Phonak's Paradise launches idyllic new breezes in hardware, fitting, and hearing peformance
hearing aids
The success of Sonova's Phonak Marvel hearing aids needed a guarantee of an afterlife to keep the story going: Audéo Paradise is how the core prayers of the Switzerland-based group's consumers have been answered.
The functional reduction of users' needs prioritises sound quality and ease of use—basic aims for any modern hearing aid—although the four rechargeable models (Premium, Advanced, Standard, and Essential, in seven colours) in the new Paradise range pack a wealth of thinking and technology into their tiny casings, a reflection of the Phonak commitment to "changing the narrative from 'hearing aids can manage your hearing problems' to 'hearing well is vital to healthy living and wellbeing'," an ethos that just needed the right marketing apotheosis.
Behind the restorative palm-leaf images, blurb, and halcyonic naming is, to begin with, new hardware, and at its heart is the company's new PRISM (Processing Real-time Intelligent Sound Management) chip, which doubles previous memory and adds connectivity options. For the user, this is welcome: they can, for example, seamlessly switch from watching a show to answering the phone, using up to 8 pairing to Bluetooth-enabled devices if needed, easily double-tapping (Tap Control) on the pinna to accept a call, dispensing with any stressful scrambling to change from one signal to another.
The operating system for Paradise technology is the updated AutoSense OS 4.0, designed to do away with the need for manual adjustments and enable automatic detection, adjustment, and adaption to a wide range of hearing environments in-stereo.
Paradise features also include the retained Speech Enhancer, an adaptive feature to enhance peaks of speech in quiet; Dynamic Noise Cancellation (Premium P90 model) to bring better speech noise ratio); and its stand-out Motion Sensor Hearing technology, which allows the hearing aid to make microphone adjustments if the user is walking and talking.
The now de rigueur capacity for personalisation is handled through a range of options, including the empowering myPhonak app 4.0.
And the importance of a good first fit has received close attention, with new fitting formula through a version 2.0 of Adaptive Phonak Digital (APD was first introduced 15 years ago), bringing adaptive compression speeds (more dynamic range and reduced perception of reverberation), linearised gain for high-level inputs (loud speech, especially in noise); and a new precalculation to provide for first-fit acceptance.
The launch of Paradise follows 2019's delivery of Marvel 2.0, and that family's continuance with the 2020 release of the stigma-busting Virto Black. Phonak's thinkers say they have listened to their consumers, who ask for the three things this new hearing aid aims to deliver: to communicate better in quiet; to easily communicate in a noisy environment; to enjoy a sound that is natural, not artificial.
“Our new technology platform Paradise significantly improves the wearer’s hearing in a wide variety of situations, whether in background noise, on-the-go or when listening to soft speech. With the core of Paradise, our new PRISM chip, we keep pushing the limits of technology and help to stimulate the demand for high quality hearing solutions, as more and more consumers are returning after the recent lockdowns. Paradise is our next big innovation step to further enable those affected by hearing loss to live their lives without limitations,” says Arnd Kaldowski, CEO of Sonova.
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Source: Phonak
