Musician prefers Intent 1 (Intent Vs. Sphere)
06 November 2024
Oticon Intent hearing aids and music.
“I am a 70 year-old with substantial hearing loss, especially with higher frequencies, and tinnitus. I have had NHS-provided Oticon hearing aids for about 6 years and they have proved adequate for most speech, but only tolerable for listening to music and atrocious for being able to sing and play (clarinet). The sound of listening to myself has been like listening to a radio station with poor reception on an old tinny transistor radio with a horrible oscillation This is a very important part of my life, and I decided I needed to do something about it but was sceptical about the benefits a more advanced model bought privately could bring.
Listening to music
It has taken some time to get used to my aids and experiment with different settings for the best results. It is very much an individual thing. I have been grateful for the time and advice given by Rob to trial the aids for a number of weeks. I have found different settings to suit different formats such as my hifi, TV, and streaming. But overall I have found them excellent in rediscovering those lost higher frequency sounds but without losing a well-balanced ‘timbre’. For the first time in ages I have rediscovered many pieces of music I thought would only live on in my memory.
Playing music
Most of my singing and playing music is in acoustic settings such as local folk clubs, playing individually or in bands. Playing solo I will often be switching between singing and playing clarinet so my aids need to be adaptable for both. In both cases, it is a visceral experience with much of the sound being felt through my body. In the past, for reasons described above, I have simply turned my aids off, far from ideal with everything sounding a muddle. Again, after much experimentation, I have found the best settings to hear myself properly but get rid of the audible nasty side effects, has been to use the MyMusic setting on a very low setting (about -7) with the Equaliser set to +2 on low/medium and zero on high. Of course, it would be very different for anyone else and their individual needs.
If playing in a group I need to hear others and these settings are too low. I have found the best compromise has been to use the General Setting on a relatively low setting (around -2) with moderate settings around zero on the Equaliser.
The big advantage has been the ease and flexibility of switching between settings and tweaking the volume when I need to, such as when sat next to a very loud accordion player!!
This is work in progress but, so far, thank you Oticon and Rob at RJD Hearing Care for making music a pleasure once more.”
Andy Mosby
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