OPN S1 minirite Warbling

Hearing Aids
#5

If the original OPN feedback manager doesn’t work for your left ear, but the new OpenSound Optimizer feedback technology of the OPN S works for your left ear, then I think the occasional warbling is worth putting up with in order to be able to tame the feedback for your left ear.

While the original OPN feedback manager is nothing new and rather mediocre, it’s probably not much worse than other HA brands’ feedback manager. They really all just use the traditional 3 prong strategies of phase change, frequency shifting and gain/headroom reduction. There’s a good chance that you will run into the same feedback issue in your left ear with other brands, assuming that you’ve already used the proper fitting (like with custom molds) to reduce the other variables.

If the OPN S OpenSound Optimizer has solved the feedback issue on your left ear (albeit not a perfect solution yet due to the warbling), if I were you, I’d stick with it because the occasional warbling is the lesser evil compared to the evil of not being able to solve the feedback issue on your left ear.

And hopefully one of these days Oticon will solve the warbling issue for you. But for now at least they’ve solved the feedback issue on the left ear for you with the OSO.

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#6

I am having a closed domes . Audi mentioned it’s suitable for my loss and also the Oticon moulds are not the best in the market and will not make a difference as with my loss there will not be vents.
Does the above means it would be much better with molds!:flushed:

#7

Is there a different way to switch on OPN original feedback manager! I used to have feedback with original OPN.(not significant and was manageable)
Do you think using receiver of 100db will make less warbling!
I do like the OPN S and I noticed lately that some people voices whom I used to struggle understanding are now clear and can hear/ understand them well. Am mostly will keep these but was hoping to stop the warbling by any way.

#8

I would think so, but I don’t know for a fact because I don’t own the OPN S. But the whitepaper on the OpenSound Optimizer seems to imply that you can even use both the OSO and the traditional / original OPN feedback manager on top of that, in case just the OSO is not enough to manage the feedback alone. Ask your audi about these options. My understanding is that there are 2 feedback managers on the S (the traditional one and the OSO), and the default is just turn on the OSO without the traditional, but there are options to turn on one or the other or both or none.

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#9

I have the OPN1 ITE hearing aids the only time I get feedback is if I put my hand over my ear. I can wear over the ear headphones without feedback and I can use my phone normally without feedback.

#10

What do you use for fittings?

#11

My Veterans Administration Audi has set my aids to very aggressive settings for noise, speech clarity and feedback is all that I know

#12

Cvkemp has In-the-Ear OPN so apparently his fitting is basically the custom fitting. Probably with a small vent.

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#13

Yes my paperwork says 2 mm vent

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#14

Because I have loss in low frequency I have to use closed domes(which am fine with it) and the feedback is when I put my hand near ear, in the car with seat belt, sometimes on the pillow, so basically when something is physically close to the ear.
And to tell ivy eat Ruth, my issue with warbling more important than the feedback

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#15

Yes, a small vent is the physical way to prevent feedback. If there is no feedback present the feedback suppression does not have to kick in and cause the warbling.

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#16

I SO, we tried receiver of 100db and same warbling. Then we discussed 3-options:

  • Trying the same setting on another left h it if OPN-S to see if the aid itself is damaged. Same warbling issue.
  • Will try to have a mould on the left ear . I asked for the soft not the acrylic (I hated it when using the Resound) . She mentioned that the idea is maybe the double dome is not enough sealing the sound so the aid sometimes thinks that extended letters with high pitch is feedback and hits the feedback quickly.
  • if second option will not work, then she suggested we may try another manufacturer (probably the Marvel) .

Regardless of the warbling, i do like they OPN sound and performance and can feel my speech score is better . But does it worth to pay premium for aids with flaws and don’t k ow when they may fix it!!

#17

Is there an option to turn the feedback suppression right off?

#18

Although it worked for my right aid, Unfortunately because of my loss in the left is more severe , as soon as we switch off feedback shield , the aid start whistling mostly. It’s like a trap, isn’t it! :joy:

#19

It does seem to suggest however, that feedback suppression is the cause of the warbling.

#20

Yes . Even when we called oticon the representative admitted they got some reports about same issue and “Denmark” is working on it.
Audi told me today that she even asked couple of her colleagues and they mentioned they faced same issue with some of their patients.
The issue, no time frame for solution from Oticon.

#21

My thoughts exactly, @AshFan. As I mentioned in a previous post, Oticon’s knowledge about this problem from customer and audiologists’ complaints, and the company not having a timeline for a fix, were what made me return my OPN-S1R’s. The Oticon devices weren’t cheap, and I felt like Oticon really wasn’t being upfront about their knowledge of the problem and what was being done to fix it. I hope they fix it soon, because, like you, Oticon gave me the best speech clarity. However, it doesn’t seem that the new OPN-S feedback system is much better than the first-generation OPN’s, so is it worth it to pay the premium-level prices?.

#22

@AshFan, If you are determined to keep the OPN-S until Oticon comes up with a fix, there is one other suggestion that their tech support people gave my audiologist. That is, have your audiologist run the feedback analyzer while you have your hands cupped over your ears. I’m not sure what that does exactly, except maybe it makes the feedback shield more aggressive (or maybe it reduces gain, I don’t know because I’m not an audiologist)–but because it was suggested for me by Oticon, I thought I’d let you know, in case your audiologist hasn’t tried this supposed trick already. It didn’t do a whole lot for my feedback and cut-out issue, so I sent the HAs back to Oticon anyway.

#23

While Oticon didn’t suggest this for me, my feedback is right at the edge on my right hearing so through experimentation by cupping my right ear partially in different ways, I found a certain position that put a damper on my right ear feedback just so to put it barely under control, but good enough to help barely eliminate it.

Remember that we’re talking about the traditional feedback shield manager on the original OPN here, NOT anything to do with the OpenSound Optimizer in the OPN S.

I’m assuming that AshFan uses both the OSO and the traditional feedback shield together?

#24

I remember you posting elsewhere that you did the hand-cupping over ears maneuver at some point, @Volusiano. Did it reduce gain, or to what do you attribute the lessening of the feedback when you did it?