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Sound quality of Phonak Marvel vs. Oticon Opn

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Has anyone compared the Marvel and the OPN - from a sound quality perspective? I know there has been MUCH written on Mavel connectivity issues with Apple products, but streaming aside, how does the sound quality/hear-ability compare? Are folks happy with the Marvel’s (non-streaming) performance? Do they work well in noisy environments? I am looking to update my Agils and will be interested in both of these HAs.

Thanks.

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Here! Here! I not only transitioned from Oticon Agil Pro aids 2 years ago, but used the Opn miniRITE for 9 months, and now am on trial with Marvel size 312 battery aids.

Bear in mind, I am aberrational! I had a solid, 9 months of HORRID experience with the Opns. Big issue was hearing in ALL situations other than my silent home with just hubs talking to me. In any other situation: in a car, mall, airport, restaurant, yes, even doc’s office with the HVAC or mammogram machine, noises ROARED to the point that all human speech frequencies were completely overwhelmed. While TV streaming was fine, back then, there was NO clip-on device for streaming with Samsung phones. That was another HUGE fatal factor for me.

Flash forward to a month ago: I am on trial with Phonak Marvels. LOVE LOVE LOVE them! The minute I got them seated (with double domes) the sound quality was even better than my Audeo B-Direct aids. Rich, full sounds (even music) and crisp, clear speech. These Marvels use the same TV streamer as my Audeo B-Directs, so I can use the same accessories. ALSO - and a huge plus - these Marvels stream in stereo on the phone to both ears (instead of just ONE ear with the B-Directs). It may sound goofy, but these Marvels seem to offer about a 17% improvement in noisy places over the B-Direct. And fuggedabout the Opns! They were simply impossible for me to hear SPEECH over the roar of all other noises.

Hope you get some other perspectives here. I’ve worn aids for 35 yrs, and have pretty much done it all - except the ear trumpet.

For me, Phonak Marvel wins HANDS down over the Oticon Opn aids.

The forum host, Hearing Tracker, has customer reviews/ratings and the OPN and previous Phonak model, Audeo B90, are on there and if I remember, fairly comparable. I have the Phonak and speech in noise is best I’ve had. No complaints or issues.

I am a very early adopter; just got my first pair of hearing aids (Marvel M90R) a month ago. I don’t have a basis for comparison but I will say I am very pleased with the Marvels. Streaming music from my iPhone 7 Plus is outstanding with full stereo sound and full tonality. Hands free phone calls into both ears with the phone in my pocket or golf bag also outstanding. Also, I use Waze sometimes for directions and it also streams with no problem into both ears. For me the connectivity issues are not a big deal. Yes it would be nice to be able to pair them easily with my MacBook Pro Laptop and switch back and forth easily, but I haven’t even tried after reading the problems others have been experiencing. I will wait until it all gets sorted out or in the worst case I will just use them with my iPhone and be happy. Regarding the Oticon OPN Mini Rite hearing aids, I was initially considering them but my audiologist pointed out they are almost three years old. Further, Dr. Cliff Olson just issued his You Tube Video in which he rates the best hearing aids for 2019 and the Marvels were rated number one.

I guess I can answer this from experience, @petermo.

I first tried the OPN 1’s with the ConnectClip. I liked the sound quality of the OPNs, but I had a lot of issues with feedback, no matter how many dome and setting adjustments my made.

I am currently trialing the Marvel M90-R. First off, they are a lot larger than the OPNs behind my ear due to the lithium-ion battery. However, I don’t have the feedback issues with the Marvels. I’ve had to try several domes to find a comfortable fit, and I think I’ve settled on the new small open domes that are made for Marvel. However, open domes do cut down bass tones for me.

In terms of sound quality, this is subjective, as everyone hears differently and has different perspectives as to what “sounds better.” But I have to say I think I like the sound quality of the OPNs better. Everything seemed a little more clear and crisp, and directionality seemed a little better to me. I found the sound quality using the ConnectClip during phone calls and streaming to be more solid and dependable when compared to the Marvel’s built-in mics. I think the connectivity range was better with the ConnectClip as well. If I walk too far away from the phone, the Marvels get static and don’t want to hold the connection. I didn’t have that issue with the ConnectClip. I’m also noticing when Autosense 3.0 switches settings…there is a pause or a momentary “cut-out” and then the sound comes back. I am going to ask to have Autosense shut off to see if that helps.

If I could have gotten the feedback issues under control with OPN, I probably would have stayed with them. It is also nice not to have to wear an accessory device to connect to my Android phone, but I honestly didn’t mind the ConnectClip around my neck too much. The ability to use the Clip as a discreet remote control was convenient.

OPN sounded a little more “tinny” unless I used closed or power domes, which were more occlusive and uncomfortable to me. Marvel sounds just a little less crisp on the high frequencies to me–even after adjustments, but that’s just my opinion.

I hope this helps. :slight_smile:

In reply to @1Bluejay

I have had similar awful experiences with my OPN1s for nearly 12 months now. Too much sound is overwhelming in all environments except in simple one-to-one conversations. Also loud speech far too booming and soft speech impossible to hear. Adjusting the volume on the APP just makes it worse. Repeated attempts by audiologist failed to resolve so I am picking up some Marvel MR90s next week. Having read your post I’m really hopeful of a positive outcome. Will keep you posted.

I guess I am really lucky I have had such great experience with my OPN1s. It is almost like I am hearing normally again when I am wearing them.

Thank you everyone for your insight and experience. VERY helpful I expect I will be setting up an appt with my audiologist sometime over the next month or two. I keep thinking that Oticon will soon announce a successor to the OPN - but that is probably wishful thinking - although there is a national conference (AudiologyNOW! 2017: In Review - American Academy of Audiology12) in March… Nonetheless, Phonak is definitely on my radar (my first were Phonaks) and I will keep monitoring this forum for more insight.

In reply to @alanpalmer7743

@alanpalmer7743 said:

Having read your post I’m really hopeful of a positive outcome. Will keep you posted.

Fingers crossed for a MUCH better experience with the Marvels for you! You reminded me about speech issues with the Opns: I had to automatically put my aids into directional (noisy place) mode every time I entered any store, airport, mall, doctor’s office - in short EVERYWHERE - even on walks around town with normal traffic sounds. Even in that setting, I simply could not hear the clerks, physician’s assistants (who often have their back turned to you as they update your profile on a computer), or others literally FACING me. Many times I’d be exhausted trying to read lips with my Oticon Opns even as everyone else followed the conversations effortlessly!

Well, all I can say is that I am actually contemplating removing the directional program on these Marvels altogether. They seem to detect noisy places and adjust JUST SO, so that speech is nearly easy to interpret (haven’t sat at a table of 8 in a restaurant to prove that tho!). That would leave me with just the default program and the streaming program! How easy is that?

Really strange how different people can have very different experiences with the same hearing aid. For me the Oticon Opn 1’s are absolutely fantastic in noisy environments. I hear so much better than I used to when I was on the Resounds. Resounds were not that good in noisy environments. Oticons have solved all my problems in noisy environments.

Yet you guys obviously seem to have a lot of problems with Oticon in noisy environments. Maybe my ears are different or my audio specialises in Oticon so knows how to configure them. Interesting.

I don’t think that I have ever worn Marvel. I don’t recall that name, but I cannot remember what some of my older hearing aids were.

Every person is different even when they have about the same hearing loss. I believe a lot depends on the environment that they are use to. Some are us to quiet environments and can’t stand what I feel is just normal noise. I was born in th country on a farm and it took me a long time to get use to a big city. Some even can’t stand th super quiet I love when out in the country, well I mean the real far out country. Some love music and can tell is a note is not correct, I like music but never ever heard it on anything but a cheap radio or stereo.
What is noisy to me may be music to someone else. Just like what some believe is art looks like a 2 year old playing with marker or brushes.

In reply to @1Bluejay

It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one experiencing problems with Opn1s. Your post mirrors my experiences exactly! Also I find that moderate to loud voices in hard-walled rooms echo and boom intolerably. I have sometimes even had to revert to my old ReSound Danalogics to make sense of a situation. I know we shouldn’t swap aids but the Opns were so bad that they were worse than useless in group situations; they were completely exhausting!

I have experienced that exactly - with the Resounds! I was never happy with the Resounds in noisy environments. I battled to hear.

In reply to @Roberto

@Roberto said:

Maybe my ears are different or my audio specialises in Oticon so knows how to configure them. Interesting.

Gimme your EARS! Hey, toss in your BRAIN, and I’ll be as happy as you with the Opns. It is curious indeed, but I chalk up my dismal experience with the Opns to my own unique sensoneural loss and my BRAIN. Ye gods it was beaten to a jelly just trying to figure out what folks were saying. :weary:

I have said it before and will say it again we are all different,that is why we have different choices. I really love my OPN1s, but to be honest someone with very similar hearing loss will find them totally wrong for them. I believe it depends on the hearimg environment you are use to, which determines what your brain is use to dealing with. I grew up on a farm and enjoyed the extra quiet of the country so when I went to a big city the noise hurt my ears and gave me headaches until I finally got use to it, which took about 6 months. But now I still like ev the extra quiet but I can also get a long well in very noisy places. If you are not use to the noise and start heat it can make you sick. Or if you are use to noise and it becomes extremely quiet then it can run you nuts and mak you nervous.

In reply to @Roberto

@Roberto said:

But if the Marvel’s are working well for you. Whats the problem?

NO problem with the Marvels. But YUGE problem with the Oticon Opn. I literally felt like I’d aged 50 years - just utterly unable to hear normal conversation in any kind of noise at all. It was giving me a complex even. :open_mouth:

I feel like I’ve returned to a wonderful new “normal” with both the Audeo B-Direct and the Marvel aids I’ve been using the past month.

Edited

When I switched from my Kirkland Rexton (KS4 or KS5?) to the OPN, it took my brain a while to adjust, because I was used to hearing less sounds around me to hearing so many more sounds around me. It took me a couple of months to adjust, but I was able to adjust.

But apparently not everyone can ever adjust. And then some can learn to adjust much more quickly than others. There’s no telling.

I think going the other way around, from being used to hearing more to getting used to hearing less, is probably an easier adjustment instead.

When it comes to hearing aids, asking a general question about which hearing aid is better than which is a futile exercise. You can get 20 people to tell you that model X is better than model Y for them. But then YOU yourself, if given the opportunity to try both, may find that YOU like model Y better than model X. The only way to find out is to try it out both for yourself.

Your last post is spot on. I kept telling myself that the problem was me or my brain not being trained with the OPNs and my audiologist agreed. However, after 12 months and umpteen visits to her I have concluded that I will never be suited to these . Shame really because there are a lot of things that I really love about them. Unfortunately of course, my 2 months money back guarantee had long elapsed by the time I decided that I couldn’t adjust to them. Maybe Oticon should consider extending their guarantee time to 12 months in view of the necessary brain training period required by some patients!!! I’m not holding my breath though…

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