As far as I understand it yes that Phonak only provides phone sound on one side.
It IS the same mono signal. There’s no stereo in a phone call.
I still question the need for both sides though. Which is where I’m probably missing something.
My opinion would be that the biggest knock on ANY other phone connectivity is that you have to use the mic on the phone.
I’m not talking about using intermediate devices like the clip-on mic you mention.
Stereo is definitely better. I use Phonak DuoPhone because it’s better to get it in both ears.
To nitpick…it’s not stereo…it’s duplicated mono.
Streaming from a music player would be stereo because the source is most likely stereo. Even still, often a mono song is duplicated on both sides. All telephone communications are mono source.
But this is what I wonder. How and why is it better? Is it something to do with hearing impairment? If you haven’t always been impaired then you would be well familiar to listening to a phone on one side. How is both better?
Typically, these TV streamers from the HA co.s are quite costly. But if the KS8 has BT low energy, would a simple $30 BT transmitter from e.g. Amazon serve as a TV streamer? Or is there something different about the low energy version that requires an LE matching signal?
NateS: As I understand it…mfi means Apple only (as evidenced by the use of the i as in iphone). It’s a secret sauce that only Apple devices can provide until more open standards become available to all.
Maybe the streamer uses other protocols like FM. Or the streamer has license from Apple to use theirs. I don’t know that detail.
Don’t know. KenP reports good luck with an off the shelf inexpensive streamer with his KS6s. I’m guessing the TV streamer for the KS8 from Costco is about $200.
Does anyone know if there is a Quality difference between the KS-8 and the Resond Fortes not only audio wise but in workmanship .
Thanks
I have significant high frequency (treble/voice/consonants) hearing loss. Lower frequencies are basically OK.
Last year I tried the Kirkland Signature 7 hearing aids. I returned them to Costco because the sound was way too tinny and unnatural. About a month ago I purchased the Phonak Brio 2 hearing aids from Costco. The sound quality is much better than the Kirkland S7 but the Brio 2 has some weird quirks.
One thing is that I frequently can hear the noise of the hearing aid itself adjusting its position behind my ears or against my glasses. The Kirkland S7 didn’t do that. It sounds like the plastic case is loose if that’s possible.
Another weird thing is that it seems like the algorithms in the hearing aids will cause the hearing aids to make frequent and noticeable changes to the functioning microphone levels causing me to have to frequently readjust my focus and concentration to account for the volume changes in my ears. Hopefully that explanation makes some sense.
I was thinking of returning the Brio 2 hearing aids to try the new Phonak Brio 3 hearing aids. Any thoughts?
I was also thinking of returning the Brio 2 hearing aids and trying the GT Resound hearing aids. Any thoughts?
I was also thinking of returning the Brio 2 hearing aids and going back to the Kirkland hearing aids and trying the new Costco Kirkland Signature 8 hearing aids. Any thoughts?
As an aside, I have an Android phone.
Thank you for your assistance.
Your audiogram would be helpful. I would encourage focusing on what helps you understand speech. It’s amazing what you can get used and becomes “natural” sounding. Not a lot of info to go on, but you mention the high frequency loss. The Brio 3 has a very sophisticated system to help make high frequency sounds audible.
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Here is a page from the manual for the ReSound clip-on mikes I presently use with my KS5s. Although I personally have never used them as a TV streamer, this illustration shows that the mikes do have an audio input jack and can be used as a TV or audio streamer (albeit mono not stereo according to the rings on the input plugs in the drawing) when not being used as a clip-on lapel mike.
ReSound Unite Mike Audio Input.pdf (63.4 KB)
My thought/question was that if the KS8s include a Bluetooth receiver (albeit “low energy”) could a simple Bluetooth transmitter, plugged into the audio out port of a TV set, transmiit directly to KS8 hearing aids without the intervention of either an iPhone or an Android phone?
NateS: Short answer off the top of my head…doubt it.
RE: your mic. I wouldn’t be convinced that the input is mono from that image. You could try it yourself. Connect a stereo cable to some kind of output that you can control left and right balance with. At the other end use a stereo 3.5mm jack into the mic. Listen. While moving the balance control left and right, does the sound move from one side to the other in your ears?
Next test: if you know that a particular piece of music has discrete sounds on one side, say early 60’s/early years of stereo where some sounds get slammed out to the extreme sides, see if it is only there in that same side in the HA’s and not in both.
Another thing…find an FCC id on the mic or maybe the manual. I’m not entirely convinced that the mic does bluetooth. But I’m not sure.
This pdf document seems to suggest that the Unite uses a proprietary 2.4 ghz transmission method.
Good sugestion - I’ll try that.
Another thing…find an FCC id on the mic or maybe the manual. I’m not entirely convinced that the mic does bluetooth. But I’m not sure.<
Whoa! I was not suggesting that my old KS5 ReSound Mike had bluetooth. I was drawing an analogy, to-wit: If the KS8 has a Bluetooth receiver and a $30 plug-in from Amazon can intake audio and from a TV transmit it via Bluetooth, shouldn’t the Bluetooth in the KS8s be able to receive it directly in the wearer’s ears, thus making the cell phone unnecessary as an intermediate device? (Granted the phone is a vital device needed to amplify speaking and hearing in a phone conversation, but why wouldn’t TV streaming take place independently of the phone, and without the need for purchasing a $200 TV streamer?
NateS: In the time it took you to write, I had added a link to a document about how the Unite transmits.
Apple licenses a proprietary version of their own variation of bluetooth to hearing aid manufacturers. I hate Apple 
but kudos to them for figuring out a way to transmit using low energy.
Perhaps your idea would work with a made for iphone audio attachment if there is such a thing. I’m looking now for my own curiosity.
What is this '$30 plug-in from Amazon"?
Take your pick:
NateS: So I did a little looking. Maybe I’m not using the right search words or maybe no such thing exists.
Standard bluetooth (not low energy so it sucks power) is only used in the new Phonak Direct. Apple bluetooth is the mfi add-on to bluetooth low energy that Apple made for themselves.
Find a device that can take a stereo input and send it out via mfi bluetooth low energy and maybe just maybe a mfi hearing aid just might pick it up. I don’t know.
Like I said…mfi is secret sauce.
The usual disclaimer…at least that’s how I understand it.
Thank you NateS.
20.
I’d start here:
Thanks NateS. I have started there. Apple made their own proprietary version of bluteooth low energy as an over and above extension to btle that they license out or something for other manufacturers to make made for iphone (mfi) products so that they can connect to Apple products using a lot less power than the standard bluetooth. The standard btle that many other manufacturers may very well have in their devices does not allow voice transmission. That’s what Apple made for their own thing.
Back to your request…find a device that takes audio from a normal audio output and transmits it out via Apple btle mfi. Then maybe mfi hearing aids might be able to pair to it. I doubt it. I would expect that mfi is all about connecting to an Apple device making the Apple product the center of it all…not just using Apple btle mfi as a transport method. That’s not how Apple rolls. They want everyone in their own sandbox as the saying goes. They don’t do open. Which is part of why I hate Apple.
This may be the solution - ignoring the hearing aids as the receiver and go with something like this in lieu of TV streaming:
" My wife and I love this Avantree Bluetooth Transmitter LOW LATENCY Wireless Audio Bluetooth …
I didn’t buy this on Amazon but from Avantree web site. My wife and I love this Avantree Bluetooth Transmitter LOW LATENCY Wireless Audio Bluetooth Adapter along with the Avantree Audition Super Comfortable Bluetooth Over Ear Headphones (sold separately). My wife suffered hearing loss as a child (she is now 73) She has tried many solutions like expensive hearing aids but didn’t help because the type of damage to her inner ear. When we watched TV together, she would need to turn the volume very high and that was too loud for me. Now she can control her volume directly from the headset while I control the main volume (the main volume and headset volume are independent). We tried expensive DVD speaker systems but had little improvement and when the DVD player needed replacing, the propitiatory plugs wouldn’t allow it to be used with another player. (Bluetooth is not propitiatory and will work with most systems straight out of the box). I had a little problem connecting the Bluetooth adapter(Transmitter) but after reading the instructions again I realized I was trying to plug it into the audio input. After locating the audio output on the DVR, it worked fine.I would recommend it to anyone with hearing problems."
See also: http://tinyurl.com/ybe6usux