Oticon OPN-S wearers---any sound issues?

I read yesterday even on Facebook that The Oticon Engineers have agreed that there is a problem that they are looking into

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Ohh. So this is a drawback to new feedback manager !

And it drives me crazy as if some words/letters are spoken by a bird in my ear.
Now I know am not alone, which is somehow a relief.

UPDATE #2–Well, I just returned my OPN-S1R’s in for a full refund. I’m not sure which hearing aids I’ll be going to next, because I still do think that Oticon is best for me with regard to speech clarity. I advise anyone reading this who is having OPN-S1R issues that are similar to those I described in the original post above to take their OPN-S1Rs back to their audiologist and have them returned to Oticon. Maybe if enough people have a problem the new feedback system and complain about it, it will expedite a fix–which Oticon engineers are supposedly working on.

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No, you are definitifely not alone. I experience exactly the same.
Find my old post here.
Kind of survey, never had much traction.

My audi got some advices on lowering amplification, vent sizes that should eventually have allowed for having the OSO and the old Feedback prevention working together.
However, it never worked out for me.
I wanted both because it was the only comfortable way for me to work with my over ear Jabra headset on. I have a OSO only programme that is great until I wear the headset for calls (feedback). I always needed to reduce HA volume and increase headset volume. Not really a great experience.

Do not ask me why, but since some weeks without any audi appointment or adjustments, it just works with the OSO only programme. Until now I ascribe this to summer heat that may tighten the sealing of the otoplastics I wear. (Despite a vent diameter reduction that broke away.)

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@cvkemp, Is there any way you can copy that post from FB and re-post it (or a link) here? I’d be interested in reading what the engineers supposedly said about the problem. Thanks.

In my case, I don’t think vent size would help. Both ears have double domes. But sure will ask for tweaking the setting during my next visit to get rid of this bird in my ear

So, I went to my Audi last Friday and showing her the fluttering/ fan talking issue with the OPN-S1 . At the beginning, she didn’t believe till she tried one of the HA and I whistled, then she called OTICON. The lady at Oticon told her yes we got some complains about this and Denmark is working on to solve it. Meanwhile, she recommended to disable the feedback manager and give it a try then if feedback is too much, then we will need to adjust the gain (for now).
My Audi asked when this expected to be resolved, Oticon lady said we don’t know but expected too soon as this is coming over from everywhere and is a draw back to their product.
We disabled the feedback on the right side only and feedback is not that much while still having some fluttering on the left(will disable it too on my next visit).
Let’s hope they will not take too much time to resolve this :roll_eyes:

Sorry to hear that you have similar issues and the same answer from Oticon, @AshFan. I got a refund on my OPN-S1R’s because they couldn’t say when the fix would come from the engineers in Denmark. The feedback issue was not good for me. I hope that you can get a resolution too.

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The thing now, should I purchase the OPN-S and disable the feedback manager on a hope it will be upgraded in the near future or go back to original OPN ?!

Just my opinion, but I would hold off on buying OPN-S until they fix the issue. If you turn off feedback control, your audiologist will likely have to reduce your high frequency settings to compensate and you might not hear as well. Just my thoughts, but I wish you well.

Am thinking the same but on other side why I should pay for a technology of 2-3 years old ! Also am thinking, they will not take too much time to solve it as this may affect the OPN S sales.
BTW, I got to know that some people reported same issue with Audeo marvel . It seem that the recent feedback management is so aggressive which is causing such issue!

@AshFan, I understand your point about not wanteing “older” OPN1 technology. But I tried both. The advantage to OPN-S is that it is a little more aggressive on feedback (when the feature works properly) and it is LI rechargeable if you want that option… But in terms of sound, I didn’t find OPN-S to be much better than first-genertion OPN1. The “Open Sound Booster” didn’t seem to make much difference for me either. For the difference in cost, you have to weigh if you are happy with OPN1 or if you want to upgrade to OPN-S and hope they fix the problems. It’s up to you. Good luck with your decision.

I’m a little confused because my understanding is that the OPN S has Both the new feedback control (the OpenSound Optimizer) AND the traditional feedback manager just like the original OPN has.

So all you have to do now is tell your audi to turn off the new feedback manager (the OSO) and enable the old feedback manager (the traditional one that exists in both the original and the S). This way, you can wear the OPN S just like how you would wear the original OPN UNTIL they manage to fix the OSO whistling issue, at which time you start trying out the OSO again.

If it were me, I would keep the S and do the above.

Keep in mind that for people with very severe feedback issues that even the OSO can’t fix entirely, it is an option to use BOTH the OSO AND the traditional feedback manager to get the most aggressive feedback management you can get.

At least that’s what was made clear to me in the Oticon white paper regarding the OPN D’s OSO.

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I thought the same as you mentioned @Volusiano but when my Audi called Oticon they told here turn off “feedback shield” then the OPN-S will be manage the feedback same as original OPN . But then I asked the Audi what will be the difference now as The OPN-S without feedback shield is OPN then the Oticon rep answered that this not true as the chip in the OPN-S is different than OPN and so sound processing is faster !!
Am more convinced to keep the OPN-S than to downgrade . But again when they will fix the issue is unknown

I have had the OPN S2 R for about 2 weeks now. The feedback management is significantly improved. I have not experienced any of the abnormal sound issues mentioned here. Overall experience is almost indistinguishable from the previous OPN 2, only without the feedback.

My audiologist did that, @Volusiano, and I still had feedback…and the sound cut-out issue. So maybe the problem is unique to me and a few others. Glad that many others are not having it, and I hope they don’t. As I’ve said before, Oticon OPN products seemed to give me the best speech clarity, but I’m not happy with the continued issues I had with them, especially in light of the cost of OPN products. Thanks to all.

Glad they are working out for you, @jklafontaine. Hope it continues.

Of course I don’t know exactly how Oticon did with the new Velox S chip, but with my electrical engineering background, I would surmise that they added additional circuitry for the OpenSound Optimizer (aka feedback shield), but whether they improved the OpenSound Navigator (sound processing) part of the Velox S chip to make the OpenSound Navigator run faster is debatable. I suspect that they used the same geometry on the Velox S chip that was used on the original Velox chip, left the OpenSound Navigator circuitry the same as before, and just added the new circuitry needed for the OpenSound Optimizer.

This is my guess simply because there has been no improvement claim of the new OpenSound Navigator on the S being any better or different than the OpenSound Navigator on the original OPN. There was only claims about the new OpenSound Optimizer and the OpenSound Booster, and the Lithium-ion option, and that’s it. You take away those things and basically you have the original OPN.

The original Velox chip is already fast enough to handle the OpenSound Navigator (the sound processing part). They don’t really need to make it any faster because it’s working just fine on the original OPN.

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I totally agree with you.
BTW, for me, the sound booster is a myth. When it is enables, I can only feel it’s the old beamed hearing aids( so it is picking the front voices and reduces behind / side voices) but it’s not dramatically increasing picking front voices. I have to increase with 1 notch to feel the difference