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Oticon verses Costco Kirkland brand?

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What I’d also add is that with the reverse sloping loss the directional mode of the aids will have an audible low frequency loss of gain when they are directional. In order to make the directional pattern, there will be nulls introduced to the polar plot which is likely to make sounds from the rear and side slightly false. The Opn doesn’t do this.

There are aids out there that compensate the directional pattern better than the KS7 like the Lynx 3D, but that’s more cash too.

Edited

Hi Sonya, I don’t have first hand experience with wearing the Sonic Enchant 100 so I can’t give you any testimonial about it. I think Chatteremail (a forum member here) has had a chance to try it, and he also wore the OPN1 before, and he was really impressed with the Sonic Enchant 100 equally. You may want to PM him for more details if you’d like.

What I know about the Sonic Enchant 100 is only through reading their marketing brochure and some of their white papers. Because Sonic is a sister company of Oticon and Bernafon, all of whom have the same parent company Williams-Demant, there’s speculation that the Enchant 100 has the same technology as the OPN. However, while the look of the hardware and specs are the same, the marketing and white paper description of their processing technology don’t seem to be the same technology as the OPN to me. I think that’s why they’re $1000 cheaper than the OPN1.

It doesn’t make sense for Williams-Demant to take the OPN technology and port it over to the Enchant line and undersell it for $1K cheaper. That would just be shooting their own foot for nothing. As a few years go by I can see them waterfalling the technology down to their sister brands/models, but I think it’s too early for them to be doing this just yet because there is no next generation OPN release on the horizon yet.

But if the Sonic Enchant technology is just as good as the OPN technology as Chatteremail seems to think, I think it’s definitely worth checking it out.

Thanks I emailed buyhear.com29 asking for info on purchasing the opn1, and they recommended the sonic. I thought that was strange considering it’s cheaper, but they offered a 60 day trial period.

I’ve been hearing that the OPN supply online has been lower than demand so I’m wondering maybe that’s why they’re steering people to try out the Sonic Enchant instead because that’s what they have in stock.

I think for $1000 cheaper (and I think it’s also cheaper than the OPN 3 as well) and with a positive review from a forum member who’s already tried it out and also had worn the OPN1 as well for reference, it’s worth trying it out for sure.

Final answer, im going to give the juna 9 a shot at Costco, since I now have a $1700 credit. They’re $2400…& manufactured by same company as my beloved OPNs…if the Juna 9s disappoint me, then ill try the Sonic… Final option just going with opn1…
Lol, eventually ill be a product expert!

In reply to @sonya_g

My 2 cents for whatever it’s worth…
I also have reverse slope, not quite as bad as yours but enough so that it started affecting my everyday life. I have been wearing OPN1s for about 6 weeks now. They are my 4th pair of in about 8 years. Why? Because every audi that I went to swore they could help me hear better, only they didn’t. Some of the aids I was able to return with only a “small” fee for their services. Others I got stuck with because I waited too long to return and they sit in a drawer somewhere, unused. Expensive teaching moment. I’m seeing a different audi now, one who never promised she could help but who was willing to try for much longer than any other audi I’ve seen. During the past 6 weeks she’s made several programming adjustments, had me try lots of different domes and is now making me custom molds at no additional charge. Even without the custom molds, I’m able to hear much more (particularly speech) than I ever was with other HAs. I don’t know if its the audi or the particular aid, or a combination. But I have been pretty impressed with the OPNs so far.
These were a real stretch for me financially but so far have been pretty pleased. That’s not to say that you would have the same results. Just saying that I know from personal experience how difficult reverse slope can be.
Good luck!

@RobinH said:

During the past 6 weeks she’s made several programming adjustments, had me try lots of different domes and is now making me custom molds at no additional charge

It’s nice that your audi made you custom molds at no additional charge. But then if you had paid full premium for it, that’s to be expected.

Mine charged me $350 for the pair of custom molds and a pair of new 105dB receivers (included in that price). I upgraded to 85dB receivers with bass domes. Mine told me it’s the 105dB receivers that cost extra, and custom molds are required for them.

I assume that you changed to custom molds but still using the same 65 receivers though, right?

I haven’t received the custom molds yet. They’re on order. I started out with the Oticon single vented bass domes but then changed to the power domes. The issue was that the 6mm power domes were slightly too small but the next size up was too large. While waiting for the custom domes to be made, she has me trying out different manufacturer’s domes. I think one is from Widex but not sure what the others are. They seem to fit better and getting them on to the OPN receiver has not been an issue. I’m also about to try the Comply 100 foam tips and am looking into something called ZipTip. Anyone know anything about those?
I am still using the 65 receiver, as I can upgrade at any time to the 85 should i need it at no extra charge.
I’m curious as to how the custom ones are going to fit and whether I’ll feel very occluded. Are you happy with yours?

Edited

I like the custom molds just fine and they do have a vent hole that’s actually bigger than the vent hole in the bass dome so I don’t feel very occluded with it. I didn’t find the need to plug it up to smaller vent sizes because I experience no feedback with it even without enabling the feedback control. I think the custom mold would be the ultimate fit you can get that’s supposed to help minimize feedback and contain in the sound. The only drawback is that it’s not as inconspicuous as the dome because it does stick out a bit and there’s also a tail at the end to help stabilizing its position which is all visible on the outside.

I’ve also tried the Comply 100 foam tip as well and I find it too occluded for me. You can PM 1Bluejay who’s a forum member here who likes it very much due to its comfort, but has feedback issues with it however.

Hi, I am just over a month with my new Kirklands and am having to have several adjustments. She keeps telling me it takes some time to get used to the settings. I have worn aids for 5 years, but an unfortunate accident took out a lot of my high frequency hearing. I am still plugging along with mine. I had wanted to try Phonak Audeo B and Costco has the similar one as Phonak Brio. I don’t know any one who has Brio so will check it out on this site too. Yes, Costco has lower prices, but I can’t say if they are the completely the same as Oticons or Phonaks. Costco has a 6 month trial period so I feel safe if I have to switch.

Thanks for your response.
I hated the KS7s. Maybe because i already experienced the quality of the OPN 1. I will be returning the KS7 this week and I just bought the OPN1s online for $3758. Well worth the price difference, in my opinion.[quote=“member15, post:52, topic:32068, full:true”]
Hi, I am just over a month with my new Kirklands and am having to have several adjustments. She keeps telling me it takes some time to get used to the settings. I have worn aids for 5 years, but an unfortunate accident took out a lot of my high frequency hearing. I am still plugging along with mine. I had wanted to try Phonak Audeo B and Costco has the similar one as Phonak Brio. I don’t know any one who has Brio so will check it out on this site too. Yes, Costco has lower prices, but I can’t say if they are the completely the same as Oticons or Phonaks. Costco has a 6 month trial period so I feel safe if I have to switch.
@member15

My neighbor tried both and swears by the Oticon Opn (oops, I’ve been spelling them Opens). Just like anything else, what works well for one person may not work well for another.

In reply to @member15

Costco’s Phonak Brio 2 is thought similar to the Audeo V, one generation back from the Audeo B. The Audeo B has Sound Recover 2, a different system for making low frequencies audible than the Brio 2.

Do you know if the Costco person has activated the Kirkland’s program (Bandwidth Compression)?
and confirmed that it’s making the s audible? I mention this since you mentioned the high frequency loss. Your is somewhat similar to mine, but the ski slope starts at lower frequencies than mine. And the KS7s are definitely not the same as Oticons or Phonaks. With any luck though, they should be able to help you hear better.

I don’t have an Opticon OPN1. I was just inquiring what brand OPN1 was and I have found that it is an Opticon. I couldn’t find any on the web either. What I was investigating was what at Costco is comparable.

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