- Less power of the amplifiers and speaker unit (receiver) due to smaller size.
- Single omni-directional microphone that picks up sound arriving from all around you. Therefore less adaptive directionality of microphones to pivot their focal patterns away from noise.
- Limitations of ear canal anatomy. May be too small to be made as a true IIC to house all the components.
- There may be management difficulties if you have poor vision or manual dexterity.
- Too small to come with the option of a Telecoil.
- As they sit deeper in a humid/moist ear canal they are more susceptible to breakdown due to ingress of ear wax (cerumen) and moisture. This can be minimised with regular use of an active dehumidifying device.
- As they have a smaller surface area they are more likely to:
- feedback (e.g. whistle) due to acoustic leakage
- work loose or migrate out whilst talking and chewing.
The Oticon Own IIC/CIC is the top of the line or premium custom fitting hearing aid from Oticon with the following high key features for maximum speech clarity, comfort in background noise and reduction of listening effort:
- 48 Channels and their Benefits: Accurately shapes amplification to your hearing levels across a wide frequency range. Also enables more opportunity to filter background noise from the desired speech sound in each frequency band or channel.
- A Wide 8 KHz Band width: Preserves the higher frequency harmonics in speech that provide further separation of speech from competing noise. The additional cues of the wider band also go to improve localisation to identity and pinpoint where different sounds are coming from. This in turn improves speech intelligibility and reduces listening effort in complex sound environments.
- Open Sound Navigator™ is the sound processing that reduces noise whilst preserving the distinct streams of speech from wherever they are coming from. This is enabled from Oticon’s Multi Speaker Access Technology (MSAT) that ensures access to all speakers in a dynamic environment.
Numerous advantages of this style include:
- Makes effective use of the natural anatomy of the ear to direct sound into the ear and preserve the natural inter-aural timing and intensity cues that help localise sound and separate speech from other sounds.
- There’s a reduction in the occlusion effect (OE) the blocked up sensation with a deeper fitting
- Less prone to wind turbulence as the microphone picks up sound deeper in the ear canal.
- Complete discretion.
