If you are the only person listing to the TV, you can buy a $24 Roku device. It plugs into your TV HDMI port. Then download the app on your phone.
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I can say definitively that my Phonak P90 CROSS connects via Bluetooth to my TCL 55ā 2024 and there is a setting to have speakers and hearing aids connected at the same time, plus you can use the TV remote to change the volume separately for each audio output. No Sync issues with sound.
Sound quality is so good I can often turn off subtitles!
Same HAs connected to my old HiSense 40ā but without the dual audio out feature.
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Yes- connecting your HAs is a major exercise. As others here say, most TVs now have Bluetooth, but for negligible lag, better range and less HA power consumption you really want that Phonak streamer. To overcome some of the other problems you mentioned, mine is fed by a Bluetooth receiver that gets its sound after passage through a volume knob that sits next to my chair (far more convenient than those buttons on said streamer). I just turn the volume down after use, in case others at home watch TV without me. When we all watch TV, others get sound from an amplifier, fed by the same Bluetooth transmission system.
To complicate things furtherā¦ my wife uses Bose (shoulder) speakers, picking up a second Bluetooth signal from that same (dual) transmitter. That transmitter is fed, via a DA converter, by the optical output of our TV. That TV output cannot be muted, but the DA converter comes with a remote that does allow muting. The commands of this remote can be integrated in the Harmony universal remote.
I know, I know, complicatedā¦ thankfully the chinese audio toys that perform all this magic are very, very cheap.
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The Roku device also allows you to adjust for delays so that you can sync the sound with the lips
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Either or both you and your wife are audio or electronic engineers. GREAT information. thank you very much.
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Steph, this is exactly the information I was seeking and for which I was hoping. I was leaning towards Phonak but I needed a model name. Now, the big question is whether they are rechargeable or battery. I do NOT want rechargeable anything!
Thank you,
Arthur
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My Signia hearing aids use an optically connected box to the TV. Then the stream is controlled on my iphone through the app or the IPhone Accessabilty settings. I can turn the streaming on or off and adjust volume. The rest of the family listens to the TV normally. The boxes run $2-300, which is pretty steep. For a couple years they were unavailable as the factory in Mexico burned down, as I was told. Iām changing to new Oticon hearing aids so going to have to get a new Oticon box, also, but insurance will pay 80% thankfully.
If you have the lastest bluetooth (LE) in your hearing aids you can purchase a LE dongle if you tv has a usb slot for sound then you can connect directly until tvs start to come out with LE installed. Otherwise most all hearing aids will need a connector, dongle or a communication unit from the manufacturer that connects to your TV. It seems the HA manufacturers are ahead of the rest of technology for adding the LE ability
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Dr Palmer,
Thank you! Very helpful although not what I wanted to read. My ācaseā is complicated by my insistence on battery HAs. I loath rechargeable anything. My experience has not been good and the idea that I would need to charge my HAs daily (also meaning I need to take a charger with me if I travel) is for me a huge negative factor.
Steph, I understand some want battery operated but most now like the rechargeable. To me is it take a charger (preferably with battery back up or carry batteries in everything car house work suitcase (in my golf bag). I do travel and donāt mind taking the charger. But Starkey does offer you either option. Because you are not alone in wanting batteries. Personally I look at them just like my phone need to charge it daily as well. JMHO
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I have Paradise P90/Cross with rechargeable batteries, and I have a power pack for recharging my aids when away from home if needed.
The Paradise model I think has removable battery options but it has been superseded. I have trialed the newer Infinio/Cross and didnāt find much performance difference (sphere tech not available for cross) and not sure if there is a replaceable battery option.
I donāt have any trouble managing BT connection to the TV. I turn off BT on my phone and connect the TV and all done.
BTW My sister has Signa aids which she connects directly to her PAL TV but then only she can hear.
At the end of the day I think it is the TV capability which is the game changer.
Nice solution @Steph for those with the right tv. I tried it with buds but obviously it would work for anyone with Phonak aids. Theyāve managed the latency difference between the outputs well enough so itās not noticeable.
Phonak Marvels, Lumity and Spheres all connect to my Alexa Fire TV cube with no issue as a Bluetooth headphone. The only issue is when the fire tv detects my Bluetooth in the morning when I take them out of the charger and they turn on or when I get home and it detects my HA Bluetooth it automatically turns on the TV and transmits the audio to the HA and that is very annoying.
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Thank you for commenting.
Are you referring to Apple MFi hearing aids when you use the term āLEā?
Thanks again.
Best, Bob.
PS: TV audio output has historically been somewhat challenging, but you might appreciate the video post above by Brian, regarding ROKUās approach to it. BH.
No not referring to apple MFI. LE is the name of the latest bluetooth.
BT LE has been around for years. Itās Bluetooth Low Energy.
The latest and greates is Bluetooth Low Energy(?) AUDIO - also known as LEA or BT LEA, etc.t around here. LEA supports Auracast and the interoperability that allows Brand A TVs to connect to Brand M HAs through Brand Xās BT dongle.
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I have Phonak P90 with batteries size 13.
They are connected by bluetooth to one android phone, one iphone, two computers and my inexpensive TCL 55P615 TV. The TV has a setting to adjust the sync and sound is not cut from the loudspeakers when Iām connected.
Batteries last for 10 days.
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In the future, we might see TVs with built-in Bluetooth Auracast broadcasting, eliminating the need for external streamers or specialized hearing aid accessories.
Bluetooth Auracast is a new broadcast audio feature introduced with Bluetooth LE Audio. It allows a single device, like a TV, to broadcast audio to multiple receivers, such as hearing aids, earbuds, or headphones, all at the same timeāwithout the need for pairing, like the good old radio broadcast.