Hello,
I’m a new HA user & currently in the 2nd week of trying out the Oticon OPN1 IIC’s - as recommended by my audiologist. I’ve had OK results with it. However, since insurance only covers getting HA’s once every 5 years, I’m thinking of trying the other option available to me, which is the Phonak brand of IIC. I’m thinking of trying their newer Virto B-Titanium IIC to make sure I make the right choice. Does anyone have any experiences or comparisons between these two?
Thank you!
No experience with the open but have had 3 pairs of Oticon and found them to all be ok to good. The phonak vitro Titanium in my personal experience is far superior. Natural sound and the way phonak uses its technology to simulate natural hearing is great.
That’s good info - thanks! The Oticon’s sound is very processed to me & the left one keeps slipping out causing squeaking. I think the Phonak is newer technology which would align with your experience.
On how many weeks’ habituation to the Oticon devices is your assessment based?
We all get use to a certain sound, and it seems each hearing aid manufacturer has its own sound. I have worn Oticon aids for 11+ years so other hearing aid brands don’t sound right to me. Before Oticon I wore Siemens for about 4 years and while t sounded okay they were never aids that I felt were the best sound for me. The move to Oticon aids was easy and a good move even with allergies I had with the domes.
I’ve had the Oticon’s for a couple weeks now. I saw the audi today and he was able to fix the squawking/feedback in the left HA, which was nice because it was giving me a headache, and is checking on what the process is for being able to also try out the Phonak’s solution. He said that processed sound is most likely from my right ear, which still hears well compared to my left, which has lost quite a bit of the low frequencies.
It’s hard to comment without being able to see your audiogram.
The Virto B doesn’t have Bluetooth as it’s based on the Belong platform. The Opn does tho.
I have good news! Last week I received my new Phonak Virto M90 IIC HA’s. These are working much better for me than the Oticon IIC’s. After some consultation, my audi went with these instead of the Titanium because he could customize the acrylic shell in the office if need be. The technology in these is great, really like how these are controllable via customized buttons and they fit so much better - no more slipping out. In addition, the sound seems less processed to me and more realistic.
I’m so glad I exchanged and tried these as they’re keepers for me!