Has anyone upgraded from Oticon Opn to Oticon More?

@Waynetc said:

More to come…

Devilishly clever!

I’ve had the More 1 loaner set for nearly 3 weeks now. I also received what appears to be a brand new pair of OPN1 back from repair a week ago as the warranty was close to ending on the original set which had some issues. Yes the More is a bit more better, however at this time I’m sticking with the OPN1 pair. I just don’t perceive enough of a difference to spend money on them at this time. Thanks!

Thanks for the honest opinion, @Waynetc. I wonder if you can elaborate a little more on how the More 1 is a bit more better than the OPN 1. I have the OPN 1 as well so I’m trying to decide if it’s worth switching to the More 1 as well. But my OPN 1s are 1.5 year old replacement of the original pairs so hopefully it still has some leg to go on before I have to think about replacement.

I wonder how much better the More 1 is over the OPN 1 is because of the new technology, and how much is because you switched from open domes on the OPN 1 to closed domes on the More 1?

When you said closed dome, I assume that you mean the power dome with no vent? Did you consider using the bass dome with single or double vent? The vent(s) would give you less occlusion and is a good compromise between open and closed domes. My hearing loss is much worse than yours and I use the bass dome with single vent with no problem.

Thanks for asking Volusiano. I was so torn on this as I had hoped to pass on the OPN1 to my mother in law (92). But to try and answer - Getting used to the closed dome was the first hurdle. I still am not a fan of them. I did not go back to the open dome on either and I don’t have any of the bass domes with a single vent. Until I read your response I did not know that type of dome existed. Ironically when I asked my aud if there was a happy medium between open and closed domes - I was told no. Most of my days are now in a very quiet environment as I’m working from home. At first I could hear very quiet sounds better with the More (the tapping of keys on multiple keyboards, the sounds of my fingers on the mousepad etc) and that the audio in Microsoft Teams meetings I attend often were clearer to understand with a dozen plus participants. I also felt that I could understand my wife better, even when she was behind me…but all this was the virtually the same when I got the OPN1’s back. Watching the TV was also an improvement and the volume was set lower. But…both these HA sets were both adjusted to my newest hearing test, so a lot of that makes sense. What I know was different and I did not like was that intermittently with TV or Computer audio I could hear something odd going on, almost like an extremely short echo with the More that I never had with the OPN1. It was just enough to be noticeable. I’m convinced that the ‘echo’ had something to do with sound processing. I could only hear this out of the left ear. Also as a side note when I first received the More loaners they were set in a way I can only describe as ‘hotter’ on the treble side so S’s and P’s were so much more pronounced that I hated it. SSSSS and pop pop pop But the speech was very clear. If I recall the terminology is sibilance. My Aud did a remote adjust to conquer that - but it did take something away from them in terms of speech rec. If I cupped my hands over my ears there was no feedback, Now with the replacement OPN1’s (again with the closed dome) the ‘forced’ feedback is significantly less. Wind noise when outside is much less with the More. But I think the deal breaker for me was the thickness of the More. No problem when not wearing my readers, but I wear them at least 10 hrs a day. If you couple the readers, then going out to a store with a mask on to look for small items at the hardware store for example the extra width became uncomfortable to deal with. I do have the mask extenders to try to compensate, but still not comfortable to me. So in the end I’ll just wait - We all know that there will be software updates and revisions and new models. I suppose I’ll try again next year or the year after. I do need to upgrade once or twice before my wife retires someday as that is what drives my 50% discount.

@Waynetc said:

What I know was different and I did not like was that intermittently with TV or Computer audio I could hear something odd going on, almost like an extremely short echo with the More that I never had with the OPN1. It was just enough to be noticeable. I’m convinced that the ‘echo’ had something to do with sound processing. I could only hear this out of the left ear

What you’re hearing may be what is called the STM (Spectro Temporal Modulation) which is the artifact of the new OPN S OpenSound Optimizer (feedback prevention technology), which transferred over to the More as the MoreSound Optimizer.

What they do is they introduce these STM signals artificially to disrupt the positive feedback loop gain to cause a reduced gain burst of 15 ms on, 15 ms off (of restored gain) in any of the 28 frequency bands independently to break off any potential feedback cycle (build up of energy) that they feel may be coming on (which they monitor 56 thousand times per second).

The screenshot below shows an example where the STMs can be seen introduced in the middle spectrograms in the 2.5 KHz region during the square box period when a hand was place over the ear. They’re the little light blue dots in the middle spectrograms that represent on/off reduced/restored gain bursts to head off the potential feedback cause by the hand over the ear. But if it hadn’t been done, full on feedback would have occurred as seen in the bottom spectrogram in the dark red area.

They admit that STMs at times can be audible to the hearing impaired listeners, but they argue that “even subtle STMs are highly preferable over disruptive and distracting traditional feedback whistling.”

I’m just guessing that maybe this is what you’re hearing on the More. It’d make sense because this Optimizer (feedback prevention) technology is not available in the original OPN so that’s why you don’t hear it on the OPN.

@Volusiano said:

What you’re hearing may be what is called the STM (Spectro Temporal Modulation) which is the artifact of the new OPN S OpenSound Optimizer (feedback prevention technology), which transferred over to the More as the MoreSound Optimizer.

I think you hit the nail on the head.
I never had that “echo” artifact with the OPN’s , but with the OPN S, it very rarely occurs at certain frequencies. I also notice it in my left ear.
Not a problem in the Music Program.

That’s exactly what it is - modulation. I’ve got a deep history with synthesizers and Volusiano - as you mentioned - You hit the nail on the head. What really has me pulling my hair out right now are the closed domes I received which look nothing like what is shown in the above chart (i.e.powerdome) It’s just a lump of silicon with a nipple on the end. Time to try other things… Thank you!

I also wear Starkey Comfort Closed domes on Oticon P100 receivers. I have small twisty ear canals. I wear different sizes - smaller on one side.
I change them almost daily. I accumulate the worn domes in a small jar and swish and rinse about every 10 days days in a Dawn /water solution. This keeps them really clean and they don’t back out of my ears.
I am a long time Oticon wearer, and I have never been able to wear the Oticon domes or the various grip tips or customized ear pieces show above. I wish I could. While the Starkey Comfort bud isn’t perfect, the shape and material is the best I’ve worn.
And the do last forever!

Spent 5 yrs with Oticon Opn 1.
Just moved to Oticon More 1 - 3 weeks now
I’m very pleased with the new technology

I have the Oticon More for a 4 week trial. I like the clarity and I definitely can hear better. However, there is a constant static noise in the right ear. It was not exposed to water or moisture. I don’t know why this has happened and she invited me to come in. They do not do REM and there aren’t many audis in Tulsa. I am swamped with work right now so may need to wait for 2 weeks. (Please ignore my personal settings for hearing loss. It is worse now but haven’t updated it because the edit profile doesn’t seem to work for me.)

@Kem103: How comfortable/knowledgeable does your audiologist seem wrt Oticon HAs.

I’ve heard from audiologists and other knowledgeable people that the Oticon MarketingSpeak (eg. MoreSoundAmplifier, , MoreSoundOptimizer) can be confusing if you don’t keep up with the jargon.

I’ve also heard it said that unknowledgeable audis can completely bugger up Oticon instruments by trying to adjust them so they behave like directional beam formers.

If I were you, I’d be looking at the audiologist as the most probable cause of your experience with More HAs.

What you describe sure doesn’t jibe with my experience with them!

That sounds like you need to make an appointment and have your Audiologist make some adjustments to take care of that wind noise. And the other possibility is if you are using open domes that could be causing some of it.

I have at this time the Oticon OPNS1 aids with custom ear molds and I can drive down the road at 55 with the winds down on my Jeep.

@cvkemp: … but Chuck! It’s only a 45mph zone! 🛻