I agree with PVC. I think the reason more people bought the OPN 3 from AudioMetrix is because they’re being told by the provider (whom they consider the expert) that there’s very little difference so they believe them and trust their judgement, and of course who wouldn’t want to pay less if the expert says there’s very little difference.
For those who tried both the 1 and the 3, it then depends on how thorough they test the 2 out. For normal listening you probably can’t tell the difference. But in complex environments, that’s where you’ll begin to notice the difference. But it’s not easy to do a thorough evaluation between the 2 unless you have both side by side in a complex environment to do A to B comparison, unless you have a great memory. And I would have to wear each for at least a month and make it a point to immerse myself in as many complex environment as possible to really thoroughly test it out.
The most significant selling point of the OPN is its ability to provide clarity for speech in noise, in my opinion. By crippling the OSN Balance module by 50% and the Max noise remove from 9 to 3dB, that’s a significant crippling in my opinion, so you’re giving up the most important thing that you’re spending the big bucks to pay a premium aid for. Sure if you’re not in complex listening environments often, it make not make a difference. But over the course of the life of the OPN, I’m sure you’ll come across complex listening environments, and I wouldn’t want to skimp out on a few hundred bucks and settle with the 3 and not happy with it when I happen to be in those complex listening environments. If you buy a premium aid costing $3,600 for a pair, it’s just silly to try to save a few hundred bucks and settle for a really crippled version of the aid. If money is that important, go to Costco to get a much higher value for the money. They’ll serve you just fine for simple listening environments if your rationale is that an OPN 3 is good enough for you because you’re rarely in complex listening environments.