Oticon Opn is now available in three performance levels

BrainHearing support is delivered by a unique combination of technologies working together to reduce listening effort and provide the brain with better conditions to perform in. All three members of the Opn family provide the unique open sound experience, with access to multiple speakers. However, they differ in the amount of support they give the brain in terms of rapid noise reduction, localisation of sounds, speech clarity, and the personalisation of the listening experience – i.e. they differ in the level of BrainHearing support they deliver.

And…

An expanded Opn range now covers hearing loss from mild to severe-to-profound.

Power users gain significant support from the BrainHearing™ benefits of Oticon Opn, especially in complex and noisy environments. Use Opn with proven miniFit 100 and 105 power receivers to match a broader range of hearing losses.

That just landed here too - the bigger receiver is key.

Let’s hope they fixed the firmware glitches too.

A size 13 version for those power receivers would have been nice, I myself would prefer a size 13 for the 85 receiver as well…

Can’t seem to find any info the "3 levels of performance in Oticon OPN.

M

They’ve taken the page down - it did contain 3 performance levels with associated features. This was the link that russiandeaf posted above, and was available in the last 2 days, but it had a further link to datasheets which did not check out. My guess is that they are doing a press release and doing further work on the website, which hopefully should be available soon, as it’s an interesting development. Wonder if custom instruments will get the update as well.

Did anyone capture the page by any chance?

Thanks,

M

Are these the three levels – Alta 2, Nera 2, and Ria 2?

http://www.oticon.global/solutions/

No. That wasn’t it. Localisation was one I think, speech clarity was another.

There was Opn 1, 2, and 3, with 1 being the most advanced (and the one currently on sale). There was a table indicating which features were present/absent, but I can’t recall the details.

They are here - http://www.oticon.global/professionals/opn/oticon-opn/

I looked up the differences between the Opn1, 2 and 3 online, and all they show is 4 areas, rapid noise reduction, localization of sounds, speech clarity, and personalized listening experience, where the Opn1 has 3 dots, the Opn2 has 2 dots, and the Opn3 has 1 dots.

I assume that all 3 versions must be on the same Velox platform. I wonder if they simply disable the functionalities somehow to come up with the 3 versions, or if they use different grades of the chips for the different models. For example, the chips that pass their speed tests go to the Opn1, those that don’t go to the Opn2 and 3 where maybe they slow down the clocks a bit or something so that they still work but operate at slower speeds.

No, same chip, same aids physically. Purely EEPROM changes through the manufacturer menu within Genie 2.

Um Bongo, how to access this manufacturer menu? Is this menu present in Oticon Genie and Phonak iPFG? I want to turn my old Naida V UP to Naida IX UP. If this information is confidential, please answer me in private messages.

P. S. I have Oticon CATHI and own programmer, but even CATHI cannot change level (described by model number)

I’m sure it’s not that easy to install the firmware of an Opn1 onto an Opn3 to make an Opn3 work like an Opn1. Same for Phonak for that matter. At least I don’t think they’d enable it at the level where the audi can access through Genie 2 to make that happen. But you never know, maybe there’s a back door.

My take was this is “manufacturer” level software. I would assume it’s pretty restricted. It would have to be, otherwise somebody could by entry level and resell as premium level. My understanding is that all that separates the levels of a lot of modern aids is the software.

Essentially yes, we wouldn’t get to see this level outside of the manufacturing centres. The one exception is Unitron who have written their recent EEPROM with unlock codes to allow upgrades. You can always try the upgrade first without the code on a time limited basis.

if this is just a software upgrade the manufacture should just provide the best available software and stop ripping off the hearing impaired consumers. One would think that there is some regulation that covers this.

I think “just” software is not recognizing the tremendous amount of cost that goes into it’s development. A lot of software companies have different levels of software. Are they ripping you off by not selling you their top level software for the same price as their entry level software?

I would rather see them reduce some of the functionalities through software to make the HAs more affordable at different price points. It can only benefit the consumers to have more choices. It’s also a smart move to expand their market share.