Signia Own Voice Processing (OVP) - Natural Sound Technology

One of the biggest reasons people reject hearing aids is that their own voice sounds strange, hollow, or echoey when wearing them. This is called the occlusion effect, and it has been a persistent challenge in audiology for decades. Signia solved this problem with a groundbreaking technology called Own Voice Processing (OVP).

Why Does Your Voice Sound Different with Hearing Aids?

When you speak, you hear your voice through two pathways: through the air (like everyone else hears you) and through bone conduction inside your skull. Hearing aids amplify the air-conducted component of your voice, changing the balance between these two pathways. Additionally, if the hearing aid blocks your ear canal (occlusion), low-frequency vibrations from your voice get trapped, making it sound boomy or hollow.

Traditional hearing aids treated all incoming sounds the same way, including your own voice. The amplification settings that worked well for hearing other people's speech would make your own voice sound too loud, too bassy, or unnatural.

How Signia OVP Works

Signia's Own Voice Processing is a real-time technology that distinguishes your voice from all other sounds in the environment. Here is the process:

Voice Detection

During the initial fitting session, the hearing aid learns to recognize your unique voice characteristics. Using the binaural link between two hearing aids, the system identifies your voice based on vibration patterns, timing differences, and spectral characteristics that are unique to you.

Independent Processing

Once your voice is identified, OVP processes it through a completely separate signal path from all other sounds. This means your audiologist can set different amplification levels for your own voice versus environmental sounds and other people's speech.

Real-Time Adjustment

The system works in real time with virtually no delay. Whether you are speaking softly in a quiet room or talking loudly in a noisy market, OVP continuously adjusts the processing to keep your voice sounding natural while maintaining optimal amplification for everything else.

Which Signia Models Include OVP?

Own Voice Processing is available in Signia's premium hearing aid models, including select RIC (Receiver-in-Canal) and BTE (Behind-the-Ear) devices. OVP requires binaural fitting (two hearing aids) because the system uses inter-aural communication to detect your voice accurately.

If you are considering a single hearing aid, OVP will not be available, but our audiologists can still optimize your own voice perception through careful programming of gain and compression settings.

OVP vs Traditional Occlusion Solutions

Before OVP, audiologists addressed own-voice complaints through several methods:

• Open fittings: Using open domes that allow natural sound to enter the ear, reducing occlusion but limiting low-frequency amplification
• Venting: Drilling vents in custom ear molds to release trapped low-frequency energy
• Gain reduction: Lowering overall amplification, which solved the own-voice problem but reduced benefit for hearing others
• Acclimatization: Simply asking patients to "get used to it" over time

OVP eliminates the need for these compromises. You get full amplification for environmental sounds while your own voice is processed separately and naturally.

Experience OVP at Our Islamabad Clinic

The best way to understand OVP is to experience it yourself. At our clinic, we offer live demonstrations where you can hear the immediate difference between a hearing aid with OVP and one without. Many patients are amazed at how natural their voice sounds from the very first moment.

Visit us or WhatsApp us at 0333-1911824 to book a demonstration of Signia hearing aids with OVP technology.