New Phonak Audéo M-R/RT HAs

I had an old pair of Phonak Audéos which I bought a little over 5 years ago. The Audiologist could no longer adequately match the output from the old Phonak HAs with my Hearing test graph (hope I am using the right words here) and recommeded replacing them.

I have the new pair on loan for two weeks before I have to decide whether or not to pull the trigger and purchase them. They have three programs: AutoSense OS 3.0, Speech in noise 1, and Music 1.

They pair with the Phonak Remote app on my iPhone and I can either use the iPhone or the “rocker switches” on each HA to change programs, to adjust the volume up and down, and to take phone calls over them, which is wonderfully clear. I can also stream anything from the iPhone: podcasts, music, etc. Very nice, indeed.

I am posting this to ask any experienced users if there is anything in particular I should be focused on, anything to tinker around with, etc., to insure that I totally understand and can benefit from all the functionallity offered by these new HAs.

Thanks ever so much!

I am 2/3 weeks in with my M90’s having come from B90’s and Audeo Yes IX previously.
So far I am VERY impressed and love using the TV Streamer as well over the old icom.

I have nothing negative and find the new software to be an improvement on previous versions.

Drew.

How much did they quote you?

$4,500. Fortunately, I have excellent insurance with it comes to HAs (not so excellent when it comes to dental) and they will pay $2,000 of that.

First problems/observations.

I have the HAs paired with an iPhoneX.

The bluetooth range of the HAs is much more limited than when I use iPhone with Apple’s AirPods.
With the AirPods, the BT range is, line-of-sight, 50’ or more. I.e., you can be 50’ or more away from the iPhone and still have excellent connectivity. With the Phonaks, it’s more like 15 to 20’.

Problem: When I go to iPhone > Settings > Bluetooth, the screen there shows

L-Phonak - Not connected

R-Phonak - Connected

No matter what I do, I can’t get the screen to show the L-Phonak as connected BUT I nonetheless hear incoming calls, podcasts, over both HAs

That’s because only one HA is connected via Bluetooth, it then streams to the other ear. So it perfectly normal.

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Maybe you know my answer then.

When I play music from my phone, both HA are playing the music in good quality.

When I make a phone call, the voices are bad like I can’t understand what is said. But when I move the phone to my ear, the voice become clear. Again, but only one HA is playing the phone call. The right HA if the phone is next to the ear. The left HA if the phone is next to the left one

I can’t tell whether there a bug in software or HA settings need to be adjusted. I’ll definitely see this upcoming week but maybe you know why while I wait.

Phonak customer service wouldn’t answer my questions about known issues or if there’s an available firmware update for the M90 R. I just started using them yesterday. :blush:

I also plan to do a side pet project soon with them… Maybe something open source firmware once I get the necessary tools ready. :wink:

Never thought of contacting Phonak Customer Servce. Are you doing that on the computer or over the telephone?

If by telephone, might I trouble your for the number and thanks.

Aha! Got it & thanks.

Other weirdness:
When I go to the Bluetooth screen on the iPhone X I see this:
L-Phonak Not Connected
R-Phonak Connected
R-Phonak Not connected

It’s as if there are two R-Phonak HAs.

I could choose the R-Phonak Not Connected and opt for Forget This Device.

Would this be advisable, or just leave it alone?

Thanks.

Why there are three bluetooth listing - Phonak Marvel FAQ

Contact Us or 1-800-679-4871

^^ Watch how you word your question because if it involves an Audi, they won’t give you an answer except “You should see your Audi about this.” — They know the answer. I had to reword my question for them to partiallly answer, although I got the idea.

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Thank you very much Sophie. I think I will try emailing them first and see how that goes.

Another question, if I may. It’s Saturday, I have emailed the audiologist, but no response yet.
Here was the question to her:
Pressing either the top or bottom button of the multi-function button on either HA only serves to raise or lower the volume, but not change the program.
When I was in the office yesterday, I could both lower/raise the volume AND change the program using the multi-function button on the HAs.
Can anyone with similar Phonaks provide guidance?
Many thanks.

The aids are usually set up to change the program requires a long (4 seconds or so) press of button, a short press to change volume.
You can also use the phone app to change programs.
Good luck

Thanks, that did it. Forgot it required the long hold.

Marvel Rechargeable User Guide

Marvel User Guide

Marvels Brochure

Thses might answer some of your questions.

Thanks once more Sophie.
The first brochure I had already downloaded, saved as a PDF, read and highlighted.
The second is for the battery-powered units.
The third, their promo brochure is chock-a-block full of useful technical info and I have bookmarked that URL.

Phonak Audéo M vs Resound II

Should I start a new thread with the above question?

I had a pal who has had hearing problems since the 1970s. Unhappy with his then-current HAs, he got a pair of Resound II HAs a few years back and absolutely swears by them.

My pal’s quote:
Bought the II’s from Costco because they were sooo much better than what I had, even though I had to personally pay the complete price (I.e., he could have waited a year or two and had his insurance pick up $2k of the cost). Costco’s price beat my very good audiologist by some $800.

I am finding the sound quality of my Audéo M-R to be a vast improvement over my 5-year-old Audéos but the bluetooth, which I will be using extensively because much of my job is done in my vehicle where I listen to podcasts, music, handle and create texts,deal with calls (texts/calls done while parked) is slightly, for want of a better term, wonky.

I solved one problem, in the vehicle, where a podcast would begin, but within 60" the sound to the HAs would stop even though the podcast screen showed the pause symbol, indicating that it was still playing. Checked volume controls, BT connection, etc., and all were good.

I solved this one by having my iPhone Forget This Device (i.e., the Car BT connection) and now podcasts work well in the car.

But, to continue, my pal says his Resound II are listed on the Apple Hearing page as compatabile with iPhones and the iPhone’s Mfi (the built-in Apple software for controlling compatabile HAs) and he reports that the Apple Mfi software beats the pants off the Resound BT app which he downloaded.

So, I am considering using these for a week, see how the BT works in different situations, etc., and if not 100% happy, going back to the Audi and asking to be fitted for a pair of Resound II.

Would welcome any comments.

The Marvels has Auto Sense, which is one of their main selling point. It’s an artifical intelligence component which senses the type of environment you’re in and switches to the correct program without the user having to manually switch programs. There are many pre-installed programs that are proven by company research to enhance the sound quality.

The pre-installed programs are listed in the Marvel Brochure for the Audi.

If Phonak keeps up with the software development, I wouldn’t believe these devices would be outdated for functionality for awhile.

Phonak will service and support their HA for up to 5 years. After that, they expect you to purchase the next HA.

The biggest question for all HA is how long the company plans to continue to provide updates to the software for the HA.

The HA becomes useless once the company stops focusing on that product and begin marketing a new HA with better capabilities.

One solution to this problem would be to have someone “jailbreak” “unlock” the firmware and keep it under open source as the community updates the code to their liking versus waiting for the company to update it or whether they will add a feature you request, which the company has every right to say no.

You should try as much different sound environments as possible to see how the Auto Sense corrects or enhances the sound quality for you. Loud, quiet, background noise, concerts, busy street with alot of vehicles, anything like that and see if you can understand or follow the conversation with the added difficulty and see how the Auto Sense handles that

The Phonak Remote app for Android is only as useful and full of features as the Audi sets it up. They have to enable the option on their programmer for you to use it. Or, like me, do it yourself.

Nice post, Sophie. Very informative, in particular the quote portions I have copied above.

I plan to try these Phonaks out for the week in a variety of circumstances (home, street, car, classroom, etc.) and see how I feel at the end of the week.