Oticon introduces Oticon More

Volusiano, bobbydigital16,

Good morning and thanks for the feedback (pardon the pun).

Regarding the telecoil, using it would not meet my needs unfortunately. Hearing the full spectrum of music is very important to me. So much so that my Audi did not add a “T” (telecoil) program to the Widex software, even after we discussed it.

Last night, I used my HAs only (no headphones) to watch a couple of YouTube videos on drum software sound libraries and a voice recording. The drums sounded thin and tinny. Drums are important for creating most music.

The voice recording sound through my HAs sounded a bit thin, but more importantly, the reviewer used a visual spectrum analyzer where you could see that a lot of the sound came from frequencies below 500 hz. And my HAs were not reproducing this.

Regarding trying out the Oticon More, that’s my short term goal. Especially after reading your posts and reading this Widex Evoke and Opticon Opn S1 Comparison. He demo’d both the Widex and Oticon HAs. And ultimately chose the Oticons.

One more thing about the review. The reviewer has a hearing problem and is blind. Check out his “About Me” page. VERY impressive.

Regarding the review, at 7908 words it is the longest, most detailed and honest review I’ve ever read on ANY product. Since I have the Widex Evoke and am looking at the Oticon More (the S1 Pro is the just-previous model to the More), the review is almost laser focused on my needs. He found issues with his Widex demos that I’ve encountered with mine (like wind noise). If you have the time and patience, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in Widex or Oticon HAs.

Since I’m heavily into music and headphones are critical to me, it’s critical that I resolve my current HA issues. Right now, I’m waiting for a call back from a local Audi who specializes in Oticons (and Starkeys). If they prove out during a demo, I’ll buy them immediately

Again, thanks for the feedback.

Dan.

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While it is correct that using the telecoil alone to listen to music is not enough, because it would only be the same thin and tinny quality as with streaming, and your HAs can never reproduce the lows that you want to hear from the HAs. BUT you’re forgetting that you’re not using the telecoil ALONE as a replacement to streaming. The whole reason you’re using telecoil here to begin with is because of / WITH the headphones, to minimize the feedback caused by using headphones. It’s not the telecoil pickup through the HAs that’s going to give you the lows you want to hear, it’s the headphones’ air transmission of the sound waves directly into your ear drums (not from the HAs) that’s going to give you the lows you need to hear. Your audi should have understood this and explained it fully to you in the first place.

And of course this would only help if you still have some good enough low frequency hearing left in your normal unaided hearing, which you do, at least somewhat with your right hearing.

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Volusiano,

Thanks again. Interesting point. Fortunately, my low frequency hearing is fairly good - especially on the right. What I don’t understand is why my Audi hasn’t set this up.

In any case, I will be setting up an appointment to Demo the Oticon More 1 today. Which brings up the cost issue.

One Audi I’ve been working with charges $6,998 for the More 1. Going through Zip Hearing, the cost is $4,799. I don’t mind a few hundred dollars difference, but $2,200 is over-the-top for me.

Have you (or anyone worked through Zip Hearing? Any issues?

Thanks,

Dan.

Has anyone ever tried changing the rechargeable batteries on the More hearing aids and found out how much these rechargeable batteries cost? Ideally I’d like two pairs for traveling and whole working, just in case I forget to recharge overnight or if the battery level drops unexpectedly, almost like the disposable 312 batteries.

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Because they probably don’t have a clue how things work.

Hell, until @Volusiano now clearly explained, I didn’t know how it works neither. This is the first explanation that mentions using tcoil setting from many posts I’ve read here.

If this works in my case, that means I didn’t have to buy aid for my normal hearing ear to have symmetrical sound or even the ability alone to send it to both ears for the streaming purposes :rofl:
Two fitters and bunch of people here didn’t have a clue how to listen streaming with two ears if you wear one aid only. With main condition - having similar sound color, no feedback squeak and no latency issues.

When I put my aids under the headphones, if mics are on, squeak is here as well.

And I’ve dug deep before deciding for two aids as my solution, like 9 months of heavy engagement in figuring things out. Ok, I do have some other benefits, and main reason was to send the sound from roger mic to both ears anyway…

As you can see, I’m very interested in figuring it out unlike fitters who aren’t invested because they don’t have the personal need to really understand the tech (eg vast majority don’t wear aids)

Best thing your did for coping with your hearing loss was coming here. Keep reading a lot and things will settle in.

Also, review widex vs opns might not directly translate into widex vs more. No clue what this deep neural network will do to the sounds you want to hear. Keep that in mind while testing.

Thought I’d share a Genie 2 screen that shows the settings for the MoreSound Intelligence technology (the deep neural network) with some explanations on what all the settings and values mean. If you have a chance to review this first before you go into a More fitting with your HCP, maybe when they ask you how you want things set, you’ll be more prepared to communicate better to them.

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Yes later in 2021 means last quater 2021

I plan to change my old TV, and reading the various technical specifications, I saw that many have bluetooth: so with the More, or other HA that have bluetooth, will I be able to listen to the TV directly in the HA?

You can always use the Oticon TV Adapter 3.0 with toslink from your TV (without Bluetooth). If you want to connect directly from the TV to the Oticon More, you should wait for a TV with Bluetooth 5.2 LE Audio (a new upcoming Bluetooth standard). Older Bluetooth versions have an annoying delay so the audio will be out of sync with the picture.

Beside the Oticon TV Adapter 3.0 that would not require the TV to have Bluetooth, and if you don’t want to wait for a TV that has the new BT 5.2 LE audio, you can also use the Oticon ConnectClip to bridge between you Bluetooth TV and your Oticon hearing aids (whether it be the More or the OPN S or OPN). I’ve used the ConnectClip on my laptop and Android phone without any appreciable delay. I’d expect it to perform the same on a standard Bluetooth supported TV.

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Learn something new every day! Thanks for posting this. Sadly my OPN S1’s don’t have Tcoil… I do encounter feedback when I put on my over-the-ear headphones and resort to lowering the HA’s volume to get the richer music sound from the headphones plus some amplification from the HA’s. Next hearing aids will definitely have Tcoil if this works!

My OPN 1’s don’t have tcoil built-in either. Nevertheless, I’m still able to enable the AutoPhone mode (see the Genie 2 screenshots below), which can be enabled and adjusted for telephone (or headphones) use. I think it uses the small induction coil in the hearing aids dedicated for the Twinlink NFMI feature (Near Field Magnetic Induction) which is used by the left and right HAs to communicate to each other using close range magnetic induction.

So this small induction coil is enlisted for double usage also as a mini tcoil that when detecting the presence of a magnetic field near by (and most speakers in headphones or telephones generate a magnetic field), it’ll put the HAs into Autophone mode and pick up the magnetic waves of the sounds generated by the nearby magnetic speakers and convert it to sound signals to be sent to the receivers for you to hear.

So, ask your audi to turn on this Autophone mode for you (as seen in the screenshots below). Then put the headphones on and you should hear an Autophone chime on both ears once the magnetic field on your headphones’ speakers is detected. Now you should be able to hear from the headphones’s magnetic field to the mini coil (with original NFMI use purpose but now doubled as a tcoil) to the receivers to your ears. I would think if my OPN 1 has the AutoPhone mode, so would the OPN S1.

As for trying to avoid feedback when you put on your headphones, the OPN S1 should have the new OpenSound Optimizer feedback prevention technology, so if used in combination with the Feedback Shield manager, I thought it would have licked your feedback issue already. You may want to check with your audi that BOTH are enabled. I think the default is to just use the OpenSound Optimizer and have the Feedback Shield disabled.

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@Volusiano, Thanks for sharing these details.

The technical data sheet for the OPN S does not list Autophone as one of the features (it is listed in the OPN sheet). Regardless I stopped over at the Audi to see if that is something that I could enable but no joy. The feature is not there.

I did verify that both feedback management features are also turned on. The HAs try to manage it fairly aggressively and what you end up hearing is a faint high pitch oscillating hum as the HAs compensate. My hearing loss is pretty steep in the high end so its not entirely surprising that i still get some feedback. I wear acrylic molds with a small vent to prevent occlusion.

I am generally happy with the OPN S and will sign up for a trial of the More’s next month when the insurance benefit kicks in again. I understand they support TCoil (and presumably Autophone) and are hopeful here. That would be a good improvement for me.

Many thanks again for sharing.

That’s too bad that the OPN S doesn’t support the AutoPhone feature like the OPN. The OPN S R (the rechargeable version has the tcoil in it. The More is rechargeable by default in the first release and therefore also has Tcoil.

As for your feedback issue, if it’s a high pitch oscillation hum, I wonder if you can use the Speech Rescue frequency lowering feature to get rid of it. It looks like your hearing loss can benefit from the frequency lowering feature anyway. Below is my screenshot for the Speech Rescue setting I use. You should probably select the same for your hearing loss, to use the lowest destination frequency setting. The part that may help eliminate the high frequency feedback is to turn the High Frequency Bands setting to OFF. If the high frequency feedback in your case takes place in this targeted band that’s lowered, turning it OFF will stop amplification in this band, which in turn can’t cause feedback if there’s no amplification going on. You’ll instead hear sounds originally coming from that band in the lowered destination band.

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I will give this a try when i see the Audi and report back.

Thanks.

I have the More 1’s. Someone had asked if there was a “Wow Factor” that I experienced when upgrading to the More’s from the Opn S’s. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I think Oticon appropriately named these “More” for a reason. I feel I hear “more” of everything. Plus, the transition for different hearing environments is seamless. With the Opn S, I would change between programs depending on the environment but the More’s seem to handle that on their own. The best way I can describe my “new” hearing is that it reminds me of the hearing I had before I had hearing loss! My audiologist mentioned that he normally doesn’t expect much when new models come out but in the case of More’s, he felt Oticon made a giant leap in technology. Hope that answers your questions.

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I am going to try the new Oticom More, probably More 1, next Monday 15 March. I currently have an Oticon Opn and I am looking forward to More. I hope that I will also be able to feel that the hearing I had before came back a little. I’ll give feedback later

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