After my hearing test and my 1st demo with Oticon Alta2 Pro Ti MiniRite. I am very impressed. Although these aids are MSRP $6200 pr I was able to find for $4060 pr. My insurance pays $2500 every 3 years so I am thinking about paying the additional $1560 out of pocket. Ouch.
My questions are:
Should I wait for the newest Opn series? Est on cost?
Should I demo other brands? Or are these about the top of the line?
Thanks to this forum. I have learned a bunch.
M
I’d wait the few days or weeks to go with the newer and evidently much improved Opn.
As to good, better, best, that is very subjective. Nobody can say this one it the best. All they can say is they found that one best for them. The next person can have a totally different feeling about what sounds best to him.
The Opn series apparently must be used with an iphone or an android. Are you aware of that? If you are one of the few who use an old fashioned cell phone then stick with the Alta 2.
Yes sir, I have all Apple Gear. iMac, MacBook, iPhones, iPads, etc…
Thanks,
M
Alan M, you wrote: “The Opn series apparently must be used with an iphone or an android. Are you aware of that? If you are one of the few who use an old fashioned cell phone then stick with the Alta 2.”
What does that mean? Surely the HA functions are not to be controlled by iphone or android.
GWerkema
Freq 250 500 1k 2k 4k 6k 8k
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R 55 55 65 75 75 105 105
Yes, there are control apps for smart phones. iPhone can communicate directly with the aids without an accessory device. Android currently needs an accessory device. Not only does the proper setup allow you to control the device but it streams sound from the phone directly to the aids which makes it better for understanding and handiness. Many find it difficult to use aids with a phone while others don’t.
This post is 1.5 months old but it is worth updating.
Yes, the OPN is still an IPhone only device but the phone is not necessary to use this hearing aid.
There is volume, program selection built into the iPhone software. Also there is the Oticon app. Same thing.
Where is gets more interesting is streaming phone calls and even other media to the hearing aid. So far I am not impressed with these features. The sound quality going into my ears is tinny and painfully center staged. There are several settings in the programming software for this so I am still experimenting. I absolutely do not care for having everything the IPhone puts out end up in my ears, both, either one, whatever. It is my pet peeve with the iPhone that the whole setup is on one volume control. I do like certain notifications but if I rather have some things buzz only that is not possible. If I set to sound like the ring then everything will end up in my hearing aid if I switch that on. I had my audi up the volume and set the sound quality to warm/full. Still, sticking phone to my ear is still better. I suppose I am not deaf enough but if I was then the volume in my ear would have to be turned up much more then they seem to suggest for that to work. When requesting to turn the annoying mute off my audi didn’t want to do it. “Are you sure? … really?”. I find it awful that the idea to turn off the outside sounds while the phone is ringing would turn my world completely inside by shutting off the outside world. Fortunately I am critical enough to find out that many of these things can be set but I worry about many who will be subjected to many settings without being aware of there being better options.
Finally, if I leave Bluetooth on it drains the phone pretty quick. Even my 6+ phone drains in less then a day. It also take too much tinkering on the phone to get to the most basic settings. Tripple pushing that phone button to reach the hearing aid menu takes dexterity that I don’t have after neck injury. Hah, as we get older things get harder. These young programmers think we are young Olympians even though all in the promo literature are quite grey, lol.
Still, I love the tech, I am a geek, programmer, audio engineer, made my living as a electronic troubleshooting expert. Programming setup on the way. Lets see how to make this better.
Update to my reply. I was told this by my audiologist. More recently I think I saw a control, probably both for volume and program on the hearing aid, in a photo. But reading in this forum, however, I wonder if this hearing aid is able to connect to a TV, etc., without the IPhone. I think it best to ask an audiologist or maybe someone here who knows can answer the question.
No, the iphone connection is the low power version of Bluetooth and uses a proprietary scheme. TV etc. use standard BT. They require the accessory that connect to the TV and a second to connect to the aids. The standard BT device for Android etc. can connect to typically 8 BT devices but there is latency in the BT transmitters you can buy at Amazon and such.
I don’t need to use the aid connected to the tv myself so I have not used or tried it with the OPN but the literature states it can be used with TV or Laptop with out Iphone or a streamer.
The manual states a TV adapter 3.0 is needed.
The single button on the aid can be used for volume and program change.