I have a relatively mild, reverse slope hearing loss and I’m struggling to hear clearly even at full volume on my computer, headphones, and hearing aids. I’ve switched out several over the ear headphones (maybe the wrong term, but it sits above my hearing aid) to see if different types made a difference. I don’t think my hearing has gotten worse. I do sit in a pretty noisy environment and really need a microphone that doesn’t pick up the background noise on top of being able to hear. What are my options? Are there headphones that will amplify noise? Do I need to add the Oticon Connect? I’ve read through all of the prior posts, but nothing answers my questions. Any help or advice would be great.
I stream the audio directly into my HA via Roger On In mic and use an external mic. However, most of my troubles with steam chats (Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams…), is the clarity of the audio coming from the other people/presenter, for a few reasons:
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Most don’t turn on (or know how to) any form of noise filtering/cancelling on their mic from their end, and this will differ from streaming system to streaming system, with MS Team APP being the better I have found.
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When the others just use the default computer mic, they tend to sit too far away, which introduces noise/reverb/Just dirty sound. Like when a group trying to fit into one camera and sit more than 1M away from the mic.
So as much as I try to improve my end, it doesn’t help if still bad from their end.
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I use MS Teams, and turn the subtitles on. This helps a lot in understanding, it’s an additional input to your brain.
Over the ear means your ears are completely enclosed. Perhaps a headphone amp would help? Zoom also has captions but you might need to contact support to get it enabled.
How do you turn subtitles on? I work for the UK NHS and always use Teams but when I turn subtitles on, it doesn’t show. Is that because I don’t set the meetings up? Does it have to be the host (is that the right word?)?
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Maybe the host has to allow subtitles?
The host has to enable captioning on Zoom (and the account holder has to have it enabled). Not sure if this is the same on Teams.
More info here.
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Streaming the audio straight into your ears via Bluetooth should work well. You need to also mute the mics on your hearing aids to keep the environmental noise from mixing in. You mentioned Oticon and the ConnectClip would help on your noisy end as well since it would capture your voice close to your mouth.
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For Zoom meetings, I stream to my KS10 aids but I also use subtitles although some words get garbled. I made some instructions for the
Citizens Water Advocacy Group (CWAG), with which I am active. Perhaps these will help. See
How to get Closed Captions in CWAG programs
— Fred
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Would the ConnectClip pickup the background noise and broadcast it over Zoom. I have two problems - I can’t hear b/c my headphones aren’t loud enough and I need a great mic because background noise is pretty loud.
A question - can you hear your phone (I’m assuming you have a direct connection (MFI) between the phone and your aids as you are asking about a ConnectClip)? If not, then the following is probably not a reasonable option. If you need headphones, I might investigate a headset or headphones that are “closed” and have a good seal around your head and are specified to provide a high level of passive noise reduction. Additional active noise reduction might help but probably not as much as devices with a large amount of passive noise reduction. I can use BeyerDynamic DT 770 pro “monitor” headphones with my OPN S 1 aids without feedback but my hearing correction is much different than yours so my experience might not match yours. If you need additional volume from a headset or headphones, you could use a reasonable quality headphone amplifier that works with the rated impedance of the headphones (some good headphones come with a number of possible impedance values). Many computer audio devices won’t drive certain headphones very well or loud for a number of reasons.
I expect a ConnectClip would pick up the background noise. I have a ConnectClip and don’t use it on conference calls as my office is noisy (AC fans in an older building with a modified HVAC system) and others complained until I muted the mic on the ConnectClip.
For Zoom, I’ve found that my Oticon OPN S 1 aids work well with an iPad Pro and others have not complained about background noise. I turn off Bluetooth on my iPhone and turn on Bluetooth on the iPad for Zoom. If need be, I turn down the hearing aid microphones when on Zoom so most of the signal is from Zoom rather than from the office. Works pretty well for me so far - MUCH better than using the ConnectClip with a computer. Zoom on the iPad uses the built-in microphones on the iPad - newer models of the iPad Pro seem to have decent noise reduction (five microphones) on the outgoing sound. I have no experience with other models of iPad - the later Pro models may have better audio with the multiple microphones.
Good luck,
Stuart
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Thank you for that answer. Yes, I can hear on my MFI connection to my phone (though in some situations, noise around me makes it difficult). My hearing in noise is pretty terrible and was actually what lead me to hearing tests.
I have an older iPad Pro (not sure on microphone ability so I’ll need to test). I did not realize that there were headphone amplifiers. The quality of my current microphone is quite good, so I’m hesitant to give that up. I’ll try the headphone amplifiers.
Have you tried muting your hearing aid mics while listening to phone calls via MFi Bluetooth streaming? It cuts out a lot of that background noise.
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My Resounds with the PhoneClip+ allow me to zoom via Bluetooth to the aids.
There are so many annoying reasons why Zoom meetings don’t work very well for the HOH, nor for a majority of most people, for that matter! The points you mention are primary ones. Another issue can be a participant talking too fast (quicker than the captions can follow and I can read and digest). Overall, is the problem of poor management from a meeting chair–people talking whenever they feel like it, no organization, etc. These behaviors are practiced by some HOH people, who ought to know better!
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