Oticon Alta three levels of power (60-85-100)

Hearing Aids
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#1

Help me understand the three levels of power (60-85-100) for these Oticon Alta models:
Mini RITE 60
Mini RITE 85
Mini RITE 100
RITE 60
RITE 85
RITE 100
Mini BTE 85
BTE13 85
BTE13 100

For the RITE and Mini RITE models I believe you can select between three receiver types with different output performance, labeled according to fitting capabilities; 60, 85 and 100. That makes sense, the same hearing aid (HA) with different size/power speakers in your ears.

That leaves the BTE models with the speaker inside the hearing aid, not in the ear. There is only one Mini BTE 85 model so nothing to compare here.

My question is about the full size BTE models (BTE13 85 and BTE13 100). Are these two different HA models? Or is this the same HA model with a different size/power speaker in the hearing aid?

I also have a question about the physical size of the full size BTE models (BTE13 85 and BTE13 100). Are these equivalent to the physical size of the Oticon Chili?

#2

The two BTE hearing aids have the same size case, but have a different size receiver in them. As for size, I think they are a little smaller than the Chili, but I could be wrong.

#3

Thanks seb! That’s what I thought. Same BTE13 hearing aid, with a different size speaker/receiver inside the hearing aid.

And now the question which will likely not get an answer; If you have a moderate hearing loss and only need the 85-power speaker, can you also wear the 100-power speaker programmed at lower gains to fit your moderate hearing loss?

#4

I would stick with the 85 dB receiver because from what I have been told you can get some distortion from using a more powerful receiver than the one you need.

#5

Thanks for pointing out that distortion can occur when using a more powerful receiver/speaker.
I had looked at the Total harmonic distortion specs for BTE13-85 and BTE13-100.
With Ear Simulator (Input 70 dB SPL) the distortion specs are as follows;

(500Hz 0.3%, 800Hz 0.4%, 1600Hz .2%) for BTE13-85
(500Hz 1.3%, 800Hz 0.5%, 1600Hz .2%) for BTE13-100

The largest difference I see is at the 500 Hz frequency range (1.3% vs .3%). Though, I have no knowledge about what that difference would mean in a real-life hearing situation??

#6

Okay, I looked at the Total harmonic distortion (THD) specs across all the Oticon Alta models. Guess what? The BTEs with the receiver/speaker in the hearing aid (HA) have better THD measurements than the receiver/speaker in the ear/RITE models.

Look at the numbers and chart below. The BTE13-85/#8 has better THD measurements than the Mini RITE-85/#2. And the BTE13-100/#9 THD measurements are very similar to the Mini RITE-85/#2 (and even better in the 800Hz frequency)!

My conclusions from the numbers/charts below? It’s hard to say. I am no expert. But I think if we say that distortion can occur when using a more powerful receiver/speaker, we should also consider the higher THD measurements of RITE vs BTE. Taking that into consideration I don’t see much higher distortion in a BTE13-100 compared to a Mini RITE-85.

Total harmonic distortion percentage (THD)
With Ear Simulator (Input 70 dB SPL)
Here are the actual numbers for 9 Alta models followed by a chart which graphically depicts those numbers…
1-(500Hz 0.7%, 800Hz 0.8%, 1600Hz 1.0%) for Mini RITE-60
2-(500Hz 1.1%, 800Hz 2.4%, 1600Hz 0.2%) for Mini RITE-85
3-(500Hz 2.5%, 800Hz 1.3%, 1600Hz 0.5%) for Mini RITE-100
4-(500Hz 0.7%, 800Hz 0.8%, 1600Hz 1.0%) for RITE-60
5-(500Hz 1.1%, 800Hz 2.4%, 1600Hz 0.2%) for RITE-85
6-(500Hz 2.5%, 800Hz 1.3%, 1600Hz 0.5%) for RITE-100
7-(500Hz 0.9%, 800Hz 1.2%, 1600Hz 0.4%) for Mini BTE-85
8-(500Hz 0.3%, 800Hz 0.4%, 1600Hz 0.2%) for BTE13-85
9-(500Hz 1.3%, 800Hz 0.5%, 1600Hz 0.2%) for BTE13-100

Sorry, the picture got lost.