Today I got to try out the new AB Marvel processor. My audiologist had invited me to try it in exchange for letting her practice programming it. She had an AB rep there to go through the programming options with her. (Clarification: I have not gotten a new implant, nor do I actually have a Marvel. This was just me trying it out in my audiologist’s office while she learned how to program it.)

This is obviously not a comprehensive review because I only got to try it for about an hour and a half total, and that was in a quiet office setting. But still, better than nothing, and I was at least able to get an impression of how it works.

The overall sound quality did seem slightly clearer than the Q90, but of course it still wasn’t nearly as clear as natural hearing. (I know, that’s not something any CI is capable of at present, but I can dream for the future!) It definitely sounded louder, although she set it up with basically the same program as I had on the Q90.

I had downloaded the AB Remote app on my phone, so the AB rep showed me how to pair it with the processor and stream. I was able to adjust the mic/aux balance with the app, which was very nice — this means that I would not need a separate streaming-only program with 100% aux and 0% external microphones. I asked about music, and the rep said that they had added in specialized music settings, so I tried that with a song that I had had trouble with: Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The piano notes at the beginning have sounded wrong since I got the CI, so I tried streaming it to the Marvel and it was much closer to how I remember it.

One thing I really liked was how responsive it is – it took only about a second or two, tops, to turn on, as opposed to the five seconds or so my Q90 takes; program switches are similarly much faster. And it has an actual mute button — with the Q90, I have to take it off. (Edit: Apparently you CAN mute the Q90 by holding down the program button for 5 seconds. I had no idea!) And being able to see how much battery is left is another nice feature of the app, as with the Q90 there’s no way of knowing until it starts to get low (in which case it beeps periodically).

The other thing I really wanted to try was their new AutoSense 3.0, which is supposed to help with background-noise situations. But that was nearly impossible to test in a quiet office. I did try doing an iAngelSounds word recognition test with background noise, and I got 88% correct, but then I tried the same thing with my Q90 and got the same score, so I don’t feel like I have enough data to judge how it would work in a real-world noisy situation.

But, I’ve set up an appointment to get my other ear evaluated for a second CI. It hit me again today how bad my non-implanted ear has gotten: my husband and I were both on the sun porch working, and he had a video meeting so I took off my processor and hearing aid so I wouldn’t have to listen. He was maybe four feet away from me; at that distance I used to be able to hear his voice as a low buzz with no CI or HA — I could tell it was him talking but I couldn’t make out the words. Today, however, I couldn’t hear him at all.

Those who have been reading my story since the beginning may recall that in the summer of 2019, almost exactly halfway between my CI surgery and activation, I experienced a sudden loss of hearing in my right ear (the non-implanted one). After treatment it ended up at around 40% word recognition; in the tones, I was at around 50-60 dB in the lower frequencies and around 100 in the higher ones. Normal is generally around 25dB or below — that’s basically how loud a sound has to be at that frequency before you can hear it.

I had been feeling for a while like my right ear had gotten worse, but it was hard to tell for certain because the CI side is now my dominant one. I did notice that I struggled more with understanding if I wore just my hearing aid without the CI processor, but I couldn’t quantify it.

I had not been back for a hearing test in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, so I had one today, and it turns out I was right: there has been additional loss in that ear; I have no idea if it occurred suddenly like the other three because I just don’t rely on that ear anymore. But it’s down to about 16% word recognition and 70-80 dB in the lower frequencies (still around 100 in the higher ones).

So I am now planning to get evaluated for a second CI sometime in the near future. I will probably wait until after I get my second COVID shot — I had my first one yesterday so that’ll be a few weeks from now.

In other news, I am going to get to try out AB’s new Marvel processor next week. Unfortunately I don’t get to take it home, but my audiologist says I can come in and try it out in exchange for letting her practice programming it. I’m fine with playing guinea pig for a chance to see what the new processor is like! My plan all along has been to see what others think of it (and try it out if I get the chance), and either look into going bilateral or else consider paying out-of-pocket if I think it’s worth the cash. Given my latest hearing test, it’s looking like option 1 will be the winner here, although of course there’s always the chance my insurance won’t approve it. But anyway, I’ll report back after I try the Marvel, which will be next Tuesday.

If I do get approved, I guess I will need to change the name of this blog.