11 Facts Clinicians Should Know About SONNET 3 & MAESTRO 11

SONNET 3 and MAESTRO 11 are here, and the new innovations that come along with them reflect MED-EL’s guiding philosophy: cochlear implants should adapt to your patients—no matter the size of their cochlea or their everyday hearing needs.

The introduction of SONNET 3 and MAESTRO 11 to the market will help you provide each of your patients a closest to natural hearing experience that is seamlessly integrated into their everyday lives. So without further ado, here are eleven fast facts you need to know to get started with SONNET 3 and MAESTRO 11 at your clinic.

1. SONNET 3’s Flexible Earhook Provides Extra Security & Wearing Comfort

You and your patients can shape SONNET 3’s new, optional ergonomic earhook to maximize wearing comfort and ensure a more secure fit on each of your patient’s ears. That’s great news for your patients who enjoy being physically active, have had audio processor retention issues, or have experienced some discomfort.

2. SONNET 3 Features Integrated Direct Streaming

SONNET 3 users can enjoy direct streaming without the need for any additional devices. Android and iPhone users can stream sound via Bluetooth® Low Energy from their phones straight to their SONNET 3. Sound can be streamed from compatible Android and Apple devices, smart TVs, and digital media players straight to SONNET 3.

You can use MAESTRO 11 to customize SONNET 3’s streaming settings to suit each patient’s unique hearing needs and preferences. For example, you can provide map-dependent settings and adjust the mix or proportion of ambient sound input from the microphone during phone calls as well as when there is a direct audio input signal or other streaming input.

3. SONNET 3 Has a Convenient Touch Key

Based on your patients’ needs and preferences, you can use MAESTRO 11 to customize SONNET 3’s touch key to activate and deactivate standby mode, switch programs, or be disabled entirely.

The convenient touch key will save users time since they will no longer need to use a FineTuner Echo remote control or the AudioKey 3 remote control app on their smartphone. The touch key can also be disabled entirely for younger children who may unintentionally tap it or play with it.

4. SONNET 3 Is Waterproof

Our most waterproof BTE audio processor, SONNET 3 has an IP68 rating and can survive rain, sweat, spills, or even brief immersion in water without an accessory. There are, however, a few important caveats to keep in mind. WaterWear for SONNET 3 is still recommended for use when swimming and showering, and SONNET 3 EAS has an IP54 rating, meaning it is water resistant, not waterproof.

5. SONNET 3 Is Smaller & Lighter

SONNET 3 is compact to provide users with maximum everyday wearing comfort. In fact, it is 2.0 grams lighter and more than 18% shorter than SONNET 2 with AudioStream. The SONNET 3 with two zinc air batteries weighs only 9.5 g, making it lighter than Cochlear’s Nucleus 8 Sound Processor with two zinc air batteries.Cochlear Limited. (2022). Cochlear™ Nucleus® 8 Sound Processor [Technical Specifications]. https://assets.cochlear.com/api/public/content/FUN4812-Nucleus-8-Tech-Specs-Sheet.pdf[1]MED-EL. (2024).SONNET 3 Audio Processor Technical Data. https://www.medel.pro/products/sonnet3#Technical[2]

6. SONNET 3 Is Perfect for Pediatric Patients

SONNET 3’s small, compact design and enhanced safety features make it the perfect audio processor for young pediatric patients.

• Parents and guardians can use AudioKey 3* on their smartphone to monitor their child’s hearing. MED-EL can provide extra peace of mind with guardian roles.
• The audio processor and coil are fully lockable, so batteries are stowed away safely from children.
• The link-check indicator light allows clinicians and parents to quickly see if a child’s audio processor is properly attached to the coil.
• With SONNET 3 BabyWear or SONNET ActiveWear, SONNET 3 can easily be secured to a child’s clothing for extra peace of mind.
• SONNET 3 can be made even lighter and smaller for a child’s little ears with the Rechargeable Battery Micro.

7. SONNET 3 Provides Closest to Natural Hearing

When combined with MED-EL’s long, flexible electrode arrays, ASM 3.0, and FineHearing sound coding, SONNET 3 provides superior sound quality that no other cochlear implant manufacturer can match.

Only MED-EL cochlear implants use sound coding that mimics the natural time coding for low frequencies, providing users place-pitch matching throughout the cochlea. By mimicking natural sound coding, FineHearing provides more natural sound quality.

Even in challenging listening environments, SONNET 3 users can experience exceptional hearing performance. Thanks to Automatic Sound Management 3.0, SONNET 3 seamlessly adapts to any listening environment, providing your patients optimal hearing and hands-free control. ASM 3.0 enables a clearer, more comfortable hearing experience, even in busy offices or noisy restaurants.

8. SONNET 3 Fits With Any Hearing Aid

MED-EL cochlear implants are designed to provide a closer to natural match with any hearing aid. There are three main components that should match between the cochlear implant system and a hearing aid: pitch perception, loudness growth, and timing. By optimizing these three elements, SONNET 3 offers an ideal solution for bimodal listening with any hearing aid.

With Bimodal Synchronization in MAESTRO 11, you can easily match the processing delay timing between SONNET 3 and nearly any hearing aid—without needing to refit the hearing aid. This more natural timing match can help support better sound localization with SONNET 3 and a hearing aid.[3][4]

9. SONNET 3 Is Ready for Remote Care & Fitting With MAESTRO 11

With MAESTRO 11, you can adjust and send audio processor fitting maps to SONNET 3 and HearCare MED-EL app users—no matter where they are and at any time that’s convenient for you. Head over to our MAESTRO 11 website for more on providing care remotely to your patients with MED-EL cochlear implants.

10. MAESTRO 11 Allows You to Request Data via the HearCare MED-EL App

With MAESTRO 11, you can now request data from your patients who have met the prerequisites for Remote Care. After you request data, the patient or their caregiver will receive a push notification from the HearCare app. This may be useful, for example, when a patient requests care but has not done an implant check, processor check, or configuration backup for a significant amount of time. In this case, you can simply request data from this patient for each audio processor and track the status of each of your requests in MAESTRO 11. You can find more details on the MAESTRO 11 webpage.

11. MAESTRO 11 Has a New Look—But a Familiar Feel

Programming SONNET 3 and SONNET 3 EAS audio processors in MAESTRO 11 is similar to programming our SONNET 2 audio processors with previous versions of MAESTRO. We did this to make it easy for you to upgrade existing patients to the newest hardware. We also hope this will save you time since minimal effort will be needed to learn how to use the new version of MAESTRO. Last but not least, we gave MAESTRO 11’s user interface a slight facelift to enhance the way it looks while you provide care to your patients.

Introduce SONNET 3 to Your Patients

If your patient is a cochlear implant candidate or has a MED-EL cochlear implant and is eligible for an audio processor upgrade, we’ve created the video above to introduce them to SONNET 3. Alternatively, they can check out our SONNET 3 page for candidates and recipients. Feel free to save this link and share the video above with them. Please contact your local MED-EL representative to find out when SONNET 3 and MAESTRO 11 will be available in your market and get SONNET 3 materials for your clinic.

More Details on SONNET 3 & MAESTRO 11

SONNET 3 for Professionals

MAESTRO 11 for Professionals

SONNET 3 for Cochlear Implant Candidates and Recipients