Phonak Infinio Sphere vs Oticon Intent – quantitative word recognition testing

[lilliegin]

Your loss is reasonably flat from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz - you should try the AirPod Pro 2 when apple releases the self program. Retest with them in the ear and that may tell you how to tweak the programming

[Beryl1]

Yes thanks may well be worth a try.

[1Bluejay]

Yeah, I shoulda just said “the IMPATIENT audi!” She literally turned me off to Oticon Intent with her lack of interest, commitment or even caring to spend time with the settings for me. I find it quite intriguing that so many others here do REALLY well with Oticon aids, and the Intent has helped them comprehend speech better than earlier models, too.

[nursebill48]

Since I get my hearing aids from the VA I have some experience with “less than perfect” audiologists. I try to stay informed about what is current in the hearing aid world so I can ask cogent questions, while not coming off as an “expert”.

[billgem]

@1Bluejay

My own anecdotal experience: I trialed the Intents for 2 weeks a few months back. Granted, I had an audi with the patience of a peanut setting them up. But I was actually annoyed at how LITTLE I understood speech right in my own house. We had some work done inside, and the tech guy would be 5-6’ away and I was simply UNABLE to even figure out what he was saying.

Strangely, I had a very similar experience with the Intents. Hearing in noise was amazing, but ordinary speech comprehension in ordinary situations such as the one you describe was surprisingly inconsistent. I’m thinking of going back for another trial with a different Audi.

[Alex_D1]

This is great feedback, and great to see people taking initiative to truly put these devices to the test.

[Bimodal_user]

@Bimodal_user

I’m sorry, I coudn’t find longer samples.

@DaleM1, it you like scientific approach and experimenting, there is probably ideal page and app:

https://wwwn.cdc.gov/niosh-mining/HLSimWeb

If you feel like it, you can test denoising by Sphere AI here.

[Bimodal_user]

@DaleM1

But I’ve read that the spherical speech in loud noise doesn’t work well with a recorded track in which the speech and noise are combined.

Today I have found that video (from 5:55), so maybe it’s better than we supposed::

The science behind Phonak Audéo Sphere™ Infinio

[platypus]

To answer the original posters question somewhere on this forum, it has been suggested to turn off “Bluetooth always connected” in the MyPhonak app due to the drain of the iPhone battery.

[DaleM1]

@Bimodal_user

Today I have found that video (from 5:55), so maybe it’s better than we supposed::

Thanks. I have also noticed (anecdotally) the same thing.

[jim_lewis]

@DaleM1

I expected my scores to improve over time as I unconsciously “learned” the word list, so the experiment design gives a slight bias to the Intents.

Using the same word list over again does seem like a test weakness; the best test would be double-blind with the words randomized between each test, if not a completely new set of words for each test, i.e., ideally, you should get someone else to make up the recordings and the written-out checklist of what the actual words were in the recordings. Still, a very interesting experiment, which roughly jives with what Phonak claims will be the improvement in understanding, IIRC.

@DaleM1

So you’re really trading sound localization and occlusion reduction against music streaming and understanding speech in noise.

I deliberately wear ReSound Omnias with M&RIE receivers and occlusive fit pretty much for the reasons you state. The M&RIE receivers give me excellent localization (YMMV), and depending on one’s adjustability, one can habituate to an occlusive fit (it never bothers me).

Of course, with Spheric noise reduction, the Spheres can’t be beat so I’m looking forward to trialing them and breaking open my piggybank if I find them as good as everyone else says. I’d wear them with an occlusive fit, too.

[DaleM1]

@jim_lewis

Using the same word list over again does seem like a test weakness; the best test would be double-blind with the words randomized between each test, if not a completely new set of words for each test, i.e., ideally, you should get someone else to make up the recordings and the written-out checklist of what the actual words were in the recordings. Still, a very interesting experiment, which roughly jives with what Phonak claims will be the improvement in understanding, IIRC.

I agree. In my first comparison attempts, I generated a spreadsheet with over 500 words and then wrote a function to generate random subsets of 50 words. Then I had a live speaker read them to me. According to my audiologist, the community frowns on spoken tests (because they are non-repeatable), and I didn’t want to ask my friends to record a bunch of lists. Nevertheless, I do think the test was fair – because of the order of the tests, there was a bias in favor of the Oticons.

[Misterref78]

Personally, I don’t think that the Sphere is that much better than the Intent. From my point of view they are both equal but I dare say I understand better with the Intent.

[Bimodal_user]

@Misterref78 , I don’t see your audiogram, but from what I know, Oticon’s receivers are very good at amplifying higher frequencies, reportedly better than Phonak’s. Maybe that makes a difference.

[Misterref78]

Sorry I tried also to put it in the Audigram like you did, but I cannot see the place to put it in, I am directed to another page.

And yes this may be, and I also said for me, because we also heard only good things from ppl that works for them.

[Bimodal_user]

How to add your hearing test / audiogram to Hearing Tracker

Just updated our page for adding hearing tests to the forum. Make sure you are logged in Go to My Hearing Tests You will see the page below Enter your audiogram and click the save button When you come back to the forum, you should have a headphone icon on your avatar and an audiogram on your profile. Thanks! [image] If you already have a hearing test on file, you will see the page below. Edit your current test or click the button “Add Hearing Test” to add a new test. [image]

Which Phonak receivers did you use? P? And what acoustic coupling? Power domes?

[DaleM1]

That’s an interesting perspective. If they are equal for you but you understand speech better with the Sphere, then there must be things you like better with the Intent. For me, the Intents are better for music, which is a high priority for me, but not as high as having a flowing conversation in a noisy environment. I started another thread on Sphere vs Intent for music.

[Misterref78]

Thanks with the directlink I went to the hearing test section.

I use P receivers and have slimtip with 1mm vent.

I cannot say that my hearing is better with Phonak, overall I would say that the Oticon is better for me. I am sure I have to adjust the Phonak more but so far I am not really happy with them.
For me the Spherics is not better than the Edge+ in Starkey, it sounds more like the speech in noise program from Resound Nexia. I think I like more the normal sound arround me than possible pushing speech from everywhere.

[user246]

It does, even Dr. Cliff mentions Intents tent to match targets better out the box - I suppose it might be
due to the Open sound optimizer , it doesn’t imply its better aid- rather than in the absence of proper verification Itents would probably get closer to match targets.

[Bimodal_user]

Okay, I though it’s because of better frequency response from receivers from Otocon. Phonak’s receiver responses for example: