Hello,
I’m wondering about the compatibility of streamers and receivers from different brands with Auracast possibilities. Will they be interchangeable with each other in the future? What about other devices which will be Auracast-enabled but not specifically developed for hearing aids?
Interoperability is what was promised and what we’re hoping for. It’s implied in there being a standard at all. If devices follow the standard (which they have to do to use the Auracast name) they should work together. Many people will add “in theory”. Is it possible for a manufacturer to add features outside of the standard and wall them off from the competition? It’s too early to say.
What they possibly can do is give their own devices preferential treatment in their apps. The Resound and Jabra apps might be examples. There are two tabs within the app to control the interaction between up to two streamers and the hearing aids. You can control the volume and mix between the streamed audio and ambient sounds- probably other settings as well. Presumably things wouldn’t be as slick with a third party transmitter. The app is used to control the aids so, for most users, it’s always to hand. A big advantage for their own transmitters over the others.
Well @drawde tested the VOCE Nexum and wasn’t able to get it to work, and is now waiting for another device to try.
Words - including those in published standards - can have different interpretations. Also, ia device that meets standards at the lowest end of a range may be incompatible with a device at the highest end of the range. These differences lead to incompatibilities between devices even though they arguably adhere to a standard. My bet is that there will be a lot of incompatibilities in the first few years, and they’ll diminish over time. That’s how it’s generally worked up to now.
I’d stick with brand names at first, in the hope that major producers will be willing to diagnose and solve problems more readily than no-name vendors.