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Subject : Re: All about the Oticon Epoqs (one big post) posted by Bryan on Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:25 am |
| Actually I'm doing a lot better at speaking in a normal volume now that I have the Epoqs; I have a better sense of how loud I'm talking now. Yes, my wife noticed this. She's been as amazed as I have been - she actually notices that we can have (for instance) a conversation in the kitchen, while not always squarely facing one another. Or she can say something from just down the hall, out of my sight, and - o miracle! I actually understand it! Not sure which brochure you mean, but the silicone molds I got are definitely rubbery. I can pinch them and they deform, but always return immediately to prior shape. I've been wearing the aids all day; no problem with sweat. I do get a little wax that I have to brush off of the molds each night, though. Wind blowing across the mics has been noticeable. Not as bad as with my old aids, though. Traffic noises when walking around ... *much* better with the Epoqs. I do notice the sounds but they are three-dimensional again, so I can locate individual sounds and unconsciously tune them out, unlike with old aids where it all seemed to combine into one big chaotic roar that I could not escape or filter out. I am not sure how to put it. With my old aids, it was like being trapped in an AM radio with only one knob to adjust (bass/treble). That's not really true, as I had many controls to work with in the AH programming software - but out on the street you have your 4 programs and your volume knob. Sound is different every day and one street has different sounds than another; often none of my programs would really work well for the situation at hand. The Epoq uses a different strategy. The aids talk to eachother constantly, but work mainly to deliver a quality reproduction of the actual situation, only tuned for the deficiencies of my ears specifically. Once that 3-dimensional 'sound picture' is painted, they let my brain do the rest of the processing. They don't attempt to second guess my brain - only to deliver what my ears would have, if they worked right. And it works well! I can locate the sources of sound much better than I could before, much more naturally. It's like coming out of that AM radio into the middle of a symphony orchestra. I can find the trumpets over *there* to my left and behind me; the violins dead center in front of me, the kettle drum just to my right. Same is true in that traffic situation. Since sound is 'working right' again, I find I'm able to locate and focus on the sounds I need to know about, and dismiss the ones I don't need. |
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