The Widex Clear 330 and Clear 330 Fusion

The mid range Widex Clear 330 platform is a strong instrument range with the new Clear processor and Widexlink technology and the inclusion of some of the renowned Widex strategies. The 330 platform is a full family from custom to BTE including the Passion and the new Fusion form factor.

At present we have available all of the BTE instruments and we hope to have the custom instruments within a few months. I shall of course keep you informed of our progress with this.

The instruments are ten channel instruments as opposed to the 15 available on the Clear 440. They retain several of the inter ear features available on the 440, such as IE Feedback Cancellation, IE Zen, program synchronisation and volume control.

The instruments, were applicable, have multi channel adaptive directionality with the HD Locator and also the digital Pinna. Whilst it lacks the extra localisation cues given by the IE Compression system, the HD Locator combined with the Digital Pinna will give front to back localisation cues. The HD Locator system is already a fantastic directionality system, combined with the new processor in the Clear platform it will excel even further.

The instruments will also have the Free Focus feature if paired with an M Dex. The noise reduction system supplied is the Speech Enhancer, the noise reduction system that was utilised in the Widex Mind 440.

The Speech Enhancer is still the only noise reduction system ever shown to effect signal to noise ratio without any assistance from directional strategies. That is several years after its release in the Mind 440.

Applied in tandem with the faster and more powerful processor available in the Clear platform the Speech Enhancer should be even more effective in dealing with real world complex sound situations than it currently is in the Mind 440.

The Widex Clear 330 also has the two Widex Cornerstone audiological strategies the Audibility Extender and Zen. The early feedback on the latest generation of Audibility Extender is extremely positive with experienced users of the strategy reporting that it is the best one yet.

The instruments will have 4 programmes + Zen and will also be able to utilise compound programs as with the 440. The Zen as mentioned before will be the new Inter Ear version. The 330 will have connectivity to the full Dex Range.

On the programming side, the Widex Clear 330 and 220 platforms can only be programmed and fine tuned with Compass 5.4. When connecting to the instruments it is imperative that you give it certain information. Particularly the acoustic properties and receiver selection if applicable. This information is vital for the efficacy of the instrument and can be input in the selection screen

 

 

the Widex Clear 330 platform has access to the expanded sensogram, giving you the ability to undertake the sensogram across 14 frequencies. My opinion would be that if you can, you should undertake the sensogram across the 14 frequencies, it will make a difference to you and your Patient. Your Patient will have an instrument as closely fit to their hearing loss as is possible and the pay off for you is reduced follow up and fine tunes. A win win for everyone I think.

In the Fine tuning sphere you also have access to the channels for fine tuning purposes. Again this feature was first introduced with the Clear 440 and it has been included for the 330 platform. the occlusion control feature has been included to assist with those difficult fits.

I think this touches on the main run down of the instruments, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.      

The launch of the Clear 330 & 220 Instruments

 

We at Widex Ireland have just finished launching the Widex Clear 330 & 220 instruments to the Irish market. The launch was very successful and the devices were well received by customers and non customers alike.

With the introduction of the full Widex Clear technology range run in tandem with the existing Widex Mind platform offerings we feel that we are finally offering a strong balanced series of instruments to our Customers and their Patients.

Some of our Customers were in fact worried that we were going to allow the Mind platform to slip from our offerings. I was glad to assuage their worries telling them that the Mind platform and particularly the Mind 220 family were some of our most successful instruments ever and were here to stay for the moment.

In Ireland, just like other areas in our world, economic times have been tough for business. Our business is no different and has been effected by the prevailing economic climate. For our Customers the introduction of the Mind 220 family occurred at exactly the right time.

It meant that not only could they offer a hearing instrument to their Patients at a low price but they could have faith that it was an outstanding instrument with Widexs’ renowned sound quality and the efficacy that they had come to expect from the Mind series.

But I digress, the launch of the new products is what I should be rabbiting on about. The new downgrades were really well received, particularly the Clear Fusion 330 and Clear Fusion 220. We think the introduction of these devices will deliver un-restricted versatility to our customers in fulfilling the needs of a large proportion of their Patients.

The Clear Fusion has exceeded our expectations in every market that it has been launched in and has caused quite a headache for our manufacturing and production teams. I believe the expression is flying off the shelves, our manufacturing team are working at full tilt to supply demand, so if you are having difficulty acquiring one, don’t fear, Fusions are winging their way towards you as we speak.

We also gave the Dispensers a sneak preview of the Phone Dex, a landline wireless streaming solution which I will be sacked for mentioning here! But hey, I cant resist :) and Widex have come to expect it of me :) I shall just throw in a “sorry Mike”, “I prostrate myself before your towering benevolence and famed forgiveness, oh and you’ll miss me if you fire me”, “I shall never do it again until next time” here. Have to hedge your bets right.

Our customers where really impressed by the Phone Dex, oh those words again, and felt confident that it would be an ideal solution for more than one or two of their Patients. As I spoke about the instruments and the connectivity options I could see several of the Dispensers thinking about the Patients they would fit them to.

It brought me back to when I was in practice and product launches I had attended. It is easy for Dispensers to get jaded by product launches, you would also think that it would be easy for us to become jaded giving presentations. But there is real excitement around the Clear platform, both at Dispenser level and internally within the Widex family.

We at Widex feel that we have made a huge leap forward in technology with the Clear platform, laying the foundations for even more advances based on that technology both in hearing instruments and other possible applications for near field wireless connectivity.

I am really excited that the full platform is now nearly released, with the exception of the custom devices, the technology utilised in the platform across the different technology levels is outstanding giving truly strong instruments in every technology level and price point. Each tech level of the Clear platform represents itself well within that market segment and dare I say it is a front runner if not the leader in its market segment.

Below is a quick comparison sheet for the Widex Clear platform, I shall detail the devices and technology utilised within in separate posts.

The Irish Launch of the Clear 330 & 220 Families.

We have begun the launch of the Clear 330 and 220 to the Irish Market. The kick off event was yesterday in Belfast and the instruments were extremely well received by all of the Dispensers present. As always the Widex Ireland back office staff and frontline audiology staff had everything set up to perfection and everybody present got a chance to play with the devices extensively.

 

The Downgrades are strong devices and I feel they are best in class, however you would expect me to say that! :) I would urge you to try them yourself if you have the opportunity. All agreed that my presentation was mercifully short, I am not sure why that would be a good thing? I shall put up aforementioned presentation towards the end of the week.

 

I also plan to write up a run down on the instruments and their features on the blog in the next week