By: Dr. Matthew Seldine
These improvements are designed with hearing impaired patients in mind as ways to help improve their overall benefit via speech processing enhancements, ease of use and reliability, optional manual control (for those who are “tech savvy”), and modern developments in voice assistant integration.
A closer look allows us to learn that clearer speech in quiet means that a new “Speech Enhancer” feature is capable of amplifying the peaks, or loudest moments, of soft speech to provide clearer speech when in a quiet environment. This may help mostly when conversing with someone who is soft-spoken, at a distance, or whispering.
The main benefit of the new PRISM sound processing chip is that it offers double the memory of the hearing aid and enables better Bluetooth connectivity. Improved memory means the Paradise can handle processing sound in more demanding and complex environments and situations; think restaurants with a group of friends.
One of the main distinguishable features in hearing devices these days is noise reduction. Essentially, what noise reduction is geared to provide is greater separation of important speech signals and surrounding noise. This separation improves what is called the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The greater this improvement, the easier it is to “hear” that friend or family member when you are surrounded by noise. The Paradise incorporates what they call Dynamic Noise Cancellation and in doing so is able to provide an extra SNR boost. This extra boost is only available in the Paradise 90.
Paradise enjoys more Bluetooth connections, so now it can pair with up to 8 Bluetooth devices and have 2 active connections at one time. This will allow for Paradise to switch between two devices seamlessly, like between your smart phone and tablet, without experiencing intermittency or hearing sound in only one ear. For reference, the previous Marvel line offered by Phonak only maintained one active Bluetooth connection at a time.
One of the more modern advances in technology available in the Paradise is Tap Controls. This exciting new feature helps improve ease of use of the hearing device by eliminating the need to locate and push a tiny button on the back of the hearing device to complete key functions. Instead, double-tap the Paradise hearing device to accept or end a phone call, pause or resume audio streaming, and even access voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant to help answer whatever question is on your mind!
Lastly, Motion Sensors. Our physical behavior dictates much about what we as listeners are able to attend do. Believe it or not, our movement has something to do with what we are hearing. The Paradise’s incorporation of motion sensors via an ultra-low power accelerometer will help detect patient movement and adjust the hearing device microphones and noise cancellation settings accordingly.
This is a brief overview of the key takeaways from Phonak’s all new Paradise hearing device. There is more attention devoted to improvement in speech clarity, extracting speech voices amongst noise, and additions of modern technological advancements to greatly improve overall ease of use. It you want to learn more about this new device, contact our office at:
