Lumity vs Paradise

Yeah, you are 100% correct Ruth, Lip-sync can be an issue, without the TV connector, some newer TV’s you can adjust this though… Funny enough, I was setting up 2 of latest & greatest “Fire-cube TV’s”, last night for friends, and whilst in about the menu, I noticed an “Audio Synchronisation” feature, for streaming, I never opened it, but it was handy to know it was there… Might come in useful to those whom only have Bluetooth? Cheers Kev :grin:

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The three responses above are all quite correct - and in my opinion the latency (lack of sync with the picture) is a big problem - particularly if you have the TV bluetooth streaming to your HAs and anyone else is in the room listening directly to the TV - you will hear both the stream slightly delayed and some audio from the room itself in your ears creating an extremely annoying echo.

Secondly, with the TV connector you can adjust the volume in your HAs to your liking and anyone else can have the TV itself at a volume of their liking.

I would Never go back to not using the TV connector…

Also to @kevels55 point - I also have “Audio Synchronisation” on the TV and it never was good in my opinion. It does what it says and allows you to compensate a few milliseconds so that what you hear is the simultaneous with what you see. The problem is that it affects both the TV output and the Bluetooth stream equally - so you can never get them both in sync

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I vill add to the above comments: Dolby Digital Sound through the TV Connector :+1:t2:

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Question of ignorance here: can hearing aids reproduce spatial audio as encoded by DTS? I read that by time delays and frequency shifts (IIRC), DTS can trick your brain into thinking sound is coming from other locations in a room than just two speakers. I guess reproduction of Dolby Atmos sound wouldn’t be possible thru HA’s as Atmos sound is predicated on the sound actually coming from different locations within a room (required multi-speaker setup). But it would be great if TV Streamers could selectively send speech to your HA’s while still allowing you to benefit from room dimensionality.

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@jim_lewis I saw the Dolby Audio logo on the box of the TV Connector V2, below screenshot from the manual:

Link below:

Not sure if the Atmos is taken in account or not.

If you are wondering whether the Dolby TrueHD and the Dolby Atmos are the same things, then the answer is clear: they are not the same.

Dolby TrueHD VS Dolby Atmos, Which is Better? | Leawo

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The delay is reduced with the TV connector but there definitely still is one, especially if the TV has any sound processing enabled.

For me it is quite easy to detect by turning the TV volume up and the connector down: there is a definite echo. If you turn on any sound processing on the TV like a cinema mode then the delay gets worse,
In practice though that difference in volumes is unlikely to occur so the delay is largely undetectable. It’s obviously not as bad as Bluetooth 4.2 but it’s there.

It’s worth noting that the TV connector V2 won’t work with anything above 5.1 Dolby Digital so all of the modern formats like Dolby Atmos can’t be processed and don’t work with it. This applies to most new releases on Apple TV and Prime etc. The bottom-line is that if you want to watch a new movie with someone on a modern home cinema setup and full sound then you can’t unless you use an audio technology that is three decades old and counting or invest in some commercial level audio conversion equipment.

I also found that I needed an SPDIF splitter to get the TV connector to work with a sound bar. This is a little odd as the standard for most of the other transmitter boxes like this that I’ve seen is to have SPDIF passthrough.

I’ll speak for myself. I just want to be able to understand the dialogue. The TV Connector allows me to do that. I don’t care about all the fancy sound effects.

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BeLo, I hear what you’re saying and have gone down a similar path regarding splitters, Atmos, etc. I have a good home theater system and use an Apple TV box for streaming (and Lumity HAs). None of the splitters I tried could split off Stereo or Dolby Digital to my TV Connector AND pass through Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to my home theater. The Apple TV box does not have Audio Out either.

My solution is to use my Roger Select sitting in the center of my speakers and in microphone mode. It does an excellent job of sending the dialogue to my HAs. The sound system provides the rest of the sounds to the room and I can balance it so that I hear both. Maybe not the ideal solution but it’s the best compromise I’ve found so far.

When others are watching with me I ask them to set the volume to where they are comfortable then adjust my Roger balance to where the dialogue is clear for me and I can still hear the sound effects.

Good luck.

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I completely agree, the HAs are only ever stereo at best but it is the other people that I am watching the movie with that miss out on the fancy sound effects as they have to accommodate my hearing loss.

Unfortunately these new formats are the default now and lots of TVs come with sound bars so the problem is just growing.

@platypus If you set the system to normal Dolby Digital 5.1 and/or turn off eARC then you should be able to get a usable signal.

I’ve been using the Lumity Life’s for about a month after two years of using Paradises P-312’s. I’m also using them with Active Vents and a Roger ON In with the Lumity’s, neither of which I had before. It’s a VERY pricey combo but with my profound high-frequency deafness I’m really happy!

The Bluetooth streaming is sooo much better. No drop-outs, better range, and super clarity and GREAT bass. Additionally, on phone calls with my Paradises the person on the other end of the call often wouldn’t be able to hear me. This is NOT the case with the Lumity’s. Not a single complaint from the other end. This is huge because I can hear soooo much better on a call when the caller is streamed via bluetooth. (Note: I wish I could use the phone for my voice and still stream the caller into my aids. Why isn’t this an option???)

I wasn’t crazy about tap control but am really into it now. Very fast and helpful when wanting to switch from streaming from the TV via the Roger ON or phone and then hearing what my wife wants to say. Just goofily tap your ear two-times-quick and your wife is clear as day.

The Roger ON also really helps in loud situations, parties, dinner at restaurants, in the car, etc. If you can get over the self-imposed stigma of pointing it at someone or the questions you get after you put it on the table at dinner - it’s really game changing. I took my college age boys and one of their buddies out to dinner at a noisy place in New Orleans and I heard nearly every word that was said - including from the waitress!

I love the Active Vents as well because I prefer that ambient sounds are really shut-down when I’m streaming. It helps me a lot on calls and streaming.

Also, in loud party situations the Active Vents close and try and focus on what it thinks is the person you are wanting to hear. The theory is good but in reality I haven’t decided whether this is better or not. Their is a noticeable pop when the Active Vents open and close and I can’t tell if I can comprehend the talker better or not yet. I’m still messing with the settings (after the initial couple of audiologist fits I’m now self-programming these Lumity’s) so that am not yet sold yet on Active Vents in noisy situations. But I’m very high-frequency-def so I just don’t know that anything is going to get me to a point where I can hear well in loud situations.

I’d estimate that I hear 10-15% better with the Lumity’s than I did with the Paradise P-312’s overall, even without the Roger ON In’s. They are definitely an upgrade over the Paradise. If you’ve got the money and the time to get them right, like all hearing aids, I highly recommend them.

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I’m trialing the Lumitys and I tried Tap Control for Siri (smart assistant on iPhone) but I had trouble getting it to work reproducibly, even when I set the sensitivity to Gentle (maybe I’m no good at hitting my ears in the same place twice in a row! :slightly_smiling_face:). I’m using an iPhone 14 running iOS 16.1.2. Sounds like you’ve got tap control working pretty reliably. I was wondering what phone you’re using and if it’s an iPhone whether there are any settings I’ve missed (just Day 1 with the HA’s!) that would improve my results. I like to run my iPhone in the Battery Low Power mode and one of the first things I discovered is that doesn’t work for Tap Control!

@jim_lewis try tapping where the receiver wire inserts into the aid. I find it’s pretty responsive to taps there, rather than on the body of the BTE.

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Thanks, @Louie! That seems to do the trick - and beats tapping one’s ear! Works pretty reliably! Just wonder if that will do a job overtime on the plug-in connection the receiver wire makes with the HA body. Time will tell, I guess.

On chatting with Siri, it does seem like one has to either dismiss her on the phone screen or wait a while for her to get bored and go away before one can ask her another question.

great reply!
I tried Roger ON and it did nothing for me. the pointy the everything was bad…i returned it :frowning:
But thank you, this gives me a bit of insight

@oban Thanks for your extensive review. It would be nice though to see your audiogram to know for what your advertising could be appropriate. Thanks in advance.

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@JordanK

I truly appreciate your comments!

I’m a Paradise P90 wearer; I’ll have to sit out a generation. But it’s wonderful hearing that things are improving.

I think that the real key is finding the right person to set them up!

DaveL
Mississauga

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I am ready to upgrade my Phonak Paradise yo it’s Lumity line. My speech recognition numbers have dropped significantly. I hope the Lumity speech recognition will improve as will background noise reduction. I hope Phonak will release a biCROS model too.

I am upgrading my Paradise hearing aids to the Lumity 90. My audiogram looks similar to yours. I hope Phonak will connect the Lumity to a biCROS aid.

Do you have Lumity Life’s bilaterally or unilaterally?