Oticon Opn S Fluttering?

Hearing Aids
#1

Saw this comment and got me wondering if this is a real issue for people that wear Open S?

Somewhat disturbed with Oticon OPN S’s flaw with speech fluttering or voices sounding like what it sounds like when you speak through a running fan. After a two and half hour visit with my Audiologists last week and after several attempts to correct this the end result was a phone call to the factory to ask for help. The somewhat good news is there is a way to stop this from happening but the solution is the cause of my disturbance. The problem centers around the feedback reduction under automatics in the Genie program while this on the fluttering happens. The factory suggested turning this feature off… By doing that in its self yes the fluttering stops but that opens up at least fo me, another set of problems with this feature now off we are having to make new molds with different size vents in an attempt to be able to play with venting to reduce feedback down to a bearable amount… the brighter side of this is that the Oticon factory is aware of the problem and has reported the issue to the programmers or so they say. What caught my attention when we were talking with them was they said they are logging complaints. I’m asking that anyone who is experiencing this too please talk with your audiologists and have them report the issue perhaps the more we get to speak up the faster Oticon will do something. It is rather disturbing to pay this amount of money for HAs and you have to disable a design feature for them to work properly…

3 Likes
Oticon OPN-S wearers---any sound issues?
#2

I have this issue. Its not bad enough for me to want to ask for the feedback reduction to be disabled. It does not happen often and haven’t been able to identify a specific trigger. It definitely did not happen with the OPN1.

Glad to see the acknowledgement of the problem and fix in the works.

1 Like
#3

+1

Switching off Feedback Shield completely removes it and implicitely reduces the high frequency gain.
But giving up on features should not be it.

1 Like
#4

I haven’t experienced this fluttering with voices and the OPN-S1, but music seems to make mine flutter. I know it’s best to have a set music program, but I’m talking about distortion/fluttering when I’m in my general program/P1 and I hear music playing in another room. I do have feedback reduction enabled, and I don’t intend to turn it off. It’s the reason I paid extra for the “improved” version of the OPN. OPN-S is supposed to reduce feedback better than first-generation OPN. To turn it off defeats the purpose of the upgrade, so I hope that Oticon is listening and fixes the distortion/fluttering problems.

#5

Anything brand new will have growing pains. It may take one or two or more software updates to get all of the bugs out

1 Like
#6

I get a somewhat similar sound when feedback control is turned up to the maximum on my Phonaks. Doesn’t do it on voices so much, but tones, like the sound my car makes when I put the key in the ignition with the driver’s side door open. This may not be just Oticon.

1 Like
#7

Yes, I can report the same is happening with Phonak Marvels M90-R that I’m trialling right now.
I noticed when I get in the car that the tone is fluttering, while this did not happen with my Audeo Q90 and OPN1 I’ve been trialling before.
Interesting this is not just Oticon…anyone knows if it’s the same kind of issue?

1 Like
#8

I’m guessing that the fluttering might be due to the frequency shifting in the feedback manager. Most brands employ this technique as part of their feedback management, not just Oticon.

Now with the Oticon OPN S, the OpenSound Optimizer (the new feedback prevention technology) is supposed to be good enough that the traditional feedback manager is no longer necessary, as long as the patient does not have a severe enough hearing loss that the OpenSound Optimizer is not enough and the traditional feedback manager must be turned on as well, in addition to the OSO.

It sounds like this patient needs both enabled, therefore is at risk for the fluttering issue that is common in the traditional feedback management system.

3 Likes
#9

I am using the Oticon OPN S’s and as of December 19, 2020, Oticon has still not resolved the problem of voice fluttering and sustained instruments sounding like they are running through a fan.

I have been to two different Doctors of Audiology to try to resolve this problem via a dedicated music program and the Feedback Shield disabled, but this has not helped at all for me.

I am still hoping and waiting on Oticon to correct this issue. ♫

#10

I haven’t ever had the issue with my OPNS1 aids but I did have it with my OPN1 aids

#11

I also experience this with my opn S1. I self-program and duplicated my main program so that I have two equal programs with the only difference being that one is with and the other without the feedback manager. I can predictably trigger this faulty behavior. The only reason I’m having both programs, is because without the feedback manager I will get feedback when resting my head on the couch.

#12

With my OPNS1 hearing aids with the 100 receivers and acrylic ear molds, and my hearing loss my aids are not being pushed too near feedback limits under normal use. My OPN1 aids have the 85 receivers and they are pushing to the feedback limits way too often and I do get the issue. From my experience it has to do with the amount of overhead that is available before your aids need to use the feedback controls.

#13

I’m not approaching the feedback limits even with feedback shield off (85db receivers). I still get the fluttering on high pitched voices.

#14

What domes or ear molds do you have that makes a huge difference. If you have open domes as I would expect then the domes are the issue even though Oticon claims their feedback control takes care of it. With open domes the aids can’t come close to 85 db.

#15

I have the acrylic LiteTip with a large vent

#16

Ok a little better than open domes. With my half shell ear molds and a very small vending is my difference. I don’t have much chance of feedback. There was a time, about 10 years ago that I had much the same issues as you with my aids, and my hearing was close to the same as yours. Even my Audi has said that as my hearing has gotten worse it has made my fitting easier for hearing aids

#17

Looking at your audiogram, it looks like the OpenSound Optimizer should be able to prevent any feedback issue you may have without having to resort to the Feedback Shield, so that makes sense. Apparently your fluttering is due to the bug they’re trying to fix in the OpenSound Optimizer.

1 Like
Oticon OPN S1 Music oscillating on sustained sounds ♫
#18

Then why don’t I get the issue. I haven’t had any issues it feedback

#19

This is not a “functional” bug per se that affects everybody. I think it depends on the individual’s hearing loss and how THEIR hearing aids get prescribed to correct their hearing loss. Usually people with milder hearing loss need less amplification and therefore are less prone to having feedback. Then there are also customization and fine tuning done differently by different people. So for some people, a particular combination of these factors trigger the fluttering, while for the remaining (probably majority) of the people, they get lucky enough not to have encountered these issues.

That’s probably why Oticon is dragging their feet in getting the issue fixed, otherwise if everybody is affected by the issue just the same, that would have been their #1 priority already and we would have seen some fix for it already.

The other factor is that it may not be very readily reproducible for them to really being able to debug it easily enough. But their acknowledgement that they’re working on the issue indicates that enough reports came in to them to make it worth looking into.

2 Likes
#20

Is the fluttering on both aids?

I wonder if the fluttering stops if you turn one aid off at a time?