“Low Energy Audio and the Future of ASHA”. A bit of history and some speculation. Well-worth reading if you’re interested in Bluetooth and hearing aids.
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Thanks. Pretty good, in-depth and honest review (given the limitations of “honest” reviews). Too bad that the ReSound One M&RIE receiver is limited with folks with losses up to about 65 dB. Since I’m waiting for several years for new HA’s, maybe the ReSound TWO will somehow overcome that limitation. But good to hear that ReSound is all in on BT LE Audio and leading the pack (unlike Mr. Phonak) on BT technologies for the future.
I’d still want to get some confirmation from the manufacturer if forward compatibility with LE Audio was important to me. Maybe there has been and I’ve missed it…?
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The line in his review “Their compatibility with Bluetooth LE Audio also means that when it arrives, I will have access to those fantastic abilities.” I don’t think he’d have that line in paragraph one of his review, the lead paragraph, unless he was very sure (presumably through ReSound) that it was coming for the One’s. I’ll see what else I can dig up elsewhere. If Cooling’s wrong, he’s really putting his reputation on the line… Like for any folks who rush out and buy if from his semi-glowing review.
I’ve asked him for some elaboration on Facebook. I’ll report back if he responds.
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I notice that Dr Cliff has posted a review of the Resound ONE and has included a link to a previous video he did on LE Audio. Pity I haven’t got audio on my computer at the moment, but putting 2 and 2 together…?
Resound ONE video review: ReSound ONE Hearing Aid Detailed Review - YouTube
LE Audio Bluetooth Video: https://youtu.be/nDCsif0nhEY
Edit: He does say that Resound ONE will be compatible with LE Audio @ 10:57 in the review. But then he says that you’ll be able to talk into the phone or use a pendant. One of the big advantages of LE Audio is being completely hands-free, so…? Also, going back to the review I posted earlier Geoffrey Cooling says you ‘might’ be able to go handsfree. Clarification would be good.
Still, HUGE news imo. The first hearing aid with LE Audio.
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As you know @d_Wooluf, Resound One are certified for Bluetooth 5.2:
https://launchstudio.bluetooth.com/ListingDetails/111580
That means that the chip itself is compatible with the upcoming LE Audio features but will propably need firmware updates to enable things like LC3 audio and Audio sharing (that’s me speculating).
So while the LE Audio specs is not finalized, the chip itself should be able to do things like Audio sharing and LC3 audio, with software upgrades.
Edit: And since the LE Audio specs is not yet finalized, I believe it’s hard for the HA companies to announce support for it. Even older hearing aids could be compatible with Bluetooth LE Audio, for example the connection between e.g. ConnectClip and Oticon hearing aid could be very similiar to Bluetooth LE Audio and thus make it possible to have something like a Bluetooth 5.2 USB dongle on your computer connecting directly to the hearing aids without ConnectClip etc.
I put this question to Geoffrey Cooling:
Just wondering how confident you are about ‘forward compatibility’ with LE Audio.
His response:
as confident as I can be, they have the compatibility, what they do with it?
which makes me think that maybe he’s assuming LE Audio from the existence of the BT 5.2 certified chip in the hearing aid. I agree with @Spindel that this seems at least likely, but I’m not sure that it’s a done deal. I still wouldn’t buy the aid and just assume it’s going to be updated. I asked Geoffrey Cooling a follow up question. We’ll see.
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Competition is nice. My plan is to see what several different brands offer in BT LE Audio down the line and not get too enthusiastic about any brand like ReSound just because it might be first in line. If as you say, a true, full implementation can offer handsfree communication (decent input from external mics), that would be a selling point for me over brands that require you to use your phone or a remote mic for voice input (perhaps because their external mic situation isn’t good enough for voice input - an app switch between external mics vs. phone or remote mic input would be nice, too, to use according to the noise or other environmental situation).
Fully agree. It’s just a ‘first swallow of the summer’ situation (choose your own local bird). See the first one and you know more are on the way.
I’d expect easy switching between phone mic, external/remote mic, and hearing aid mics. Re hearing aid mics, if Phonak can do it, everyone else can.
Even if a hearing aid comes with a new LC3 codec but you still have to wait for the smarpthone and other devices that support 5.2 to arrive. And that takes time, at least a year.
It is better to wait because the prices of the same can fall, the usb dongle for bluetooth 5.2 can be expensive.
I would agree that there’s no benefit in rushing. In comparison, BT 5 came out in 2016. I believe Samsung S8 was one of the first phones to come out with it in Spring 2017. I bought a Nokia 6.1 in Summer of 2018. One of the reasons was BT 5. It’s now 2020 and there’s no advantage to having BT 5 with regards to hearing aid use. (If the phone also supported ASHA, a case can be made for BT 5)
I think 1st QTR 2021 is likely the earliest we’re going to see BT 5.2 phones that support LC3 Codec.
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So a major manufacturer of SoC’s expects the standard to be ratified this year. From LE Audio: The latest Bluetooth Audio Technology | Qualcomm
Q: When is LE Audio coming to Qualcomm Technologies’ Platforms/SoCs?
A: The Bluetooth SIG has already announced the new standard. However, the profiles still need to be ratified; that is expected to happen late 2020.
Qualcomm Technologies intends to qualify compliant silicon and software as soon as the SIG has finalized the standard.
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Qualcomm Technologies has just announced to team up with Jacoti an audio technology company, seems this is moving pretty quickly now, but still looking at 2nd quarter of 2021.
They say " The integration will result in next-gen TWS earphones and Bluetooth headsets that provide accurate personalized hearing assistance to users with mild hearing impairments using Qualcomm QCC5100 Series Ultra-Low Power Bluetooth SoCs
QCC5100 supports data transfers up to 2Mbps and a Bluetooth 5 dual-mode radio that lets you stream audio to multiple devices at once.
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I was wondering, why is the range of bluetooth so diminishing? For example, it sometimes happens to me that while listening to music there is an interruption, it sounds like interference in the connection between (compilot and smartphone), similarly it happens when the compilot is in front of me and the smartphone behind me, so my body sometimes breaks the connection. hears (t ttt ttt ttt)
Will the new bluetooth codec be the same? Should there be a bigger antenna for that? For example, I opened a compilot a long time ago to see what it looks like from the inside and I wonder where the bluetooth antenna is?
I opened a compilot that broke down in the hope of fixing it, unfortunately I didn’t know and it stopped being produced, so I bought another one via ebay.
Bluetooth 5.2 features Isochronous Channels which is designed to be more forgiving of lost packets. So if a packet isn’t received when it’s supposed to be received, it’s forgotten about and the device waits for the next packet. With the LC3 codec the audio is supposed to degrade more gracefully as the signal gets weaker, so you probably won’t get that severe distortion you get with classic bluetooth audio when you get close to the limits of bluetooth range.
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Wi-Hi: toward a Wireless Interface for Hearing Instruments
“To support the hearing impaired, various wireless technologies for hearing
instruments have been available for many years. Products based on such
technologies can for instance be used in public venues. With the latest generation
of Bluetooth Low Energy Audio, the range of possibilities is expanded
considerably. This paper addresses the new developments and the question what
people with hearing loss may expect in the near future.”
This paper is more of a statement of intent than anything else. It does give us a name for that broadcast system that Bluetooth LE Audio has been promising. In the not-too-distant future, when you’ve got hearing aids that support Bluetooth LE Audio and you’re considering going out to catch a movie, look for a venue that advertises “Wi-Hi” support.
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It’s great that they gave the technology a name but I think it’s a lousy name. “Wi-Hi?!” C’mon, folks may think we’re suffering a speech impediment and can’t properly pronounce “Wi-Fi.” It would have been better, IMHO, to pick a name with less overlap with a common existing word. Props, though, for the brevity of the name. I guess we’ll learn to live with it, though. 
I don’t think ‘LE Audio’ is the catchiest name ever coined either.
Oticon More, confirmed with support for Bluetooth 5.2 LE Audio!
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