Thank you both for sharing this knowledge. I definitely learn something new about micro accelerometers today.
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Thank you for sharing these videos. Interesting…
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Yes, ditto on thanks to @Luga for the links to the new videos.
A few things kind of jumped out at me from the videos that I didn’t see or might have missed in the textual announcement:
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The Intent is actually smaller in size that the Real and More.
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The frequency bandwidth of the Intent is now from 80 all the way up to 10 KHz in range. I could be wrong, but I thought previous Oticon aids only go up to around 8 KHz.
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The new receiver (they call it MiniFitDetect. They’re self calibrating automatically and are guaranteed to be within 1 dB accuracy upon power up. And what’s also cool is that when connected to Genie 2, the size and wire length and other pertinent information stored in the memory of the receiver is transmitted via an 8-pin connector back through the aids to Genie 2. While this is pretty cool, it would make these new smart receivers become incompatible with the earlier versions of Oticon aids. Not that this is a big issue, but you can’t just exchange existing receivers you have on the More or Real (that may become your backup once you have the Intent) with the Intent anymore.
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Size 13 rechargeable battery (instead of size 312 like before) gives you 5 years of use, 33% less in charging time, faster charging (a full day charge in 1 hour). Probably because of this faster charging feature, the charger now is a contact charger, not contact-free induction charging anymore. So again, not compatible with previous models’ desk charger and smart charger.
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Wrong, the 10,000hz bandwidth was part of the portfolio since de Epoq XW
Alta, agil, Opn S1 , More 1, Real 1 and the sensei pro Bte 90
They will be using the same accelerometers that are used in phones and smart watches. They are extremely accurate and very cheap (~$2 in high volumes). This is an example of a typical Accelerometer/Gyro combination (you or I can buy them for a few bucks, Dermant would have much better buying power.)
https://mm.digikey.com/Volume0/opasdata/d220001/medias/docus/2957/BST-BMI323-FL000-00.pdf
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I am disappointed they switched back to contact charging (incompatible with the current induction chargers.) I personally have no need for ‘fast charging’ as 99+% of the time I am only charging them overnight anyway.
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good observation!
signia also uses contacts and I don’t like it, the devices don’t fit immediately
But if you look at the shell, there are no external contacts.
In the video it appears the contact is from the shell to the battery internally.
Still, it will not be compatible with the existing family of chargers.
According to the faq for the rechargeables, you just drop them in, no need to push to engage external contacts on the Intent.
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The contact in the video clip screenshot below only appears internal because it’s the break-out illustration. But if you look at the bottom of the shell part that’s on the left side in the picture, you’ll see some kind of hole/opening that lines up with where the contact points (highlighted inside the white circle) such that this contact point will probably protrude out through the hole so that it’ll make contact with the pins inside the charger which we cannot see in their charger illustration.
I’m assuming that they changed back to the contact charging approach for 2 reasons:
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This way they can achieve the 33% reduction in charging time and 1 hour charging time to reach a full charge, especially in light of having to charge up a much larger size 13 rechargeable battery now.
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If they had stuck with the induction charging now to a larger size 13 battery, and want to get a 33% reduction in charging time, they would have had to upsize the induction coil used for charging inside the hearing aid. That would have made the hearing aid bigger than before, probably too big by then.
With contact charging, they can kill 2 birds with 1 stone and not only be able to achieve their goals in 1 above, but also get a reduction in size as seen in the picture below. That area at the bottom that they manage to reduce (the dashed white outline is the old size of the previous models) is probably where the charging induction coil is in the previous models.
I wonder if they just use some kind of magnetic setup to allow the aid to snap into the right place to ensure that contact is made properly with the charger.
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Some of that casing modification was forced by the old shell set issues with capillary issues to the battery compartment and perspiration.
I like the reduction in volume/length though.
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Does anyone have any idea if there might be a plan to release these with disposable batteries?
I’m in the market for new aids, was looking at the Real 1 until I saw the rumours swirling here. The hardware looks to be a good enough upgrade to wait for, but I’m disappointed it’s only rechargeable and may look to other manufacturers if they don’t do disposable. It just doesn’t fit for me -traveling a lot, I want something that lasts longer than a day, doesn’t need another device to charge with - or at least offers a nice travel charger (the Oticon one doesn’t look compatible and is expensive and big).
Here’s hoping!
You’re right even with the contact charging there is still a magnetic connection in the charger to ensure they are in correctly
Phonak has teased an upcoming announcement that appears to be new Lumity models:
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/anyone-on-here-seen-this-twitter-post-from-phonak/85612
One of them looks like a RIC. If it does turn out to be a disposable battery addition to the Audeo Lumity line which is currently rechargeable only, I would consider that a good sign for Oticon following suit with a disposable battery Intent RIC.
@Volusiano yeah i saw that hole, and assumed it was a mic, but you’re right, it does line up w/the internal contact.
As long as it’s not like the Phonak type, where you have to engage the contacts with the charger, which was a pita!
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That infuriating hissing sound is something I’m currently trying to figure out how to minimise on my Philips 9040, which is obviously an issue shared with comparable Oticon devices. Was really hoping that the upcoming 9050 might improve it, but thank you for looking deep into the issue and setting my expectations accordingly.
I’ve got a client with the same issue: relatively good low frequency hearing, but can always hear the noise floor.
All Starkeys AI is on thru the cloud vs being on the chip so there will be differences in the response time as well as what they do. Personally find a much clearer natural sounding signal with Real. Also find it does better in noise. This being said can’t wait to get my hands on the Intent so I can put it thru the tests
Can the floor noise be reduced by them adding settings in the software?
Two ways that I know of:
- Fine-tune the 50dB curve down a bit in the region where the audible hiss is. (Or get a more accurate hearing test done!)
- Switch off directionality (as according to the specs mentioned above by @BernhardG you could be almost 10dB better off this way, if you don’t mind hearing what’s behind you)
No, it’s almost impossible to remove in certain aids.