“We’re empowering people to access the sounds that matter most.”
That’s the message from Laurel Christensen, Chief Audiology Officer at GN, as the company prepares to introduce its latest innovation: the ReSound Enzo IA. The world’s smallest rechargeable Super Power hearing aid officially launches on Thursday, 21 August, in the United States and Germany, before being released globally.
The cutting-edge technology in the Enzo IA stems from GN’s desire to solve some of the most persistent challenges for those with a severe to profound hearing loss.
And Auracast is proudly among four “non-negotiables” the GN team started with when designing the new behind-the-ear hearing aid. The tech could prove transformative for people with severe to profound hearing loss. Based on Bluetooth LE Audio, it supports shared audio experiences in public spaces.
Already available in the ReSound Vivia and Nexia ranges, the technology is coming to a category of hearing aids that have historically struggled with connectivity and compactness.
Laurel’s enthusiasm for Auracast is evident, and she feels that the new shared audio experience is more than just an incremental improvement on the older technology it is replacing.
“This is not like a telecoil. The sound quality is something completely different from what a loop gives,” she says, adding that she believes that Auracast has the potential to be a “game-changer for the whole world, not just people with hearing loss,” benefitting classrooms, airports, and public venues such as theatres and places of worship.
MORE AURAHEAR: Auracast trialled at Bristol Temple Meads railway station
As an example, Laurel said that her team fitted a New York-based composer with hearing aids. He asked GN to install its TV Streamer+ into the Lincoln Center’s AV system so that, by using its Auracast, he could listen to a performance of a symphony he had composed.
The experience was so profound that he was moved to tears.
Laurel says this deeply personal, transformative experience is at the core of why GN is so invested in Auracast.
While universal adoption of the new Bluetooth standard is still some way away, GN is working hard to ensure immediate usability for its customers.
“We put in our app the ability to find all available Auracast streams,” Laurel explains. This easy-to-use feature allows users to bypass their phone’s settings to connect to an available stream. The ease has been praised by users, with the simple press of a button on the app making the process seamless.
Laurel hopes the transition to Auracast comes sooner rather than later, with the predictions for the number of Auracast-enabled products by the end of the decade being “astronomical”, but she echoes the sentiment of many users by stating, “2030 can’t come fast enough for me”.
How technology is transforming hearing aids
The advances in technology have been transforming hearing aids. Earlier this year, ReSound launched its Vivia range, which incorporates advanced AI functions to make speech clearer for users.
Laurel feels that the developments over the past few years are exciting, and there is more on the horizon.
“I think we are very close to being able to solve most of the problems people face,” she says. “Between the connectivity and the directional microphones, technologies like AI, which is in its infancy, we are jumping forward.
“Five or six years ago, hearing aid researchers would be wondering what would be next. AI was known about, but there wasn’t a chip that could handle it, and there was no way the power consumption of a hearing aid could cope with it.
“But we had a big breakthrough, and there has been a leap forward, a lot faster than we thought would happen, thanks to power management, new chips and new developments in AI, all on low power. It’s been quite something to watch all these new products come out.”
This can be seen in the core engineering and design of the Enzo IA, which means it is a device full of firsts, including being the world’s smallest rechargeable Super Power hearing aid. It provides up to 28 hours of use on a single charge, something reduced if audio streaming is used.
This combination of small size and all-day battery life addresses two major concerns for users, and GN wants to reassure people that there is enough juice in the device so that people can go about their daily activities without worrying about whether they will still be able to hear by the time they go to bed.
Laurel admits that developing a rechargeable Super Power hearing aid has been a significant challenge, especially since the battery needed meant the size of the device needs to be bigger. But here, it’s the opposite. GN’s engineers reduced the size from the previous Enzo Q model while still integrating the rechargeable battery and delivering exceptional performance.
This was made possible by adhering to those non-negotiable principles during development.
GN refuses to compromise when designing the Enzo IA
The company refused to compromise on four key areas: in addition to Auracast connectivity and an all-day battery life, GN wanted to ensure the Enzo IA has superior hearing in noise meaning people can hear better in noisy environments, while maintaining gain without ending up with massive feedback – the high pitched whining noise that is unpleasant for everyone to hear, let alone the hearing aid user.
Some Super Power hearing aid users’ feedback (the noise caused when a hearing aid’s microphones pick up output from their speakers) is so loud it can be heard from one end of a house to the other, such is the ferocity coming out of the tiny hearing instruments.
GN has its own solutions to this problem, including a specialised 360 chip that processes environmental sounds in real-time, using machine-learning artificial intelligence, allowing the device to classify and adapt to different acoustic environments for the best all-round listening experience. It also has advanced noise management and what GN says is the world’s best feedback management system, providing the most added stable gain.
“You have to manage the power (in the aid) so that you have in the best way possible,” Laurel explains, saying the Enzo IA’s success is a testament to the meticulous power management on the device’s chip. This ensures that the Enzo IA can deliver all its features without sacrificing battery life, a concern that Laurel acknowledged can cause anxiety for users.
With the feedback, Laurel explained that most hearing aids limit the gain at the point where feedback would occur, effectively turning down the volume to prevent whistling. GN’s system is different.
“We are the only ones that do true feedback cancellation without reducing the gain of the hearing aid,” she said. “We add massive amounts of gain before feedback, up to 26dB more gain than with that system turned on.”
This results in a clear, uncompromised listening experience where the user can hear better overall. Even when extraneous feedback occurs, such as from touching the hearing aid, the system will “squash that feedback just in milliseconds”.
This is one of the company’s “claims to fame,” with Laurel noting that they can measurably prove their system provides more gain than any other manufacturer in the industry.
We have experience of this, thanks to the ReSound Vivia hearing aids we are currently wearing. Our review will be available very soon.
Super Power ReSound Enzo IA in noisy environments
How does the Enzo IA make things easier for Super Power users in noisy environments? Normally, this is the Kryptonite to those with hearing loss: with so many conversations going on, so many background activities such as music, traffic, and general hubbub, keeping up with what the person in front of you is saying can be a Herculean task.
But GN says the ReSound Enzo IA utilises its Intelligence Augmented (IA) system – hence the name. This uses artificial intelligence to “augment what that human already does”.
The 360 chip processes sound as it happens, allowing the hearing aid to classify and adapt to different acoustic environments. This reduces the cognitive effort required for a person with severe to profound hearing loss to navigate complex listening situations.
In particularly loud environments, the ReSound Enzo IA employs a feature called Clear Focus. The press release describes this as the “hearing industry’s most narrow beamformer,” which “spotlights speech in front and eliminates distractions”.
Laurel elaborated on this technology, explaining that it uses a four-microphone beamformer to create a narrow beam, taking noise out around the person while leaving the sound within the beam intact and, in the process, doesn’t cut the wearer off from the world around them.
“What’s in the beam is what you’re hearing,” Laurel explains.
“You take out the noise around the person for the absolute best hearing experience. There isn’t any user out there who wants to be cut off from everything else around them. Meanwhile, you still want to hear people coming up behind you, and you still want to know what’s happening in your environment.
“The way that we do this is unique. We allow people to hear what’s around them and, spotlighted by the beam, the speech in front of them from the person they are looking at. The Enzo IA really takes that to another level, because it has this all-around sound.
“It’s amazing, and it really helps reduce the anxiety about whether you would be able to hear everything around you. It’s a very different way to listen.”
Helen Cherry was able to test the ReSound Enzo IA ahead of its launch and can back up Laurel’s experiences.
“These life-changing hearing aids have transformed my world; without them, I wouldn’t hear anything,” she says. “Seemingly small technological advancements represent significant improvements that greatly enhance the daily lives of those of us with severe to profound hearing loss. ReSound Enzo IA has enriched my entire auditory experience in ways I never thought possible.”
Why GN is an early adopter of new technologies
Laurel has been with GN for 23 years and says it has always been a company that identifies the technologies that can be truly life-changing and is very much an early adopter. Previous examples include being the first to get behind the Made for iPhone standard. The focus is on developing technology for the benefit of the end user, not just for the sake of development.
For this, she praises the people she works with, the “absolutely, incredibly talented engineers”.
“We always look at what the next thing will be that will benefit the end user,” Laurel says of GN’s desire to innovate for the sake of its customers.
“We don’t develop technology for the sake of it. We look at what it means to the user. It’s certainly why I am in the industry: I am passionate about helping people. GN’s team of amazing engineers who do this work every day, and it is a joy to work with them all.”
This month, the joy will include celebrating the appearance of the Enzo IA.
Laurel says: “We love to launch new hearing aids, because we have never brought a hearing aid to the market that didn’t have a new benefit, something that people with hearing loss would benefit from.
“That’s what we live for.”
When will the ReSound Enzo IA be available?
The ReSound Enzo IA and its Beltone equivalent, the Beltone Boost Max S, will launch initially in the US and Germany on August 21.
For users in other markets, like the UK, the wait will not be long.
Laurel says the rollout is dependent on government regulations and homologation requirements for each country. “It won’t be that long afterwards,” she assured, with the launch proceeding “as soon as we can, for sure”.
The Enzo IA is more than just a new piece of hardware; it’s a culmination of decades of research and a philosophy centred on empowering users.
By combining the world’s smallest rechargeable Super Power hearing aid with brilliant connectivity and innovative sound processing, GN has created a device that improves the way Super Power hearing aid users hear, while reducing anxiety for people with severe to profound hearing loss.
It is a powerful reminder that while technology advances rapidly, the most impactful innovations are those that prioritise the human experience.
Peter Justesen, President of GN’s Hearing division, adds: “We have engaged deeply with people facing severe to profound hearing loss to understand what truly makes a difference for them.
“With ReSound Enzo IA you can have it all – we’re enabling people to participate confidently in conversations and stay connected with loved ones, without having to accept compromises in terms of size or battery life.”
A life without compromise. Isn’t that what every person with a hearing impairment wants? Maybe with the Enzo IA, that doesn’t need to be a dream, but a reality.
For more details, visit www.resound.com or https://www.beltone.com/en-gb/
