I have the same issue with my K10. Streaming video or music sounds horrendously distorted, which is a pain as I have an online course to do and I would like to stream it. The Costco audi said basically that’s the way it is and I have to use headphones. Is this correct?
Is there not a way of adjusting the streaming program in Target? I have looked but can’t see it listed in the program list.
I don’t know if your hearing aids are working correctly but for me bluetooth streaming to the KS10 sounds poor initially, lots and lots of noise. I almost always stream to them when I’m outside so it’s lots of ambient noise being jacked up for some reason. I’ve found that If I go into the app and click the equalizer icon (lower right corner) instead of the equalizer and noise adjustent settings there is a single setting you can change called cross-fader. Sliding to the left is just microphones on and streaming volume is nil. All the way to the right is all streaming, microphone is off. I slide it just a tiny bit, the least I can, to the right and the immense amount of noise goes away and streaming is really good. The microphones are still on, I can still hear things around me but it’s like the noise reduction turns on the moment you touch that button. I feel like there is a glitch where the default (for my hearing aids) has the mic up way too high or noise reduction all the way off (ether way) with the result that the background news completely crushes the streaming audio and even a tiny tweak somehow makes it correct that.
Maybe you could try that slider out and see if it helps at all.
With my KS-9’s anything I stream is really quit good, whether it is phone call,youtube video or music. I wish sounds coming through microphones sounded as good.
FWIW another data point.
I have great sound with streaming audio/spoken word to my KS10s. I have open domes BUT I mute the mics and set the ‘balance’ to the stream as I tend to use it when I am exercising in the gym and don’t want other distractions or much background noise. I did have my audi boost the bass for me to compensate for the lack of natural acoustic bass input that I would otherwise get but overall I am quite happy. Using an old ipad for streaming…
I am very unhappy with the hearing tech that fitted me at Costco. He told me info that I knew was wrong at the time and I told him so (for example he said there was no way to turn bluetooth off on the hearing aids, you just turn off your phone. I said ‘you can. it’s right in the paperwork you gave me’). I told him I didnt like the bass response when I was listening to streaming music and he said that was the way it was and “use headphones”. I know they can boost the bass in the streaming program but at that point I’d already decided I was going to see someone else at Costco on a followup. I’ll mention the issue with the streaming starting out extremely noisy and see if they can sort that out while I’m at it.
Hi.
You can test the setting in the app to hear only the bluetooth sound and not the ambient sounds. Look at the images with the slider to fit you. The bluetooth sound improves a lot.
I hope it helps you.
Thanks for the feedback, all. Interesting that a few of us have the distortion. Changing the “crossfader” in the Bluetooth streaming +mic 1 program from Environment to Audio doesn’t impact the distortion other than making it much more noticeable when fully set on Audio.
Here’s a thought, is there a setting that tells the hearing aids which receivers are attached? My receivers are red and have the letters “1M” on them. Does anyone know, a) which power receivers these are and b) is there a setting that tells the hearing aid which receiver is attached?
This idea comes from the fact that the distortion sounds a bit like a very tiny speaker that is just being overloaded. Maybe my HAs are set for a more powerful receiver?
Thanks,
Dave
Yes and no, yes it does know, but you can fit any power receivers and the power output will stay the same from the HAs, as the HAs are programmed with whatever receivers were fitted in the software…but you can change them without reprogramming, and you’ll notice a difference, your using 1M which are medium power, if you fit a P (power) receiver you’ll notice a big drop in volume if you don’t reprogram your HAs for that receiver, it’s not recommended to do this.
Yes in the target software.
If the hearing aids are not distorting when amplifying ambient (not streaming) sound then I would suggest the receivers are not the issue. I would suspect the BT radio. Ask Costco to give you another (sample) set of aids programmed identically and see if the problem continues.
Why can I not see the streaming program in the list of programs in Target?
How can I adjust it?
What is the BT ratio?
I think they said “radio.” The device that sends out the bluetooth signal. They are suggesting there might be something wrong with your hearing aid’s bluetooth radio and that you should return them for repair or replacement.
Oh yes. my mistake. Is that likely? It would be a big faff being so far away.
In any case, I think it is the fitting that’s not right as I am still getting a lot of lisping for example.
My intermittent bluetooth problems with spoken word (i.e., I like to take walks with Audible books and courses) has forced me to use my Apple Airpods when I’m walking). If I hold the phone in front of me it works. If I put in my pocket I get pausing and skipping. Frustrating because Bluetooth is a well known and reliable communication protocol. Don’t know why they have this problem.
Relative to the quality itself it has seemed okay tome.
Thanks, I tried it and it made a significant difference but music still sounds awful. I asked the audi to put a program with no frequency shifting and I so I am experimenting with that now.
This is not a problem of BT communication protocol or its implementation. But sole physics. For BT a frequency of 2.4Ghz is used. Our body dampens the signal too much. Outdoor use is problematic since there are no walls to rebounce the signal.
I am a KS 10 fan and the only minor drawback for me is the two device connection at a time limit.
Out of curiosity, I listened to audio books from my library’s Libby App with my hearing aids as the Bluetooth audio device on my Windows 11 desktop, my Samsung phone and my Samsung tablet. My hearing aid settings are Automatic. The sound quality using each device was perfect. I have never tried audio books before…they would probably put me to sleep.
Because of my severe hearing loss, I have custom ear molds.
Anyway, I would guess leucurus’s problem is not his KS 10s. I would try streaming from a different device.
Why do my AirPods work fine?
Good point!
Their larger antennae may help, but this is sole speculation on my side.
I’m no engineer but I think at least part of the issue is that KS10 is trying to do streaming while conserving battery life. I believe AirPods only last a few hours on a charge? It seems to me it would be easier to create a more robust connection if one wasn’t concerned about battery life.
@leucurus:
Back to the OP’s post. As I understand not the intermittent loss of connection in outdoor environment is his problem.
I have played with different settings for the streaming program in Target (Phonak’s fitting software) and found several possible reasons leading to distortion while streaming:
