Alrighty! I started a(nother!) new thread on Oticon Intent 1 here mainly to keep all us “users” separate in case some have issues, experiences or insights unique to us.
Background: I’ve had 2 Oticons ages ago: the Agile Pro and the OPN miniRITE. For the past 7 years I’ve been in Camp Phonak: Audeo B-Direct, Marvels and now Lumity Life RL-90s. What prompted me to try Oticon Intent was the feedback seen here from other new users: better speech comprehension in LOUD places! That is the Holy Grail! Phonak delivers exceptional, rich sound quality, and I had a great Music program set up, also a very useful “Acoustic Phone” where I’d get stereophonic sound from any phone of any type without BT; streaming was exceptional as well - no complaints!
Despite a big investment in TWO pairs of these Phonaks and TWO Roger mics, I stil l wasn’t wowed with speech in noisy places. It was frustrating.
Today I was given the standard tone and word comprehension tests, then immediately set up with Oticon Intent 1, the Companion phone app, and sent on my merry way! No user manual at all. No clue as to the possible settings or even program options. No info about how to use the single button on these aids. To say I was rushed is probably an understatement.
Even so! I’m already liking some things, and before my brain gets rewired, able to say what I don’t like (until I find out more about the aids). Sound quality right out of the gate is better than what the REMs and yada yada set up for my Phonaks delivered. I had a couple tiny tweaks in bass and higher freqs and that was it.
Sound quality compared to my Phonak Lumity Lifes is QUITE closed in and focused - a bit flat, and to my amazement, there is NO problem with ambient noise AT ALL, ANYWHERE. I made a trip to Whole Foods, a busy grocery store, and it was like a trip to the library. Real nice. I could hear folks talking clearly. I’m sure that as I get used to the sound, I’ll lean in to it more. But years ago, the OPN delivered SO much ambient noise that I couldn’t even hear a person talking right at me. The Intent 1 is vastly improved.
The audi only set up two “programs” on these Intents: 1. General and 2. Speech in Noise. Thassall folks! I don’t know how to SAVE settings so that if I like how something sounds in a noisy place, hearing TV, or in a house full of reverb. My General just reverts back to what it was set up for, as far as I know. Also, there is only ONE way to change programs: use the phone app. Kinda bugs me, cuz I don’t walk around with my cell phone worn as a brooch. Can’t I use the button on the BTE unit?
No TV Connector came with my trial. How can I possibly decide if I want to plunk down the quoted $7K for these if I don’t know how stable they are with the TV. Oh, and our entire home theater has been torn asunder with upgrades, so there’s no way to plug that TV Connector into the back of my wall-inserted TV. On top of which, when I tried to pair + connect these Intents to my Macbook Pro, it ain’t happening. I read the instructions at the Oticon site, but my Mac can’t find them, no matter what I turn OFF/ON in whatever sequence. It sees my Phonaks! But it’s blind to Oticon.
The audi told me Oticon is NOT compatible with my Roger ON iN remote mics. So if it actually IS compatible, I’ll have to find out on my own. That said, the Rogers were pathetic in restaurants! They picked up as much ambient sound as speech. My Roger is pre-set with a volume, so turning up the myRoger app volume or using my HAs makes little to zero difference.
I hope to get out to a truly NASTY NOISY restaurant to see how these Oticon Intents do, but hubs hates those places as much as I do. They’d need to be truly rock solid winners here, or it’s a draw with Phonak, and the temptation would be to get the 312-battery release of Phonak.
Weird aside, but the gummy double domes on my pair of Oticons (me, being allergic to any kind of custom mold material got these in clear and smoke gray) are WAY better than the identical shaped domes I get from Phonak. These Oticon gummies really stay in place cuz they are made from some kind of sticky silicone! I no longer push the speaker into my ears 100s of times a day. Even so, I know I’m missing the full benefit and power of the Intents without a custom mold. C’est la vive!
I’ve had these aids in since 1:30pm. 7.5 hrs later, my app says I have another 15 hours left in the day! Okaaaaaay. That’s better than the 17.5 hrs max per day with Phonak. These Oticons will get me through a LONG international flight, I’m thinking. Huge plus.
Unrelated to the Intents, my hearing test today was IDENTICAL to results 2 years ago. WooOoOOooO! Snake belly still slithers on the same path - I am blessed! 
Even better, altho my single ear word comprehension is the same as 2 yrs ago (around 63%) with BOTH ears, I went from 72% 2 years ago to 85% today! WOOOOO! My brain + ear connection must’ve grown! I had a brain fart about that: could it be that the noticeable improvement in speech comprehension with the Phonak Lumity Life aids actually WORKS? It’s almost like I joined a gym and the result is a bigger EAR muscle. That really made my day! The audi read the words off to me, and unlike the previous test (a recording that plodded along somnolently: “Say. The. Word. HOT. DOG.” she was bangin’ 'em out rapid-fire: “SayPOPCORN!SayBASEBALL!SayDOODAH!SayWHODAT!SayWOMBAT!” it was almost comical, and I felt like my brain was beaten to a jelly afterwards.
My immediate questions for anyone out there familiar with Oticon Intent 1 are:
- Why was the volume setting for General set 2 steps LOWER on the right aid than the left one? I favor my left ear, and need all the ooomph I can get in the right one.
- Truly, how does one pair + connect these Oticon Intent 1 aids to a Macbook Pro? I followed the directions: BT–>Accessibility–>MFi Hearing Devices but it simply never finds my Oticons.
- Does anyone out there know if Oticon still has “AutoPhone” which was like Phonak’s “Acoustic Phone”? I really think I need that stereophonic capability to use now and then. I don’t process speech very well with just ONE ear if I have to hold up a phone with NO Bluetooth streaming.
- How does the TV Connector work? Audi thought it was hands-free - but didn’t have one on hand, so I’m groping in a black sack here. She didn’t think a necklace was needed (like the old ConnectClip).
- How do I SAVE settings - or even create a custom program using the Companion app? It should be intuitive, but it isn’t.
I never downloaded the myPhonak app cuz it would rename by 2 pairs of aids the IDENTICAL name: LE-1. I couldn’t tell which one was “live” in BT. DOH.
Hope to have more insights and results in the coming days. I have 2 weeks to try these out - NO MONEY DOWN! Phenomenal offer. I’m liking a lot of things about the Oticons, but feel I can’t make a full decision unless I get a TV Connector and learn more about the aids.
. With the Opticon Intent or the Hearlink 9050 you can use either the Opticon edumic or the Phonak neckloop to connect your Roger devices. The edumic required a Roger X to be plugged into it. The neckloop is already compatible with the Roger devices (I guess the license fee is incorporated in the price of the neckloop). The only requirement in using the neckloop is that the hearing aid must be capable of using telecoil. Fortunately both the Intent and the 9050 still have telecoil. In anticipation of buying a 9050 when available I just purchased a neckloop on Ebay for $149 and tested it out using the telecoil in my old KS 7’s It is probably the cheaper way to go which, for me at least is important 
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