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Ready to upgrade from Oticon Opn 1. Should I select Oticon More or Phonak Paradise?

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As I look at Oticon More or Phonak Paradise, other than doing a trial on each, what are the considerations?

So far I’ve found from my research that Paradise is using Classic Bluetooth () which gives it the ability to connect with more than one BT device at a time (so both my iPhone and iPad at the same time) and may not need special devices to connect to TV etc other than what any BT headset would need. That would be an upgrade from that I am using. Also there is the direct connection to the excellent Roger microphones. I don’t know if I will have to buy Phonak tv connector or not.

On the Oticon side, they are using “deep learning” type of and get some best reviews for speech in noise (most important purpose of ). Also, the More has the firmware to use the BT 5.2 (much better that current Classic BT) so it will surpass the Paradise, when that happens. Then I read that the Roger is starting to make its microphones directly connecting to all HA (anyone able to confirm that?) - I think it was Roger On that was going to do this.

What am I missing?

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You should try them both and make up your own mind. It depends on you and you alone to what works best for you

@LawyerFL said:

I think it was Roger On that was going to do this.

Has to be the Roger On iN microphone. The normal Roger On won’t work with the Paradise from what I read on this forum.

As someone that has kept going back to Oticon hearing aids for about 11 years now, it is about the Oticon sound and most of all what works for me. I now have the OPNS1 aids and will be getting the More1 aids on the 18th of June. I have tried Phonak, Starkey, and Widex aids and prefer the open sound of the Oticon aids. For me it isn’t about what devices the aids connect to, it is can I hear in my environments, and can I understand what is being said. As a officer in the American Legion post, a member of my Church men’s group, and a hiker and lover of all thinks nature, I like what the Oticon aids provides me. But I am first to say that is my opinion about how they work for me. I have no idea if they would work for any one else.

You are looking at two really nice sets of aids. Both are capable of fitting your loss well. You could acclimate to either and hear well if properly fitted.

It might be the fitter is the difference. A wild guess is that the fitter with any quality hearing aids is probably 75% of why you will be happy with your new aids.

Good luck.

Edited

Don’t know if value for the money is an important consideration for you or not. If yes, then I think the Costco KS10 which is the cousin of the Paradise (although not exactly the same) should be in play as well. At $1400, it would beat both the More and the Paradise in price point and value.

The other consideration may be about the open paradigm. Having already worn the OPN 1, if this is an important feature for you when trying to understand speech better in noisy places and still want to hear more of other sounds going on, then the More may give you an edge since it’s a continuation of Oticon’s open paradigm. But if it’s no big deal for you then of course it wouldn’t be a consideration.

I don’t suppose that you use in your OPN 1 because it doesn’t look like you need it based on your hearing loss. But if you do and you like that feature, going to the More, it would be the same familiar frequency lowering technology that you’ve been used to (which is frequency transposition and frequency composition combined). If you go with the Paradise (or the KS10), it would be a different type of frequency lowering technology based on frequency compression that you may or may not like, but it’d be different than what you’re used to.

I don’t assume that you have lots of issues with feedback. But if you do, the OPN S and now the More has the new Oticon feedback prevention technology (aside from the traditional feedback management) which may be very helpful and is only available on the OPN S and More and not other hearing aids brands/model. This is the key improvement that set the OPN S apart from the OPN.

Thank you, I didn’t realize the feedback feature was the difference with the OPN S. I’ve never tried anything but Oticon, so I have nothing to compare it too, though I really needed the 360 hearing when practicing law. I’m now retired, and due to a concussion from a bad fall, my speech recognition is much worse. So signal to noise is my biggest consideration.

@LawyerFL said:

I’ve never tried anything but Oticon, so I have nothing to compare it too

I’d really suggest you test drive both brands.
When I was being tested last year my Audi suggested I try the Phonak Marvel (Predecessor to Paradise, but she said I’d find the sound “Tinny” compared to Oticon OPN.
Truthfully, they sounded fine, but we could never get the music program to sound as good as Oticon, so I went with the OPN S1.
Bottom line, make sure you get at least a 1 month trial with each.

When I tried the Phonak aids, I wouldn’t say they were tinny, they just didn’t sound right for what I am so use to.

I’m In a similar situation. I have Oticon Agil Pro P and am looking to modernize. But my hearing loss has not changed much since then.

My new Audi (at Kaiser) says I absolutely should get UP hearing aids for my severe to profound loss. But when I trialed the UP Oticon Dynamo(?) or Chile(?) it sounded terrible. So I went with the power version of the premier aid, Agil Pro. So, FLALawyer please give us your feedback on the two please.

I will be trialing the Xceed soon. Then later I hope to trial the Paradise. But I still wonder if the More might be better even if it is not a UP. I had thought of trialing a KS 10 but fear Costco may not be experienced in profound losses.

One ironic note for FLA lawyer, because of court shutdowns, I now only make appearances on Zoom. While I only use earbuds, I still hear much better on Zoom than I used to being in court.

This is is especially true in the Marin County Courthouse designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The building is famous for its design but the courtroom acoustics are terrible! The judge has to move the attorneys around like a movie director so they can be heard by the judge, opposing counsel and any witnesses.

@Lalo said:

But I still wonder if the More might be better even if it is not a UP.

Listen - I know I’m not in the same league as the Forum gurus, but I’m going to venture an opinion on Mores and your .

I believe that your hearing loss is outside of More’s fitting range. I have, however, heard good things said about Oticon Xceed.

Best of luck with whatever new aids you choose.

In reply to @Lalo

@Lalo said:

My new Audi (at Kaiser) says I absolutely should get UP hearing aids for my severe to profound loss.

I am going to throw a curve ball at you. You need to ask yourself if you really can hear tones from 2000 hertz up. If you really can hear the upper frequencies you do need UP hearing aids to drive those upper frequencies. But, if you can not hear tones in the upper frequencies you don’t need UP hearing aids. What you need then is the best technology you can put your hands on or start thinking cochlear implants.

Phonak has the best frequency lowering technology at this time in my opinion. Phonak also has the best UP hearing aids, Naida Paradise, not the rechargeable version, the 675 battery version. Oticon makes great aids but Phonak might just be the best choice for you at this time.

These are my thoughts looking at your . I have been in your shoes or at least close concerning hearing aids.
Good luck

@Lalo said:

My new Audi (at Kaiser) says I absolutely should get UP hearing aids for my severe to profound loss.

@Raudrive said:

Phonak has the best frequency lowering technology at this time in my opinion. Phonak also has the best UP hearing aids, Naida Paradise, not the rechargeable version, the 675 battery version. Oticon makes great aids but Phonak might just be the best choice for you at this time.

Without agreeing that Phonak has the best technology at this time as a general statement, I would agree that Phonak’s SoundRecover 2 is the most suitable frequency lowering technology choice for hearing loss like that of @Lalo 's because the destination frequency range can go very low (as low as 800 Hz to 1.6 kHz range?) where his hearing loss is not quite profound yet.

The Oticon frequency lowering can only go down as far as 1.6 - 2.4 kHz, where his hearing loss is not as good as the 800-1.6 kHz range anymore.

You really need to try both. The More is a good hearing aid, but because of their philosophy of all sounds be amplified and heard, I found them to be noisy and in a quieter area very annoying trying to amplify the tiniest sound even though it may only be a fan, or refrigerator (which was extremely noisy with the OPN S3, the More S3 were better but still noisy. They say you get used to it but after 30 days, I was still far from getting used to it. The Phonak Paradise sounded just as good with music as the More, but in quiet situations the Paradise was just that, quiet. With the More sitting in the living room reading, I kept hearing sounds from the front door but nothing was there, I even ruled out wind and I can see that no one was there through the bay window. The only problems I had with the Paradise was the touch could be finicky at times, bit I found out if your audiologists is willing to spend a couple of minutes with you running the tap program this can be very helpful. The major problem I had was with the TV Connector, it was very noisy either watching TV or listening to music, especially during quieter scenes or conversation on the TV and quieter passages with music. And being a former musician and current audiophile I found that a huge problem. I am waiting for Unitron’s version of the Paradise as I have found Unitron’s TV Connector to be far superior to Phonaks. But they look identical, but they definitely don’t sound identical.
But what ever anyone says about a hearing aid is to be taken with a Big grain of salt, mine included. If Oticon was as great as they advertise then why are their so money other companies? It is because You are the only one who knows what works and sounds better for you.

PS I found the ReSounds the best for music, but for me, I found them to be the worst for everything else. For 10 days straight they gave me really bad headaches and I rarely get headaches. So like I said try as many as possible and only then decided which one is best for you, not some recommendation from anyone, even a audiologist, they can help get you started but they can’t hear what you hear or the way you hear. Everyone has different tastes in music and even people that like the same songs often like them for different reasons.

There’s no way we can really answer that. We all perceive sound differently. I’ve tested oticons for profound loss and thought they sounded unnatural and very base. Others have said they love how they sound. Only you can determine which you like best by trialing them. There is no right or wrong answer

Edited

In reply to @Raudrive

Thanks for the reply raidrive. I can only hear voices without hearing aids if the person speaks right into my ear. With hearing aids, I can hear men’s voices well but soft consonants are hard to hear from women although I do hear women in general pretty well. In noisy backgrounds, women’s voices are very difficult.

I also would like to wait a couple of years for cochlear implants. But I will be getting a eval in about a month. Kaiser requires that I buy from them in order to get the eval. Of course I can return them.

V- Thanks but you lost me. It sounds like you think a UP aid is necessary, and that both brands are excellent, but that per Raudrive, Phonak’s technology might help my particular severe loss. It does seem that I have profound loss from 2000 to 4000.

Btw, I know you are not just responding to me but are discussing technical issues with all here.

In reply to @sstotz

Ssotz, That is a very helpful review!

I like to listen to music and have a good TT (Rega) and speakers (Quad). Why would one want to listen to music through the TV connector/Bluetooth instead of through a good audio system with very good speakers? Wouldn’t Bluetooth distort the music signal?

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