I just got a pair of Phonak Audio Life L-R 90 hearing aids.
This is another problems : myPhonak when in the TV Connector mode, doesn’t offer any of the adjustments that the other modes do. Only a balance between TV and microphones. Different types of TV require vastly different of the unavailable adjustment functions.
Any solutions to this problem.
I have the TV Connector and with the myphonak app, you can increase the TV sound or surrounding environment. There’s a option to turn off microphone. That’s it. There are no other adjustments. However under fine tuning in Target, if TV speech is too loud or too soft, etc, you can adjust by selecting the issue.
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Depending, of course, on the features of the source component you can adjust the data stream characteristics fed to the TV Connector.
That is what I was trying to avoid. Probably 95% of my meaningful hearing aid use will be watching TV.
Every different type of TV show has different listening requirements. Those adjustments would be easy in myPhonak (if available) but a challenge to do with audio equipment (and I’m a retired audio engineer)
Hmm. If the fitting curve in Target is designed offset our unique hearing glitches—that is, an attempt to hear ‘normally,’ then you are stuck with tweaking the source. Phonak programs address ambient variance coming via the microphones, rather than variances in a stream. I hold out no hope that Phonak will tackle this. A simple equalizer of some sort with manual controls might work.
A simple equalize won’t even come close! and I’m an audio engineer. And it requires adjustments for every program change.
What would happen if I put a Bluetooth transmitter on the TV audio output?
Would the full range of adjustments be available?
I live in the world of marginal word recognition. You are describing something more nuanced than I can cope with. Most seem thrilled with the intelligibility of streamed sources. Perhaps because ambient is only marginally available and the ambient/signal balance can be tweaked. I know it does not sound elegant, but standing in the mud it seems like a blessing. Some sort of preprocessing of the signal is all I can think of. Then feed that stream to your hearing aids which try to zero out your deficiencies. Non-trivial. In the early days of the US space program we joked that ‘better’ was the enemy of ‘good enough.’ The trick is knowing when it’s good enough.
I contacted a Phonak tech representative and he said that none of the neat features and functions work on a TV signal (nor a BlueTooth signal)! The rep said that I have to use the signal source to adjust the response. But TV sets do not come with any of the adjustments that hearing aids have. (in fact my source has no adjustments)
Television presents a vast array of challenging hearing situations. Ideal times for those features and functions to work. About 95% of my meaningful hearing aid use is watching TV, so I returned those $4500 hearing aids that don’t fit my needs.
But finding another brand that works with TV might be difficult.