A very capable hearing aid that is very adept at improving severe to profound hearing loss in a small package.
Headline Pro’s:
Awesome flexibility - low power RIC’s to Monster Power Rics
Fully made for Iphone with future Android potential
Robust Desktop charger and lithium ion
Streaming is impressive
Semi Linear and Linear options for profound loss, excellent frequency shaping capabilities
Nice colour range with glossy options in a neat design
13 size recharge unit - good battery life on a single charge
Excellent Music Mode on 9 and 7 model.
Remote control option, TV Kit and Multi Mic are very good and easy to use once paired
Brilliant encased moulds for profound fittings.
Headline Lows:
Slightly too ‘toppy’ sounding on first fit under manufacturer algorithm
Awkward control options on aids and quite erratic
Charger is an additional cost and expensive.
Feedback manager a step back from previous models
Review
First, I realise that the GN Resound Quattro has been out for a good number of months now and is certainly a good product, however, until the last few month I have found some competitors products to be slightly preferable. As an ex Amplifon employee I am certainly very familiar with GN Resound being their major supplier but when I created EarGuru Ltd I wanted to be totally transparent which took me off on the path of expansion into other realms.
In this review, I am not going to go into detail about surround sound processing or in truth bin-aural bumph etc channels etc but real life situations. The hearing aid is good in those environments and pretty much the same as most at this price point. I will point out things that have an effect in real life. If you really want to know these things download the manufacturers datasheets and marketing info from the websites.
We will start with the bad…but only to explain how I came about how great this hearing aid can be.
When I demonstrate hearing aids I often give clients the choice to compare and contrast models and manufacturers and often unfortunately for the Quattro’s they do not often seem high on the preferred lists in clients hearing opinions. I think this is due to what I would call the ‘thin-toppy’ effect, some would call it ‘tinny’ and slightly aggressive in this area. For a first time user, or an existing user from say widex, signia or oticon, this can be a big turn off and can sometimes rules them out straight away.
Some audiologists may just make up their minds here and decide ‘not for me’.
I am a little different…you may say slighty nerdy.
I always felt a little sorry for the Quattro as it has so much going for it- a superior charger, lovely design if you like the ‘audi’ look to a hearing aid, excellent accessories once you’ve circumnavigated the pairing process and button issues. The app is very good and so is the streaming capabilities on an iphone. The glossy colours are outstanding especially the glossy anthracite, and music reproduction is very good with a couple of software tweaks. So why was I not getting the results???
In July this year I was approached at my optician day centre in LS26 by a gentleman who has tried and tried to sort his hearing out for over 20 years, always rejecting the aids within the return for credit periods, NHS etc and recently been told that his only option was a cochlea implant. loss 45 dbhl (250hz) to off the charts at 4khz.
So…immediately I go to Ultra Power BTE option, sound recover/shaping, great feedback capabilities etc. Show him Naida, Enzo and the like. No Simon…I can’t wear them, he has very tight, none protruding ears with the hearing aids just sat on his ear not behind. Feedback was the other issue as the mould was so tight fitting on his NHS, it made his sweat. I started to sweat…there was not much going for him. I ruled out so many hearing aids, demoing with Power domes from varying manufacturers etc. The one aid that seemed to give him some level of hearing was the GN Enzo, but in truth he looked ridiculous.
So…I thought I wonder…I knew that the Quattro was capable of getting to 110 dbhl losses with a UP receiver but up to now I had little success with the product, and the feedback system seemed a step back from the 3D range often having to cut gain in certain areas. So, I decided to give it a go despite my reservations.
My perception changed of this product 10 days later.
I ordered encased moulds with UP receivers, a black casing in gloss and the lithium ion rechargeable. Ran the In Situ Audiometer, feedback manager set to 1st time user around 90% and…awful. Occlusion, dead region buffeting etc. Everything you don’t want.
However I’m not one to give up…so I back off the gain,immediately the client said that is getting more bearable. I would say at this point I had the aids at 70% to target. Then I added the sound shaper into the mix at roughly the 3.5khz midpoint and immediately he started to hear more…I would have expected this but it had not worked on Phonak etc, however, the sound was way too tinny. I then swapped to semi linear processing algorithm and this time…boom.
Over the last 8 weeks I have been able to increase the gain in stages and they are the best results I have had with a UP/Power. The addition of a multi mic has been also a benefit as has constant expectation setting but with perseverance and patience by the client we have got there.
Only one client you say…not quite
I have now had the pleasure of 2 additional fittings to similar severe to profound losses, and utilising similar fitting approaches, somehow I have managed to get the little quattro’s to outperform traditional UP BTE’s. Points to note is just how much warmer and clearer the aids become in semi linear mode (for obvious reasons) but also the actual effectiveness of GN’s sound shaper in comparison to other manufactures. It has become my power aid of choice.
Cost
Overall I would say the GN Resound Quattro is on par with mid and high end hearing aids but I do find the cost of the charger is a bit much especially when the cost of the aid is greater already for the recharge version.
Recharge
The charger is robust and a full 24 hours can be achieved from 1 charge with an additional few days in the charger itself. Streaming does have an effect on the battery but not to such extremes that you shouldn’t easily get 16 hours out of a full charge.
Summary out of 5:
Sound **** but for profound ***** in semi linear mode
Performance in Difficult situations: ****1/2
Range of Power: ***** CLASS LEADING
Feedback Cancelling: ****
Range of Accessories: ****
Accessibility (Recharge): *****
Design and Colour Configurations: ****
Value: ****
OVERALL VERDICT: 4* out of 5* but 5/5 for severe to profound
VERDICT
6 months ago I would have given the GN Resound Quattro probably 4* overall as it is a very capable hearing aid on par with most of its competitors, a good all rounder, good connectivity, excellent charger etc and I still do overall. I think that Signia Charge and Go and NX platforms (soon be replaced and upgraded to the Xperience), Unitron Jump R and Oticon OPN S had the edge overall in the sound stakes in an almost out of the box approach. Where it exceeds the rest is just how unbelievably capable it is at high output with closed encased moulds and total flexibility in terms of fitting approaches.
When I fit every hearing aid, I try very hard to improve user comfort, if I can just improve the look of the aid just a little, it is my opinion that clients and patients really build confidence in their hearing. Probably psychological but it does make a difference. In the case of the Quattro, not just can do this but I can in spades…The output of this tiny rechargeable aid is fantastic and with a bit of tweaking, thought and setting clients expectations GN have really changed the way I think and dispense Ultra and super power aids.
Yes…there will be situations where only a UP can reach but as an audiologist, do we really always think…I wonder if by doing this…not just resting on proven past results, we could actually do improvements to peoples lives that maybe make a bigger difference than expected and just now and again expand our thinking.
Well done to GN for such a capable and flexible hearing aid, and a message to others…with lithium ion capabilities and power output, do we need to be developing huge 675 UP hearing aids? Doesn’t UP deserve to be smaller in this age???