I know you can connect to only one device at a time. I’ve not tried pairing them to my iPad for streaming, but they can be paired to the TV transmitter and the phone at the same time. And you can control them from the phone while listening to TV audio. I’ve heard that they can only be connected to one device at a time. Whether they store pairing info for device hopping, though, I am not sure, outside to the TV/Phone application.
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Sounds very encouraging!
I would guess that they store pairing info as much less expensive BT devices do. Just my hunch.
I don’t know how they do it, but I know they don’t use BLE. I’m pretty sure it is their own proprietary setup for the TV, and normal bluetooth for anything else.
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That makes sense. When they paired the aids with the TV device, it utilized the same beep tones as pairing for Bluetooth, so I assumed… But it makes sense that it’s not. Also, I think I got the BLE thing from reading the posts here. Thanks for the correction.
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Here is a link to get all of the available information from Phonak about the KS 9.0
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Nice, thank you. Why would they offer the TV connector but not a multimic? Unfortunate
Nice find. So that user guide does not say aptx. So that’s that. HFP for the phone and A2DP for stereo audio.
Could one use ones phone itself as a remote mic?
Perhaps the thinking is that any bluetooth mic would work? Something proprietary would obviously work better (less energy usage, less conflict with other bluetooth items), but the demand may not be worth it if there is a viable alternative.
The comment below about possibly using your phone as an external mic is an interesting one as well. If the option doesn’t exist currently, I bet it isn’t far off.
Right… is there going to be a lag issue with bluetooth though? As opposed to proprietary accessory connection… that’s my big concern. The few table mics I’ve seen on Amazon etc look like chinese things with middling ratings & typos in the descriptions etc. Also leaving my phone as the mic on a table isn’t as useful as having an external mic on a podium or conference table while still giving me access to my phone
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The TV transmitter would not have any delay.
It would be great if someone had access to a good quality bluetooth mic and could test it out. I’m at least a few weeks out from getting my Sig 9’s. Once I get them I’ll see if anyone I know has a mic. I’m sure the high-quality low-latency mic’s are expensive, but I believe the multimic was pretty expensive as well.
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Hi bob, I am also a musician. I had Rexton Quintra’s and my Costco HIS set a program so I could heard a single steel string fretted note on a guitar as one note. I just got a set of KS 8.0 because my 6 Year old Quintra was becoming intermittent. I am quickly learning that hearing aid manufacturers have a music setting that seems to merely EQ frequency ranges. But I am hearing polyphonic sounds from a single fretted note that should be one tone, not several. Is that what you mean by ‘trilling?’
The reason I ask is I want to ask my Costco HIS if the new KS9 can have a setting that will allow an acoustic guitar to sound pure without multiple tones from single notes. Or what about the Resound Preza HA’s that Costco Sells?
I am mostly enjoying the KS8’s so far. I demo’d the KS9 in the store and there was a high frequency hiss that was pervasive. My Costco HIS said this is a common comment from others so far.
I presume you folks are noting “trilling” when you are in the Music program. Programs optimized for speech recognition, at least for ReSound HA’s, usually have very short attack/relaxation constants for applying compression to sound volume. The rapid application and release of compression can cause trilling. Music programs have much slower attack and relaxation time constants for compression (and also less compression), at least for ReSound.
See Starkey Compression Handbook: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/difficulty-hearing-the-beginnings-of-words-in-soft-speech-what-to-change/40898/3?u=jim_lewis
See table of attack/relaxation time constants (attached image) available for ReSound HA’s and their uses: https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/difficulty-hearing-the-beginnings-of-words-in-soft-speech-what-to-change/40898/8?u=jim_lewis
If you are noting the trilling in the music program, attack/relaxation constant settings probably aren’t the problem but if I listen to music with a program optimized for speech with my Quattro’s, I do notice a “trilling” of notes relative to my Music program and I presume it is because of the relative difference in time constants, as pointed out by ReSound. Perhaps you might want to ask your provider what the time constants are in any music program that you’re using?
The TV transmitter would not have any delay.
Please elaborate.
You asked if there was a workaround for delay when watching TV? The Phonak TV transmitter transmits to the Phonak hearing aids without any perceived latency. All the hearing aid brand TV transmitters that I’ve tried have no delay.
Generic bluetooth transmitters will have a slight delay so the lips and the sound are not in sync.
I have good results with this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014EIRNEO
I am using it to transmit to my SmartConnect that pairs with my Trax42 aids. When the mic is clipped relatively close to the speaker’s mouth, echo is relatively minimal. Echo grows in severity the further away it is from the speaker. It has a directional/omni mode switch but, even so, it probably would not be acceptable as a table mic. Even in best case, there is a bit of lag/echo, but I’ve adapted and no longer hear it. I can hear a single speaker amazingly well with this.
If used with direct transmit to aids, instead of to an intermediate device like SmartConnect, the lag would likely be slightly less.
FWIW!
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I wore the Marvels today. The ‘trilling’ is quite noticeable when I whistle. C above middle C and up really get it going. This is with Autosense 3.0 setting. As I said, I’ve started to notice it with voices and other sounds, even lower than that, it presents as a slight distortion or harshness.
There seems to be no trouble with volume levels or compression rising at the beginning of words. This seems to be more caused by purity of tone and pitch. Essentially, it’s as though the frequency threshold for what the aid might recognize as feedback is set too low.
I’ll see if I can record what is happening.
And as I’ve said, with the manual Music setting we programmed, with the Whistle Stop or whatever Phonak calls it, turned of, there is no trill at all. But the aids are far more prone to feedback.
Thank you. I have significant lag when using my trax through the smart connect, so you may be right about the phonaks not having that issue.
I think the bulk of the lag is from the bluetooth protocol, not the proprietary wireless protocol between SmartConnect and aids. I imagine we would reduce the lag a bit by bypassing the intermediate device, but probably by a very small amount.
If the trilling goes away when the Whistle Stop and nothing else is specifically turned off or changed, it’s hard to argue with Whistle Stop being the cause of the trilling.
OTH, in switching to a music program, lots of things are turned off or changed. For ReSound, there is still feedback control but it’s specifically designed for music. But noise reduction, wind reduction are all turned off, too, as well as the compression being reduced and the time constants for applying and relaxing compression being lengthened.
Also, in my case, for the trilling I do hear, I have ZERO issues with feedback as I wear ~totally occlusive molds. The only time that I hear feedback is if in removing or inserting my molds, I bring the receiver openings near a skin surface or if I put my HA’s into the main bay of my charger case with the HA’s still on - a very shrill, probably-not-good-for-the-receivers loop is set up in the latter instance.
So in my “trilling” situation I think it’s probably the attack/relaxation time constants - I haven’t tried pure tones not altering in loudness at their source. The way short attack/relaxation time constants in a NON-Music program cause trilling, IMHO, is in polyphonic sound where some notes or sounds are of longer duration than others while shorter sound components are more rapidly turning on or off and changing the overall input volume to your HA’s. The input volume changes of shorter duration sounds cause changes in amount of compression applied (amount of output gain or output volume increment) to the continuing part of the sound and the output sound volumes of longer notes/sounds change with the changes in compression applied, causing roughness, vibration, trilling, whatever.