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How do I know which level of Oticon Intent to get?

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I have high frequency hearing loss, age-related, I guess (I’m 75), and would like to upgrade my hearing aids. For the last couple of years I’ve been using Lexie B2, and they’ve definitely been helpful, but not quite at the level that I would like them to be. Before that I had a pair of Phonaks that I got at Costco, but I lost one of them before getting the Lexies. I was generally happy with Costco service, but I’m not going back there because it’s not convenient for me. It’s a 50 mile drive one way to buy the hearing aids and to get adjustments, and I would have to unfreeze my credit, fill out an application, and pay $60 to resume a Costco membership.

So last Thursday I went to one of the local hearing aid dispensers. I got an (attached to my profile), and we talked about probably getting the Oticon Intents. So which one? I feel like I’m just grabbing something off the shelf at random. Not only just which level of Intent, but the whole process of choosing a hearing aid.

The Lexies are definitely helpful, but I still have some problems. My wife often has to repeat herself, I dread getting someone on the phone with an accent, and noisy restaurants at a group table are not enjoyable to me. Also, I’m trying to improve my Spanish by watching/listening to Spanish language videos. With English I can fill in missing consonants, but with another language it’s difficult when you don’t know what the consonants are supposed to be.

Thanks in advance. I’m probably missing something, but I didn’t want to make this too long to read and I’m going back to the hearing aid place tomorrow. I want to get this thing going.

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The big difference between levels is speech in noise. All levels should be pretty much the same in quiet. If you’re pretty much always in quiet situations, save some money and get the 3. If money is no object or you’re frequently in situations with a lot of background noise (especially music or multiple people talking) get the 1. Somewhere in between, maybe the 2? There’s no right answer. Some people say get the “best” you can afford. Others say save your money. However, in quiet you likely won’t be able to tell the difference.

If you’re big into listening to live music, then get at least the Intent 2 because only the 1 and 2 would have the Clear Dynamics feature, which provides a wide enough input dynamic range to accept loud inputs clearly without having to resort to too much compression to avoid distortion.

Did your sit you down and show you the chart below and go over the feature differences that are in some tiers and not others to explain what you’d be losing or gaining on which tier?

image

Thank you. I’m not much into listening to live music. Just infrequently. We didn’t go over the chart, but I would guess that we will tomorrow. The first appointment was very preliminary.

@RayC said:

It’s a 50 mile drive one way to buy the hearing aids and to get adjustments, and I would have to unfreeze my credit, fill out an application, and pay $60 to resume a Costco membership

Well that’s not so bad to save 4 or 5k, you could consider a project for additional adjustments in the future.

@RayC said:

I was generally happy with Costco service, but I’m not going back there because it’s not convenient for me. It’s a 50 mile drive one way to buy the hearing aids and to get adjustments, and I would have to unfreeze my credit, fill out an application, and pay $60 to resume a Costco membership.

Do some research and you will find out that the Phillips 9050 from Costco for ~ $1500/pr is the same as - or very similar to - the Oticon Intent 1. Different fitting software and firmware but overall they appear to be the same. So to save a few thousand $s, that drive might be worth it.

I bought the Phillips and I like them a lot . . .

So I went home with the Intent 3 today. I’ve only had the initial fitting, but I’m very happy with them so far.

Glad to hear that you’re happy with your choice. After all, that’s what counts. Your hearing loss looks moderate enough for the most part, so the Intent 3 should serve you well, especially if your needs and requirements are simple and basic.

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