Costco KS7 user experience

I picked up a pair of KS7s and the Smart Connect two days ago.

  1. I hear higher-frequency sounds than I did with the Rexton Insite+, e.g., from clattering dishes and silverware, running water, coughs and sneezes, the coffee grinder, the hisses and gurgles of the coffee pot. But the sound of the censer bells at church yesterday seemed distorted and unpleasant even though not excessively loud.

  2. The pastor’s voice during the homily seemed quieter than before, but I doubt whether he was speaking more quietly than usual.

  3. The Tek transmitter that came with the Blu RCU remote works OK via the Smart Connect, but I had to set its sound level on max and raise the volume on the aids. The generic Bluetooth transmitter doesn’t produce loud enough sound, even with the aids’ volume at max. I’ve ordered an S/PDIF to analog converter with an amplifier – the only place to plug the Bluetooth transmitter into the bedroom TV directly is the earphone jack, which then mutes the speakers so that my wife is unable to hear.

  4. I don’t get feedback in situations that I did with the Insite+ aids.

  5. The XPhone mode seems to work OK with our cordless home phones but not with the cell phone: I can’t find a suitable position in which to hold the phone – with the stick-on magnets in both cases… I haven’t had a chance to try out the Noise/Party, Outdoor/Traffic, and Telecoil (mT) modes.

  6. What is the point of the silicone rubber(?) cover for the Smart Connect? (a) it’s difficult to get on, and (b) it would have to be removed again to access the charging port.

  7. At one point yesterday I couldn’t get the Smart Connect app to access the Smart Connect device until I rebooted the (Android) phone.

6. What is the point of the silicone rubber(?) cover for the Smart Connect? (a) it’s difficult to get on, and (b) it would have to be removed again to access the charging port.

Huh???

The silicone sleeve helps protect the Smart Connect from moisture damage.

What sleeve I’ve never seen one and I’ve handled a bunch of easyTek’ s. Are you talking about the green rubber band thing they are shipped with?

The sleeve/cover came with the Smart Connect. It’s translucent white with apertures for the neck-loop connectors and raised parts corresponding to the Vol+ and Vol- buttons. I looked on the Rexton site, but I don’t see a picture of it. The only point I can see is if I wanted to wear the Smart Connect outside my clothing in wet weather.

Interesting… I just opened a brand new spare easyTek and no got one… maybe they are only in with the SmartConnect or maybe not the government models.

It started shipping earlier this year. You can order it separately (easyTek Sleeve Part # 10937496).

I got one with mine but have t used it except for the first day as you have to take it off to charge it and was a pain.

I see it… Look’s like a pita to me.

I just got a Smart Connect a couple of weeks ago. My audi said the cover is a recent addition and is to help with moisture problems caused when people wear them next to the skin and sweat. It’s easy to roll the soft silicone out of the way at the bottom to plug in the charger. I’ve never had one without the cover, but I don’t find it a pain.

That makes sense, but I wear mine between my undershirt and my shirt, so the sleeve is of no particular benefit to me.

I am finding that the Smart Connect app. (for Android) often reports that it cannot detect the aids just at the very moment that I hear the “connected” tone in the aids. It often takes rebooting the phone to get a connection. Anyone else?

I’ve only had my Smart Connect a couple of weeks, but so far, no, I haven’t experienced what you’re describing. What I have experienced is that sometimes the Smart Connect program just seems to pick up on the Smart Connect device and aids. Other times I have to press the button on the SC device, which is what the audi told me I’d have to do.

I bought KS7’s last night and was disappointed to discover that I need the smart connect to use the app to adjust my hearing aids…worst of all the “specialist” at Costco is arguing with me - telling me I dont need the smart connect use the app, that the smart connect is only for streaming audio…frustrating

You DO NOT need the Smart Connect to use the app to adjust your hearing aids!!

You need the “Smart Remote” app – https://www.rexton.com/apps-2/

I use it with my KS7 aids; it works great! I don’t even own a Smart Connect.

And as big a fan as I am of Costco, I find it a little distressing that they seem to have so misinformed you.

Oh and a gentle reminder that double-posting is considered not exactly good form :wink:

more editing…

Did they give you a printout with your aids? They should have. It will have a QR code on it that will set up the app, once you’ve installed it, like magic.

It is possible to set it up manually but it’s more hassle.

And if they didn’t give you the printout, you should go back and get it. It’s got other useful info on it, too.

My apologies for the double post…

I have an iphone 6s with the latest ios installed. I tried twice to get the bluetooth to connect - it couldnt “see” the hearing aids at all…suggestions?

I retried using the bar code…success!
i have 6 different programs choices installed into my hearing aids, only 2 show up in the app…is there a way to get the app to show all 6?

Does the page with the bar code show all 6 programs? For the apps to show up, you have to a print out of the bar code that was generated after the programs were added.

By the way, I don’t think this app uses the bluetooth in your phone at all, although I’m not sure as have android phone. The way it works with the android phone is that the phone sounds high pitched “beeps” (around 12k hz) to the hearing aids. It’s just one way communication from your phone to the hearing aids. The aids receive commands and follow them, but there is no return communication to the phone. This explains why the phone may show a different program or volume than reality if it was changeed by the switches on the aids instead of the app.

Thanks for the tip on the barcode, you nailed it. Back to Costco I go for a reprint of the bar code