for Oticon-manufactured-instruments-only, the Sonic ExpressLink Programmer. But then you are limited when it comes to programming other manufacturer’s hearing aids. So stick with the mini Pro/Hi Pro unless you can get the Sonic ExpressLink for dirt cheap.

Wireless Programming:
If you choose wireless programming you have to consider what to do about Firmware updates to the Opn hearing instruments. The Firmware updates (if any) will require a wired programmer. You can’t do Firmware updates on the Oticon Opn wirelessly. Maybe you can wait this out until the Opn Firmware Updates are mature and you no longer need Firmware updates? Then (with the latest Firmware installed) you might be okay to program them wirelessly-only without having a wired programmer?? I dunno. It’s a tough call! See this >>link803<< about Firmware updates for more information. Note that Firmware updates are destructive and you will need to save your current programming first, and restore the programming after the Firmware updates.

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I have a pair of Oticon OPN 1 hearing aids that I bought from Buyhear and am attempting to do my own programming. To that end I purchased both a FittingLINK 3.0 wireless programmer (from a person in the UK who had it for sale on eBay) and an ExpressLink 3.0 (for firmware updates) that I purchased from Buyhear. I also have the Genie 2 software thanks to the download link from PVC.

I have been able to experiment with different program settings and also to update the firmware to version 4.0 but since I am not an audiologist my knowledge of how all the programming options work and exactly what they do is limited. I have read as much information as I have been able to find on the Oticon web site and have viewed the Oticon related videos on the Audiology Online web site but I still have a lot to learn about how it all works.

I look forward to sharing information with others on this forum about how to program my Oticon OPN hearing aids.

Thanks to PVC for your efforts to help us DIYers program our hearing aids.

Self programming is definitely an eye opener. It is amazing how many options the software provides and it soon becomes apparent that it would be pretty challenging for a hearing aid professional to really know all the ins and outs of all the different hearing aid software. Keep us posted on your progress.

One thing I would like to know more about is the feedback manager feature of Genie 2. Why would I use this and what does it do?

Edited

PVC,

Thanks for the tip on searching the forum for posts about the feedback manager. I did read the posts that came up with the search and think that I have some sense of what the feedback manager is but would still like to hear from someone (an audiologist perhaps?) who is familiar with that feature as it applies to the Oticon OPN 1 hearing aids.

I have run the feedback manager using the Genie 2 software but what I don’t know is how that then affects the programming of the OPNs.

PVC,

Thanks again for your help. That whitepaper from Oticon was excellent and just what I needed to help understand why the feedback analyzer should be run. Probably the key part of the paper for me was this:

"It is crucial to perform this analysis at every new fitting and every time the acoustic properties of the hearing aid change (dome type, ear wax) or there is an update to the ."

So basically they are saying that you should run the analyzer every time you make any changes to your programming because it then calibrates the anti-feedback system (AFBS) which enables the AFBS to monitor accurately situations where feedback might occur and then take measures to eliminate it.

For others who might be reading this, what I did when I ran the feedback analyzer was to connect my aids to the Genie 2 program in the fitting section of the software. Then while wearing the aids I clicked on “Feedback Analyzer” and then on the “Start” button. What then happens is that a noise is generated in both aids for 10 seconds which enables the Genie software to determine if any feedback is occurring. After the 10 seconds the noise stops and a graph is displayed for each aid (left and right) showing the feedback margin and insertion gain levels (these terms are defined in the white paper). That’s all there is to it.

Note: There is a background noise level indicator on the feedback analyzer screen - if the background noise where you are located is above the red line then you should take action to reduce the noise (close the door, window etc.).

Ok, I have another Genie 2 programming question. In Genie 2 under the “Client” section there is a tab labeled “”. Here you can input the information from a person’s audiogram. There are three buttons labeled “”, “” and “”. Can anyone shed some light on what these labels stand for any which one(s) should be used to input audiogram information? (The Genie 2 help screen for this doesn’t give any info on what these mean.)

I have entered my audiogram data using the AC option but that is just a guess and I don’t really know if it is correct.

In reply to @GeekMan

@jferris33 said:

PVC,

Thanks again for your help. That whitepaper from Oticon was excellent and just what I needed to help understand why the feedback analyzer should be run. Probably the key part of the paper for me was this:

“It is crucial to perform this analysis at every new fitting and every time the acoustic properties of the hearing aid change (dome type, ear wax) or there is an update to the audiogram.”

So basically they are saying that you should run the analyzer every time you make any changes to your programming because it then calibrates the anti-feedback system (AFBS) which enables the AFBS to monitor accurately situations where feedback might occur and then take measures to eliminate it.

For others who might be reading this, what I did when I ran the feedback analyzer was to connect my aids to the Genie 2 program in the fitting section of the software. Then while wearing the aids I clicked on “Feedback Analyzer” and then on the “Start” button. What then happens is that a noise is generated in both aids for 10 seconds which enables the Genie software to determine if any feedback is occurring. After the 10 seconds the noise stops and a graph is displayed for each aid (left and right) showing the feedback margin and insertion gain levels (these terms are defined in the white paper). That’s all there is to it.

Note: There is a background noise level indicator on the feedback analyzer screen - if the background noise where you are located is above the red line then you should take action to reduce the noise (close the door, window etc.).

I received conflicting information about running the feedback analyzer for the Genie 2 software on the OPN. Obviously this white paper says that you should run it every time something changes. I did have my audi run it on my OPN1 originally when I was fitted with 85dB receivers on bass dome with single vent fitting. And that was because I experienced feedback if I didn’t run it.

HOWEVER, if you go on audiologyonline.com138 and viewed one of the Oticon seminars on Genie2 programming, the presenter said that if there’s no feedback issue, they don’t encourage the feedback analyzer to be run and have feedback control turned on because it’ll take away some of the headroom gain which is one of the trade-offs of using the feedback analyzer.

When I mentioned this on this forum, one of the fitters who frequents the forum (maybe Um_bongo and Neville) said that this is old advice and the new advice from Oticon is to run it always.

Then when I recently changed my fitting with 105dB receivers using custom hard acrylic molds (still has a vent in it), I asked my audi about running the feedback analyzer again (because the new setup wiped away the old settings) and she asked if I experience any feedback. I said actually no I don’t (maybe the custom molds help in this regard, so she said that if I don’t have any feedback issue then she doesn’t want to run the feedback analyzer and enable feedback control, for the very same reason cited by the Oticon seminar I mentioned above, because it would require the tradeoff of losing some headroom if enabled.

I think that makes sense. If you have feedback issue then by all means run the feedback analyzer and enable feedback control. But if it’s not an issue then why run it?

In reply to @GeekMan

@jferris33 said:

So am I correct that I just enter the numbers from my audiogram as air conduction (AC)?

That’s what I generally do. But, this question is beyond my pay grade :slight_smile:

The different / results mean certain things to your Audiologist. Scroll down to How to interpret Bone Conduction (BC) or Air Conduction (AC) Hearing Loss on an in this link80.

In reply to @Volusiano

Ok, that makes sense. If I am interpreting that correctly I have just sensorineural hearing loss so the numbers from my should be recorded at values on the Genie 2 audiogram input screen.

Thanks again - you are a fountain of knowledge. I feel like I am making progress on understanding some of the features of the Genie 2 software.

In reply to @Volusiano

Volusiano,

Thanks for your info on using the feedback analyzer. In my case I really don’t have any feedback problems and am using an open dome as well so using the feedback analyzer doesn’t pose any problems for me. Sounds like in your case there are some more considerations. The graphs from the analyzer for my case show that I have lots of “head room” so I guess I don’t have to worry about it.

My next question about using the Genie 2 software has to do with the different graph displays available in the fine-tuning part of the fitting display.

The graph that is displayed initially is titled "Insertion gain Target and simulated" and looks like this:

image

I would like to know just what these graphs are telling me and would appreciate any info that anyone can provide.

It’s the amount of extra oomph applied per frequency. The dotted line is the target, the solid line is the actual gain of the aid into a standardised coupler, which may differ from your ear.

Um_bongo,

Thanks for the info on the graph - now I am beginning to understand it.

Can you tell me what the portions of the graph shaded in red and blue represent?

@jferris33 said:

Can you tell me what the portions of the graph shaded in red and blue represent?

For those 2 swordfishes in your graph, they are the Analysed (Dutch spelling, I guess) Feedback Margin. If you hover the mouse over it, it tells you. You can turn the graph off with the musical note, and you’ll see what your gain would be without any feedback control. But with feedback control on, for the high frequencies where feedback occurs, the gain may be lower than maximum according to a complex algorithm and may be as low as the bottom edge of your fish.

If you mean the vertical colored bands, those are the destination frequencies of the Speech Rescue function. The vertical gray band, which in your graph is all the way to the right, shows the source frequencies for Speech Rescue.

TRY,

Thank you for that information. That really helps me to understand what those graphs are telling me. I think that I am slowly making progress in understanding how to program my aids.

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