The Med-El Opus2

I finally got around to taking some photos of my cochlear implant and accessories.  It came with a lovely briefcase in the color I had chosen (reddish).  The Opus2 consists of, from top to bottom, the ear hook, the processor which attaches to the wire going to the magnet coil head piece, and to the power pack.  The power packs hold the batteries and can be exchanged to hold either rechargeable or disposable batteries.  Then there is the cover that slips over the power pack and batteries.  This cover can be just plastic, or can contain a 3-prong direct connect plug at the bottom.

Here’s a link to the photo album if you can’t see the slideshow: Med-El Duet2 on Flickr

I love that I don’t have to be stuck with one type of battery or another. The rechargeables are great but only last about 10 hours.  If I ever get out camping or sailing or somewhere away from a normal outlet then I’ll be happy to be able to use disposable batteries during that time.  I’m told that 3 disposable batteries last about 3 days.

I also use the direct connect cable a LOT.  I’ve just finished reading and listening to The Count of Monte Cristo and highly recommend the original version even though it’s really long.  Leaving the cover with the direct connect plug on it makes the processor longer and heavier behind my hear, but I don’t notice it much and it’s nice to be able to plug in to my iPhone whenever I want to without switching the parts.

Lastly, I think it’s funny that they made such a big deal out of choosing the color I wanted and then gave me all six colors as covers.  You can see that one I’m wearing has a bit of black in the middle of it.  This is the rechargeable power pack being black and the processor and cover being red.  I think it’s cool.

5 responses to “The Med-El Opus2”

  1. Amy

    Robert, why would you end that comment with “good luck?” What a weird, awful, evil post. You should be ashamed of yourself. You are a testament to how bad humans can actually be. I am embarrassed just reading it.

    My boys both have Opuses, and are very happy with them! We have one blue and two Sienna brown. Then my older son has one older device, just in the old gray color which was the only available color at the time. But we use the interchangeable coil covers and battery pack covers to spice it up, now! We’ve never used the direct cable… yet. But it’s good to know that it works well for you!

  2. Steve

    Nice piece of hardware! A SmartCar (or maybe Prius) compared to the Hummer-like Advanced Bionics. My AB rechargeables seem to go for a little over 2 days or about 36 hours … but they are BIG.

    About the disposables: what size are these? Are they standard 675 cells or are they a less common or proprietary size?

    Steve’s last blog post: Red Letter Day

    1. Sara

      The disposables are standard 675… Came with 2 packs and I haven’t needed to get any more yet.

  3. Nabeel

    I like the graphics.

    Nabeel’s last blog post: The Good, Bad, and Ugly – Week 1

  4. Kelly

    Wow, that’s one fancy briefcase! ;-)

    Kelly’s last blog post: Europe 2008 Day 6: Paris and Pontorson

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Welcome

Photo of Sara Looking out a Window

I'm a 30-something year old girl originally from upstate NY and now living in central Virginia. My background is in mechanical engineering and I worked full time as an engineer for 8 years. In 2010 I quit my job and started a laser engraving business.

I lost my hearing at age 14 and have been using hearing aids since then. In April 2009 I received my first cochlear implant. That went really well so in December 2009 I got the second. The CIs are what prompted me to start writing publicly - but I try to cover other things as well.

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