Re: Nearly 5 Months With Freedom Hnaring

[Guest guest]

Hi, llana,

I wish I could help you understand why your 3G seems better than your

Freedom, despite you being able to sing best with the Freedom. I CAN tell you

that I have the same thing happening. I test better with the Freedom, yet, if

wearing just one processor, I like the sound of the 3G better. Oh - also, I

can't sing, and couldn't before the severe hearing loss either! <giggling>

One thing you might do is ask your audi to de-emphasize the high

frequencies on your Freedom at the next mapping and possibly emphasize the low

frequencies. Some even bring a music tape or CD to their mapping and play it

while

being mapped. Hope this helps.

) Jackie

Implanted - right ear - Oct.2002 - Nucleus 24/3G

Reimplanted - right ear - Jan.2005 - Nucleus 24C/3G

Implanted - left ear - Sept.2005 - Nucleus-Freedom

[Guest guest]

Hi Jackie and Ilana,

I am not a CI user my self, my daughter is, but I was wondering wouldn't

their be a difference between the sound from the N24 3G and the Freedom since

the N24 3G uses analog encoding and the Freedom uses digital encoding.

Our audiologist told us to leave Gail wearing her sprint up until it was

time to switch to the freedom since the sprint is also digitally encoded. They

also told us that since Gail uses all 22 channels that if we switched her to a

3G that two channels and or electrodes would have to be switched off. So if

you are not using all channels wouldn't that make a difference between hearing

for each ear?

Coding/Encoding might not be the tech talk I want to use. Sorry. But

definitely know there is a difference between analog hearing and digital hearing

as

many people with hearing aids have said so.

Hope this helps.

Pennie

mom to Gail (bilateral activation in less that 1 week) and (who keeps

asking for his diapers back, grr!)

[Guest guest]

Like Jackie, I did not benefit from digital HAs. Now I have bilateral CIs,

the N24 BWP/3G in 2000/2003 and Freedom in 2005. With the N24 it took me

months to understand speech and 5 years later my discrimination is in the

low 70s. Witht the Freedom, I understood speech right away and my

discrimination was in the 90s within a few months.

[Guest guest]

My experience with the Freedom has been similar to Jackie and 's.

Although I could not understand speech immediately with my Freedom, it only

took a week or so before I received some clarity (compared to 2 weeks with

my 3G). At this point, my speech discrimination testing indicates that I

understand speech *much* better with my Freedom than my 3G. , you may

be interested to know that ever since I became bilateral, it has become more

difficult (although not impossible) for me to understand speech alone with

just my 3G. The sound isn't as clear, but it is more natural. Conversely, my

Freedom sounds high pitched when used alone, but gives me greater clarity.

My most recent speech discrimination testing with the 3G alone was 78% while

the Freedom was at 97%. I have yet to be tested bilaterally -- hopefully

that will happen at my 9 or 12 month evaluation.

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06

[Guest guest]

,

My discrimination with the N24 has always been in the low 70s once it

reached that level, unilaterally and bilaterally. Your has decreased with

becoming bilateral?

[Guest guest]

,

Yes, but only with my N24CA. I think this is because the sound I receive

from the Freedom is so much clearer compared to the N24CA. During my mapping

session two weeks ago I had to ask my audi to repeat herself a couple of

times -- something I never have to do when using my Freedom alone or both

CIs together. That being said, I'm sure the longer I hear with my N24CA, the

easier it would be to discriminate speech. I remember another list member (I

believe it was Dora?) mentioning the fact that she needs to wait 15 minutes

before testing with one ear so her brain can adjust to the sound quality. I

think that's also true for me when it comes to my N24CA.

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06

[Guest guest]

,

The last time I was in the audie's office, he spent quite a bit of time just

having me listen with the N24, and I had to work harder and was exhausted

after because my discrimination has never been as good as the Freedom.

[Guest guest]

,

I haven't been tested bilaterally yet, so I don't know how much my speech

discrimination has improved with two CIs. (Right now I can only go by real

world experience.) It would be interesting to find out how much my

discrimination improves unilaterally vs. bilaterally. When my CI surgeon and

I discussed bilaterals at my 9 month post op, he told me he was hoping I

would score in the 90th percentile bilaterally for sentences in noise and in

quiet. Since my Freedom alone tests at 97%, that could very well be a

possibility.

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06

[Guest guest]

,

Do you notice more of a " blurred " (unclear) sound with your N24 compared to

your Freedom? If you have the ability to upgrade your N24 with a Freedom, it

would be interesting to see if speech discrimination would be less tiring

for you. I would *love* to upgrade my N24CA to the Freedom to find this out

for myself. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on which way you look at

it), my speech discrimination scores are too high for Medicaid or Medicare

to cover the cost of an upgrade. I do have two Freedoms, but can't use them

for my N24CA because the controller used for the N24 is different from the

one used for the Freedom CI. I could purchase the controller, but I can't

afford it -- at least not now.

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06

[Guest guest]

,

Are you saying you need a different controller to the Freedom's controller

to use it on the N24? Why won't the same controller work?

[Guest guest]

,

Yes -- You need a different controller because the internals of the N24 are

different from the Freedom (i.e. analog as opposed to digital). In addition,

the software used to make the Freedom work with the N24 is different than

that used for the Freedom. This is what I was told by my audi. Perhaps

someone else on the list can confirm or deny this?

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06

[Guest guest]

,

Are you saying the 3G controller will not work because it is analog, and

must use the Freedom's controller to work with the new software? You are not

saying there is an altogether different controller to the original Freedom

controller?

[Guest guest]

,

The controller used for the N24 is different than that used for the Freedom.

When I asked my audi if I could use either of my Freedom processors with my

N24CA, she said no because of the different controllers required for the N24

versus the Freedom. The only way I could do so would be to purchase a

controller that is compatible with the N24.

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06