Are there any rumors about the release of Oticon superpower hearing aids? They were supposed to come out this fall. But it looks like Oticon has gotten caught up in the rush of Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast and forgotten about the most vulnerable part of its customers. Xceed is already too old, it remained at the Opn S level, after which there were More, Zircon, Real models.There aren’t even table microphones, Connectclip is riddled with problems, the most versatile Edumic doesn’t include Bluetooth. Should we give this company a kick?
Oticon not responding…
Oticon was a leader in super power aids. I still remember sumo dm
Maybe time for you to move to another brand
Yes, but which one? Changing brands is quite painful. No Widex, no Oticon. There’s only one Phonak Naida left - that’s all?
I dont know. My experience has been with phonak only . I guess Signia has UP aids, not sure though. Sorry friend, we dont have much choice with our profound losses
@Um_bongo may give better advice
That’s the whole problem! Why do we with profound hearing loss have so few choices? This is weird! People with moderate hearing loss have a huge choice - More with 3 levels, Zircon with 2 levels, Real with 3 levels. And we only have Xceed with 3 levels. 8 vs 3.
I feel your pain. We are a minority and they dont get much profit from us
Not seen anything new to shout about.
The reason why is volume of sales and the widening capability of Rechargeable RIC vs. Implant criteria. If you can make your RIC cover 95% of losses with higher power receivers and canal moulds, you push the margin further away from the need to make big BTE.
If your country doesn’t offer an implant program, then you fall into a bit of a gap.
Our country offers cochlear implants. But I have almost no auditory memory, so CI will not help me. So the only choice is superpower hearing aids
You’re right about the market that push towards RICs but for severe to profound hearing loss only BTE can achieve the required power and gain with closed earmolds. Ric with up receivers can’t compete with super power and ultra power BTE because the hearing aids is always working at its max throughput with high energy consumption (rechargeable ones are the worst) and it doesn’t cover the required loss range. It’s like to have a small car engine always at full rev.
Maybe in the future things may change…
I hope xMEMS receivers will change this game. They have ideal high frequency output for superpower hearing aids. Maybe they even will work with miniRITE.
Unfortunately @Lostdeaf, we are a niche market or sometimes perhaps an afterthought? That being said, Phonak likes to trumpet their contribution to the severe/profound hearing losses, in their advertising blurbs, at probably under 5% of the the overall market share, it is most likely that Phonak, after R & D costs are factored in, they are probably making BTE UP & SP aids, at a loss or maybe breaking even, but truthfully they can say, for 50 odd years, they are still helping those, who need help the most… Oticon appear to have jumped ship, and abandoned the severe/profound, hopefully I am wrong, and they will have a change of heart, it’s good PR to help those in the severe/profound threshold, and ultimately, it gives us choices, which are sadly lacking at present… Personally, I am off to see my Audioligist in a couple of weeks time, I am planning a set of Phonak Naida Lumity 90 BTE’s, I am hoping to get a shot of them for a few days trial, before I commit to buy, it shouldn’t take me long to suss them out, if they are a slight improvement on the Naida P90’s, then I am having them, any slight improvement will do me… Cheers Kev
I agree, nothing delivers the punch of a proper 675 UP BTE. For profound losses, coupling these with a decent silicone mould and thick wall tubing is pretty essential.
My guess on where it’s going: larger (than RIC) rechargeable BTE or my own idea; Battery Packs, small swappable modular inserts that you run on a cycle through a hand/desk charger. 24/48hr security, travel security, shift-work etc. Carry as many spare modules as needed.
It also addresses the main flaw of modern aids - failing batteries and sealed cases.
I totally agreed with @kevels55 & @Um_bongo.
With a 675 battery, I do not have much worry. It is more convenience than More 1 (rechargeable battery). Carrying an extra pair of battery and a solid case - off we go for holidays.
Hope Kevels55 could tell us more on Lumity Naida 90 BTE.
Yeah @dankailo, I will hopefully start a thread, if & when I get the Naida L90’s… In all truth, I don’t have any great expectations of the latest Naida, if anything they will be a slight or subtle improvement, I don’t think the “Wow” factor, will come into play? Of course, I might be pleasantly surprised, this would indeed be a bonus… But, if past experiences are anything to go by, if you expect too much from new hearing aids, you become underwhelmed with the actual hands on experience, and usually end up, slightly disappointed… So we aim low, in the fond hope, there is a slight overall improvement, and any improvement within the severe/profound threshold is very welcome… Cheers Kev
I am going to get the L90 in a month’s time.
I’m currently back in Wales so unable to at this time.
I’ll report back.
Resound has a new pair of aids for profound hearing loss. Still waiting for replacement of the Xceeds. I guess l will go with Phonak new Naida L90-UP aids.
I do not have any answer to your question, but I will say all the HA manufacturers need a kick!
Hi there, I noticed that your audiogram like mine shows severe loss, may I please ask what aids you are currently using? Mine are OPNs3 minirite with moulds but I feel that my 100db receivers are being overstressed and the audis found that my ear canals are too small for 105 receivers!
According to Resound their UP receivers will work as they are integral to the mould!
Hi tim_64, yes we have really a severe to profound hearing loss in the mid and high frequencies. Currently I’m wearing the Phonak Naída Paradise P90-UP with closed custom earing moulds. They are the best hearing aids I’ve tried so far, I’ve got a better speech understanding and they also do their best in understanding speech in noise. It’s 34 years I’m wearing hearing aids (since when a was 6 years old). I always weared BTE with custom moulds as they are the best for our type of hearing loss. But from 2019 till 2022 I was fitted with rechargeable Resound Linx Quattro with ultra power RIC enclosed in moulds like yours. They sold me like they were very powerful and cover severe to profound hearing loss range (they also was very expensive). They were the worst, they broke very often and also they didn’t cover my hearing loss. The HAs were programmed to max output which was 70db and with up ric they reached 100db but the battery dried very fast and I was forced to recharge them twice a days. Every 2 months i was forced to repair them because they had a serious problem with microphones that broke very often with that power. And during these times i was wearing as backup my old Rexton Targa P5 BTE with 13 battery size. People around me also heared my voice and the sounds when i was talking on the phone or listening to music through the Ric receivers. They were not for severe to profound loss but for mild to moderate. I changed my audiologist after so.
Tim, it sounds like it is time to look at BTE HAs. The Oticon BTEs are very old at this point. (Xceed, I think, and about 4 years since release) while they would be closest in sound to what you have now, I wonder if they are a good choice. The phonak naida HAs have a lot of power and are pretty popular.
Best wishes!
WH