Yes, I was told the same as what you heard. My source was the rep from the Whisper concierge service. I suspect that Jay’s audiology practice is routinely enrolling their patients in Brain Trust unless they opt out. But he’s in the best position to clarify that.
This is a serious question: how could it be ethical to withhold a hardware improvement of a medical device from a class of customers who are actually paying more for the device (having subscribed at full price) than the preferred class receiving the upgrade, and who are paying less ? Something about that proposition seems off to me.
[Next time you’re down, and desperately need a laugh, pretend you’re Don Corleone trying to explain “DaBrainTrust” to Tony Soprano! (out loud, of course) 
]
Give it a rest.
They’re the earliest adopters. They’re kickstarting the company’s revenue. They’re using the product when it is at its rawest. Later customers get more use out of whatever new features are released and they’re taking less of a risk because of the testing and evaluation of those who were in from the beginning. The Brains Trust are expected to provide beta testing and feedback to Whisper (ie they do a bit of work for their discount) and when new hardware is developed their long experience with gen 1 puts them in an ideal position to test gen 2, hence they get new hardware.
I think that covers it.
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@d_Wooluf: [Edit: to tone down the discussion.] It’s still a legitimate question, because now, you’ve cast the Brain Trusters as a class of “test pilot” employee.
They’re not withholding anything, Jim. Subscribers are paying for the initial set of equipment, audiologist’s services at a minimum of 4 times per year, software upgrades 4 times per year, and coverage for loss, damage, and repairs. The subscription is similar to a cell phone subscription, which covers services and software upgrades but no hardware.
Here’s a quote from the Don Schum article in Canadian Audiologist, which I linked earlier in this thread:
“When we decide what to include in upgrades, we take input from a variety of sources. Two significant sources of inspiration are the audiologists who are currently fitting the Whisper Hearing System and, of course, the end-users. This allows us to not focus our efforts just on what we would like to improve but also on what professionals and patients have suggested.”
Think about that. Whisper has adopted a bottom up field approach to their R&D in which a major source for new ideas is end-users. When the company develops updates in their hardware, the input from those end-users is useless to them unless they get that hardware into the hands of those same end-users for critical review and feedback regarding his it works in actual use.
The end-users who participate in Brain Trust make a significant time commitment to the task of providing feedback. Here’s an except from the introductory e-mail I received from the Brain Trust coordinator:
“The Whisper Brain Trust is made up of a select group of Whisper wearers whose perspective and feedback will directly influence how we upgrade the system. As a member of the Brain Trust, you will receive exclusive invites to share your thoughts through e-mail surveys, 1-on-1 research interviews, and focus groups.”
I was then asked to sign up for a one hour, 1-on-1 interview to tell them what I like about the system as a new user and what I think can be improved.
Is any other hearing aid company doing this with actual owners/subscribers? I’m sure they do their studies and lab research, but this is different. It’s innovative.
Whisper, like any other company, is responsible for living up to the terms of their contract, which is the agreement between a company and a customer. If the terms of the contract don’t include hardware replacements, then they’re not withholding anything from those customers because that wasn’t the deal.
I have owned a pair of Oticon Opn 1’s for more than 5 years. During that time, Oticon has upgraded its system twice. Not once have they offered to replace the hearing aids I bought with new, more advanced equipment. Instead, they are withholding it from me unless I make a new purchase.
The Whisper subscription is for 3 years with specific terms and conditions. If a customer signs up for a new 3 year subscription when the old one expires, that customer receives a new set of equipment with all of the latest improvements.
I should note that in order to participate in the Brain Trust program, it is necessary to be the patient of a participating audiologist who also makes the commitment to provide regular feedback. Whisper sees the audiologist as integral to a patient’s program of treatment and improvement. So, hardware isn’t just dispensed randomly but as part of an assessment of doctor/patient collaboration.
Here is an interview with Whisper co-founder Dwight Crow, in which he articulates the company’s philosophy:
https://vator.tv/news/2021-02-22-interview-with-dwight-crow-co-founder-and-ceo-of-whisperai
Thanks for distracting me from other worries while I’m unable to sleep in the middle of the night. 
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Let’s think about this for a minute.
Whisper began as a company in 2017 and the thinking and planning by its co-founders that went into the development of the concept began before 2017, when they formally incorporated.
The Oticon VP, Jim Kothke, although an audiologist, was/is Sales Director, not a designer of hearing aids. He joined Whisper in 2019.
Andreas Bertelsen whose field IS audio tech didn’t join the company from Oticon until 2020, the same year that the Whisper system went on the market.
Don Schum, Head of Audiology, came over from Oticon in March of this year, 5 months after the product was already on the market.
Here’s the story of how the company got started:
https://medium.com/sequoia-capital/whisper-reimagining-hearing-ccade273246
Okay, Bill. Sorry you couldn’t sleep … 
. Thank you for the great explanation. The point I quoted from the several you made satisfies my question about the “class distinction”. Your rebuttal makes total sense, but another question emerges …
… I’m not even going to articulate it, because I’ve come to know you well enough to trust your integrity.
I think Whisper’s approach is such a radical departure from the existing HA marketing model that it has me on my back foot.
Another factor that I find interferes with my objectivity in evaluating this unfolding story is that I will never be able to opt in because of my (literal) dependence on VAC for my HAs, coupled with Whisper’s unavailability in Canada.
I don’t like to think that I’m susceptible to the “Sour Grapes Syndrome”, but it’s difficult to evaluate oneself on this parameter.
One thing that I’m really balking at is the degree to which the Whisper model increases my dependency on them just to keep my engines up and running … haven’t digested that one yet.
Have you got any further anecdotes about performance for us? How your Whispers get on in the doctor’s office?
[PS.: I did do all my reading - They sure do beat the processor capacity drum hard don’t they?]
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If your More 1’s did the same thing, you might have noticed while going about your life. My kitchen has a background noise much of the time, from a hot-cold bottled water dispenser as well as the refrigerator. Whisper pauses the noise if I tap a fork and knife together to make a tuning fork sound. Of course, not seeing this particular effect doesn’t prove that the More 1’s aren’t doing anything with sounds vs. noise. I haven’t noticed Whisper reducing background noise to emphasize speech, but it is doing something to make speech easier to hear.
@x475aws: I tried the tuning fork test while the microwave was running - no attenuation. I’m listening to the ready beep sound: the beep is clear and distinct, however, I can’t perceive any change in the other sounds.
I find it hard to make good contributions in this regard, since I’m very happy with how my devices perform, so I just tend to put the in in the morning and forget about them. I suspect they aren’t doing anything too drastic in the brief interval it takes for a beeper to sound, or I make a metal bowl resonate.
Your points are all valid, Jim. I don’t know will be able to or will want to sign on for a 2nd subscription after my subscription at the current rates expire. I’m hoping that the Whispers get me through to the next generation of technology when I will hopefully see a bigger difference than I did when I trialed the Mores.
What I found interesting about Whisper is that a group of guys got together and asked themselves if they could approach this challenge. Love it or hate it, they’ve imagined a different way of doing it. For any industry, I think that’s always a good thing. I’m hoping that other companies look at this and feel challenged to see if they too can build a better mouse trap. That would be good for all of us.
I’ve learned from you that there’s no hearing aid that’s best for everyone. I repeat that to myself often. So, Whisper is just another option. Having more choices is a good thing.
Could you elaborate on your question about how my Whispers get on in the doctor’s office?
@billgem: Certainly: the dentist’s office is one of my biggest challenges. It seems quiet, but there are always many other sounds competing with voices that are made indistinct by masks and plexiglas screens. My More1s do a pretty good job separating everything, however, I wouldn’t give them 5 stars in this setting. Maybe I’d give 3.5 stars.
So, I was just loki g for your opinions of Whisper performance in a similar setting.
I agree, Jay. I’m thinking that what it’s doing is using AI to better recognize speech as distinct from non-speech noise. The “Beyond Speech . . .” white paper, which I linked above, explains how they rely on recognition of speech patterns rather than frequencies to separate speech from noise.
I think that what is “new” here is that like the first hearing aids, certain types of sound processing are being relegated to an external unit which is not subject to the space and power restrictions associated with a behind-the-ear device. In other words, the Whisper folks are able to apply more processing power to sound analysis than even high-end hearing aids can do. Of course, over time, I imagine that the “brain” will get smaller and eventually be able to be incorporated into the hearing aids themselves, but having more physical space could be a durable advantage.
I agree that it isn’t clear why the software / firmware upgrades make such a difference with the Whispers as compared to traditional hearing aids. What interests me is whether the external “brain” can be upgraded, because I imagine that over the 3-year cycle, it could incorporate more powerful processors (since cellphones generally get upgraded CPUs every year).
As @Volusiano and other posters know, I’m particularly interested in the observation that “Whisper really shines in challenging listening situations.” I’m trying a pair of Oticon More 1s now, and while they do seem to be an improvement over the OPN 1s, it’s not a radical improvement. I was also surprised yesterday, while walking on a trail with a friend beside me, to notice that I could hear her significantly more clearly when I turned my head toward her – it was as if the famous open soundscape paradigm was prioritizing sound/voice in front of me, rather than next to me. Now you’re probably thinking that my hearing aids might have been on a program with directional pickup or beamforming, but they weren’t.
I also think that the Whisper monthly subscription model is potentially an advantage: you’re still paying about $4,500 over 3 years, but at least it’s not all at once. Also, the $4,500 is apparently a bundled price in that includes adjustments, etc.
It is unfortunately that the Whisper hearing aids don’t use rechargeable batteries. That’s just stupid.
There wasn’t much discussion of terms and conditions when I got my trial Whisper set. I verified that the monthly price, if I opted to keep them after the trial, would be $99 or so. Bill had told me he’d be eligible for updated hardware during the initial 3-year discounted contract, so I asked about that. The fitter (an intern, whom I opted for since there would’ve been a longer wait for one of the audiologists) replied that all Whisper customers, not just the early adopters, will be eligible for updated hardware during their contract.
At this point I’m just a trial Whisper user, not a Brain Trust customer.
My audiologist is a one man practice, so it’s very quiet there. It’s actually fascinating to go to appointments. His name is Dr. Natan Bauman and he was trained as an electrical engineer before he pursued a doctorate in audiology at Columbia University. At one point he was head of the clinic at Yale. He invented the RIC hearing aid that most of us wear. He is caring and extremely thorough as a clinician. He has decades of experience and follows best practices in the fitting meticulously… I feel fortunate to be working with him.
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I agree. The ear pieces require more battery power than a normal hearing aid because of the continuous communication with the brain. Hence, size 675 batteries.
The battery in the brain, which has no size restrictions, is rechargeable, so, I expect that they see the advantage of rechargeable batteries. Help me out here. Why would they not use rechargeable batteries in the ear pieces? Is it due to the restrictions of the size of the ear pieces combined with the power demands of this system?
Apparently. I can’t think of another reason. I thought LiOn batteries delivered more power for the same weight than the usual zinc oxide batteries …
The possibility of hardware upgrades over the 3-year period is a big deal.
You’re lucky to have such a qualified audiologist.
I just asked my audiologist about Whisper, and he replied, “Looks like an “off-brand” product. I would not advise it.”
Yes, it’s clearly an off-brand product, and that could be a good thing, as long as they don’t go bankrupt.
If they stop working because they go bankrupt, it isn’t like your dropped $5k and have nothing.
In my audiologists’ Whisper webinar, someone asked about rechargeable earpieces. Dr. Schum answered that they hadn’t yet been able to source a suitable battery, but now had a good candidate.
Zinc-air batteries are the champion for energy density by weight and by volume. Our good old disposable hearing aid batteries really are little wonders. See the chart here:
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