Equivalents for the ReSound Airlink dongle?

Hearing Aid Self-Fitting and Adjusting [DIY]
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1

Any ideas about what exactly the ReSound Airlink dongle is? According to Explore types of hearing aids and learn how they work it is a 2.4 GHz wireless connection, which sounds a lot like Bluetooth.

One thing I’ve been able to do with my Lynx is query it using an iOS app called “LightBlue” (‎LightBlue® on the App Store).

2

Thinking about it, the Airlink has to just be a USB Bluetooth BLE (Bluetooth 4.0) adapter - nothing magical. It’s using the same interface to talk to your HAs as say your iPhone does with LiNX. And you can buy them dirt cheap - I just got one off Amazon for $9.95.

The catch is, every USB device has a unique manufacturers ID and device ID, and I’m betting that the Airlink drivers you can download from Resound have to match their IDs.

A bit of Googleing shows that these are the manufacturer and device IDs for the Resound Airlink…

16f0 GN ReSound A/S
0003 Airlink Wireless Programming Interface

Additionally, a search of the files in the Aventa installation shows that the GN ReSound manufacturers number (16f0) is referenced several times in various configuration files related to devices.

So I think that one could do this…

  1. Buy a basic BLE dongle for cheap ($10)
  2. Get its manufacturer and device IDs
  3. Modify the Aventa software configuration files to use the manufacturer and device ID of your Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE compatible dongle).

Right now I’ve got a Cambridge Silicon Radio one with this ID…

0a12 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd
0001 Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)

Wish me luck while I try this theory out…

3

Another note. In the ReSound Aventa installation bundle is a program called AirlinkTest.exe. Running this will tell you if there is an Airlink accessible on your system (or if it thinks you have one).

It’s located in Aventa3.6.1.20\program files\GN Hearing\AirLink

Additionally that same directory has the Airlink driver installer. In the Airlink.inf file are definitions for the USB device IDs, which perhaps can be modified.

4

Any luck getting the Bluetooth dongle to take the place of a Resound Airlink?

Any information would be really welcome!

5

Any luck getting the Bluetooth dongle to take the place of a Resound Airlink?

Any information would be really welcome!

6

A Bluetooth dongle will not work. GN Resound is using the Nordic nRF24L01 chip as the basis for it’s technology. See… http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/News/News-releases/Product-Related-News/Nordic-2.4GHz-technology-enables-miniature-hearing-aid-to-stream-audio-direct-from-TVs-and-other-consumer-devices The Nordic 2.4GHZ is a proprietary technology the transmits up to 2 Mpbs. The phone clip converts the Nordic RF 2.4GHz to Bluetooth. I would imagine they choose the Nordic chip because it is a very low power device and offers some flexibility over Bluetooth (not because it’s proprietary). There are some manufactures that offer a Nordic nRF24L01 to USB interface. Here is one on Alibaba. This product is no longer available. This device would match the physical requirements of the technology needed. However, I doubt the device would work by changing the device ID in the software. Good luck.

7

Thank you for the information.

There is another possibility; I own one of the older Resound phone clips. I can connect my laptop to the phone clip using Bluetooth and stream music from my laptop to my hearing aids. I therefore have a connection from my laptop to the aids, but I can’t figure out how to tell the software about the connection.

Any ideas?

8

I would be surprised (pleasantly) if that worked. Bluetooth has a few different protocols. GN most likely implemented Telephony control protocol (TCP) and Audio/video data transport protocol (AVDTP). In order to do more than stream media they would have needed to implement Radio frequency communication (RFCOMM) or a similar protocol. Also the phone clip would need to convert the Bluetooth protocol to whatever the proprietary protocol GN is using on the nRF24L01 chip. They may have, I don’t know. It might me useful if someone has an Airlink and could send a pictures of the internal board. It might be a generically manufactured component based on the nRF24LU1+ chip.

Here is more on Bluetooth Protocols: List of Bluetooth protocols - Wikipedia

Thanks

9

Hope this goes somewhere. Keep searching…

10

Just to let those who are following this thread know, I have been able to buy an Airlink on eBay and am now programming my hearing aids.

11

Are your aids the Costco KS5 ?

— Updated —

Are your aids the Costco KS5?

12

No, ReSound Alera 961.

13

I have asked the dealer of GNsound in the Netherlands if it is possible to buy an Airlink but the answer was no, because of possible dammage to your hearing if you try it yourself. So has anyone a link for me were to buy it? :stuck_out_tongue:

— Updated —

14

Hi Guys,
I’m looking for the Resound airlink USB dongle to use with my new resound ENZO HAs, but without any success so far…

can anyone please share a link to someone who sells this device?

Any info will be highly appreciated :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance.
Uri Tal.

15

I am looking to do the same. I have just received my linx 7 and don’t relish the thought of running to the audi every time they need tweaked. I figure I will leave one or two programs untouched. What about the software once you’ve obtained the airlink?

Thanks

16

Hi All,

For my new Linx2 (LS 961DRW I like to have an Resound airlink USB dongle.

Can anyone give me an advise where or who sells this device?

Thanks.
Henza