First impression of Oticon More 1

Hearing Aids
#41

That’s not a conclusion that I would draw. Most hearing aids suppress noise just fine by beam forming to pick out the speech in front and block out sounds in the back and on the sides. The Oticon OPN/S/More don’t block out sounds like the rest but they do help suppress noise when speech is going on as well.

They just can’t do it like the way you want to see above (just universally occlude/block out everything then recreate it in a control fashion internally) due to the receiver’s limitation in reproducing low frequencies faithfully.

A person with normal low and mid frequency hearing usually can block out low and mid frequency noise using their brain hearing just fine, so they can wear open domes and not have an issue with noise. Mostly they wear hearing aids to help them hear high frequencies better, but they don’t really rely on hearing aids to block out the noise, they rely on their brain hearing to do that. The ability to hear the highs can help them make differentiation over various noises to help their brain tune out the noise and focus on what they want to hear better.

If you’re in this category, BUT your brain hearing can’t block out the noise, then wear more occluded domes or molds to help you block out the noise. The trade-off with this is that you no longer get to hear the low frequencies the way you’re used to anymore. It’s no big deal if you just care about speech. It’s a big deal if you want to listen to music with strong bass. But an easy workaround for this is to just slide your occluded domes or molds out a little bit to let the bass in when you want to listen to music.

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#42

I am still someone that wants to hear as much of my environment as possible. And when someone speaks have my aids help me focus on what is being said. I have found that my OPNS1 aids are doing it to a point but they seem to block too much environmental sounds for my liking. I live in the country, and in a forest where hearing what is around me is life saving important. The towns live near are small tows and cities without the loud environmental noise.

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#44

You’re right, I haven’t found marked improvement in understanding speech in noisy environments despite the use of the Oticon 1s.

That’s the theory, anyway. I came across an interesting article about this “cocktail party effect”:

New research suggests that, for some listeners, this may have less to do with actually discerning sounds. Instead, it may be a processing problem in which two ears blend different sounds together—a condition known as binaural pitch fusion.
The research, co-authored by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and VA Portland Health Care System, was published today in the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology .
The study’s lead author attributes these difficulties to abnormally broad binaural pitch fusion in people with hearing impairment. The new study suggests that for people with hearing impairment, fusing of different sounds from both ears leads to sound blending together in a way that is often unintelligible.

#45

@happymach: Oticon 1s? 1 what? Opn? OpnS? More? To which Oticon model are you referring, and what exactly is your question/point? (I’ve read this thread end-to-end, twice, and I’m still scratching my head.)

#46

Oticon OPN 1. Understanding speech in noisy environments isn’t helped much.

#47

Oticon 1 still does not tell me the model of hearing aid, which will affect the answers you get, since each model has different capabilities.

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#48

Do you have the OPN1, or the OPNS1 aids. The OPN1 aids or the first generation of the open paradigm. They were good but didn’t have the best noise reduction. OPNS1 aids are the second generation ot the open paradigm and are better in noise and speech understanding, Oticon More aids are the third generation and they say even better, I will be finding that out starting in about 8 days from now.

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#49

@cvkemp: Thanks, Chuck!

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#50

If you had indeed read the entire thread, you would have noticed that I was discussing the OPN 1.

#51

Interesting. My audiologist stated, “I think the Oticon More 1 is a slight improvement. Nothing groundbreaking.”

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#52

Please let us know what you think!

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#53

You’re right - I see it now. Sorry.

I still don’t know what you’re getting at. As @Volusiano and @cvkemp have noted in several other threads, OpnS1 HAs have many “handles” for improving speech in noise. And as your link to the cocktail party phenomenon states, your own ears/brain hearing/hearing loss can have a lot to do with how well you can decode speech in noise.

Chuck says it well - you and your audiologist have to be persistent with adjustments. OpnS1 and More1 are very capable devices, but they’re not “magic bullets”, and how you and your audi approach the fitting process is a primary determinant of your end result.

[My opinion only!]

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#54

I will be doing a post, on my experience with the More1 aids and comparing them to my OPNS1 aids.
Life with aids is what you make of it, I try to make it as good as possible.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, well it takes a community willing to help us as we struggle with hearing loss, I have found that community is here with this forum, and the thoughtful understanding of my Audiologist. It is too bad I didn’t find my Audiologist many years ago when I was struggling to hear well enough to work.

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#55

I agree fully. I lost 6 years of full participation in life because I stuck with an incompetent audiologist. [I use that word very reservedly, out of respect for all the good audiologists out there. But my previous audiologist was, indeed, *incompetent*.]

My current audi is great, but even so, after 3+ months adjusting, first More3s, subsequently More1s, we’re still working on my fitting. The heavy lifting is done, but some fine points remain.

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#56

With my Audiologist I went to almost monthly hearing appointments with my OPN1 aids, but it paid off, it made the setup of the OPNS1 aids so much easier and better. I am looking forward to hopefully and even easier transition to the More1 aids.
The more open and honest conversations you can have with your Audiologist the better. I am so glad that the VA system opened up emailing as an option it has meant that my Audiologist has a head’s up and a head start on my appointments when I go in. And I will be honest I can explain myself better in writing than in a conversation most times.

#58

I think the Oticon More is groundbreaking in terms of how they train a deep neural network using real life data so that the More kinda has a brain of its own more similar to a learning human brain. Before, the HA mfgs can only come up with a rudimentary brain that is based on rudimentary logics so it’s very limited due to the boundaries and restrictions put around these logics. Of course, Oticon isn’t the only HA mfg that uses AI. I think Widex uses the AI on its Moment HA as well.

But for now it seems to be only a slight improvement over the OPN S just because the OPN S is already very good in the first place. Although not a “wow” factor over the OPN S yet, it’s still groundbreaking in my opinion because it lays a very different foundation on a very different framework using AI that can much more easily be improved by leaps and bounds in the future, instead of being constrained forever by rule-based logics.

#59

Right, but the Oticon More hearing aids don’t learn by themselves, correct?

But for now it seems to be only a slight improvement over the OPN S just because the OPN S is already very good in the first place.

Since the OPN More is a slight improvement over the OPN S, and the OPN S is a slight improvement over the OPN (although some people on these forums find the difference significant), does the More compare to the OPN?

#60

No not yet, but as a retired it professional, I believe allowing computers to fully learn and function on its own is dangerous and stupid.

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#61

AI in hearing aids is a marketing gimmick. I am a programmer and use AI for market analysis. In reality all you do is curve matching even with the hearing aids. The big calculations are likely made on a big system and the “matching curves of sound” as in the HA which then analyzes incoming sound waves and does a best match to what is in AI memory matches.
I am using MORE1 at this point and do not find any great value is curve fitting. I have modified setting and have read all the @Volusiano has posted. To date, I am not satisfied with MORE1 and will be returning them. My best match to my needs has been ReSound ONE but that still needs a bit more refinement of M&RIE to standard microphones.

RJ

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#62

Everyone’s hearing needs are different. You can have the same hearing loss and others but your needs and likes maybe totally different. The same with learning styles for our children, I have gotten into huge arguments with so called education experts that had no understanding why children couldn’t learn and understand all at the same rate.

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