• Own Voice Processing (OVP™) set to improve spontaneous acceptance by 75 percent1 by replicating the natural sound of the wearer’s own voice
• Patented OVP is powered by Signia Nx, the most advanced hearing aid platform
• New Signia hearing aids offer the most natural own voice with direct streaming and TeleCare 3.0
Audiology technology leader Sivantos today unveiled the solution to one of the major challenges in the hearing aid industry, the own voice issue. All hearing aid users experience a change in the sound of their own voice. Many of them, especially first time wearers, are dissatisfied with its loud, unnatural sound. This negative perception reduces initial acceptance, forcing hearing care professionals to compromise on audibility to improve the sound of the own voice.
The revolutionary OVP™ technology improves spontaneous acceptance of the own voice by 75%1 of dissatisfied hearing aid wearers. It processes own voice signals completely independently from of all other sounds, including other voices.
Putting audiology first to deliver the most natural own voice
In keeping with its long legacy of breakthrough innovations, Signia developers focused on the important own voice issue to deliver a vastly improved hearing experience for all hearing aid wearers. Putting audiology first to provide superior hearing with uncompromised sound quality, all new Signia hearing aids’ unique and state-of-the-art features are built on this strong foundation of industry-leading technology.
The soundscape processing of Signia Nx – the way in which all other sounds including other people’s voices are processed – addresses another major issue in the industry: speech understanding in noise. Building on its proven predecessor platform primax, Signia Nx delivers “better than normal hearing”2 in challenging acoustic environments. This complements the natural own voice achieved by OVP.
Unique combination of leading binaural link and direct streaming
Signia Nx offers further unique advantages. No other manufacturer is able to combine direct streaming via 2.4 GHz Bluetooth®3 from iOS devices and TV with Ultra HD e2e – the leading binaural link that enables OVP. This sophisticated wireless system continuously processes audio information and exchanges data between the left and right hearing aids for optimal hearing and spatial awareness. And with an additional system, Signia TeleLink, the hearing aids offer remote control even when Bluetooth® is not available, for example during airplane mode.
Revolutionary remote hearing care
The third unique advantage in addition to the most natural own voice and leading connectivity is the revolutionary Signia TeleCare solution. The latest version, TeleCare 3.0, enables full live remote tuning of the new Signia hearing aids with the powerful Connexx fitting software. For the first time, hearing care professionals can conduct online appointments via video call after the personal first fitting at the practice. They can simultaneously use Connexx to adjust the hearing aids in real time and in the real-life situations that the wearer experiences, much like a virtual home visit. The updated settings are relayed to the hearing aids via the patient’s myHearing smartphone app. This unrivaled technology provides a powerful new tool to keep hearing aid trials on track and convert patients with hearing loss into satisfied customers.
All the benefits of Signia Nx – a natural own voice, best hearing performance, direct streaming, and full live remote support – are available with the new range of elegant, high-performance Signia hearing aids. The RIC Pure 312 Nx is the smallest hearing aid with OVP and direct streaming thanks to its laser edge Bluetooth® antenna for complete discretion. The RIC Pure 13 Nx delivers the longest streaming time for continuous connectivity. And the BTE Motion 13 Nx offers the most versatile fitting options as well as an optional T-coil integrated into the battery door so that more people with hearing loss can enjoy the natural experience of Signia Nx.
For more information, please refer to the background press releases about the Signia Nx platform, TeleCare 3.0, and the latest products from Signia.
1 2017 “First Fit Study” conducted at Hörzentrum Oldenburg examining the effect of own voice processing on spontaneous acceptance after first fit of hearing aids. More: www.signia-pro.com/first-fit-study
2 Two clinical studies have shown that binax provides better than normal hearing in certain demanding environments (University of Northern Colorado, 2014; Oldenburg Hörzentrum, 2013): Speech Reception Thresholds (SRT) in cocktail-party situations improved up to 2.9 dB for wearers with mild to moderate hearing loss using Carat binax or Pure binax hearing aids with narrow directionality, compared to people with normal hearing.
3 The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIC, Inc., and any use of such marks by Sivantos GmbH is under licenses. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.
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About the Sivantos Group
The business operations of the former Siemens AG hearing aid division have been combined into the Sivantos Group since early 2015. Sivantos can look back on almost 140 years of German engineering and countless global innovations. Today Sivantos is one of the leading hearing aid manufacturers worldwide. With its around 6,000 employees, the group recorded revenues of 967 million euros in the fiscal year 2016/2017 and an operating profit (Adj. EBITDA) of 238 million euros. Sivantos’ international sales organization supplies hearing care specialists and sales partners in more than 120 countries. Particularly high value is placed on product development. Sivantos aims to become the market leader in the coming years with its brands Signia, Siemens, Audio Service, Rexton, A&M, HearUSA and audibene. The owners of Sivantos are the anchor investors EQT along with the Strüngmann family as a co-investor.
Sivantos GmbH is a brand license holder of Siemens AG.
More information can be found at www.sivantos.com
Contact for Journalists: Erika Weigmann, Sivantos Group Corporate PR, e-mail: erika.weigmann@sivantos.com, Tel.:+49 9131 308 3449