I am off to get my first aids Tommorow and trying the Oticon More3, anyone use the Connect Clip with these and is worth the price?
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@mrchemo: Welcome to the Forum! It’s a great place to learn how to get the most out of your devices and HCP.
My ConnectClip is invaluable to me for:
- Hands-free phone calls;
- One-on-one conversation in noisy settings (used as a clip-on mic);
- Remote control of volume, program selection, and muting.
I’m extremely grateful and lucky that VAC provides me with my hearing devices and accessories, but I think ConnectClip is a good accessory, even out-of-pocket.
[ConnectClip is also good for a bit of craic: A semi-surly cashier once asked me what the thing on my shirt was (the LEDs caught her eye).
I also carry a walking stick, but only use it when my leg goes numb - so it’s obvious that I have mobility issues.
So … I ended up explaining to her (with a poker face) that it was linked to 911 in the event that I fell off the toilet and couldn’t get up. Her facial expression was one of awe … WOW!
Fiendish, I know …]
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It depends on several factors. If you use an iPhone (or iPad), it will connect to Oticon More (and older Opn aids) without a ConnectClip using the iPhone microphone to to pick up your voice. Similar for a limited set of fairly new Android phones - there is a web page at Oticon that lists the specific phones that work with the aids. If your phone is not on that list, you would need a ConnectClip to be an intermediary device between the phone Bluetooth and the hearing aids. When used, a ConnectClip is the microphone for the phone conversation - it has to be pointed correctly for optimum performance as it is an array that works best along the axis of the array.
If you wish to connect your computer to Oticon More aids for streaming audio or for things like Zoom, you will most likely need a ConnectClip as an intermediary between the typical classic Bluetooth in a computer and the MFI (Bluetooth Low Energy with Apple additions) hearing aids. A ConnectClip might also be useful with some VOIP phones (like the Cisco phone with Bluetooth in my office). If you need a wired connection to your computer, a ConnectClip is not the appropriate device but an EduMic might be (I have no experience with the EduMic).
So it depends on your particular situation and how you wish to use the aids. Other manufacturers who offer MFI aids also have optional devices like the ConnectClip to act as the intermediary between normal Bluetooth and MFI. Phonak aids use Classic Bluetooth (without the Apple MFI) so typically don’t need an intermediary device for non-Apple phones.
Some people with Oticon aids also use the TV Adapter 3 - it streams audio from a TV (or other audio source) directly to the hearing aids. I use one with Oticon Opn S aids, the predecessor to the More. Some use the TV Adapter 3 to stream computer audio but that device is one way so does not, as far as I know, work with applications like Zoom or Teams on a PC or Mac.
Note that Bluetooth connections including MFI are not always reliable as they are susceptible to interference and a host of other complications. That said, the MFI connection between my iPhone and my Opn S aids is usually quite reliable and so is the connection from my TV Adapter 3 to my aids. I use my ConnectClip but I don’t need it for use with my iPhone or Zoom or other things on my iPad. I do need it if I wish to send audio between my computers (home or work) and my aids. Note that a ConnectClip can be paired with up to 8 devices but can connect to only ONE device at a time.
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@biggar: Stuart, could you please tell me how (and explain why), I should clip on my device on a tee or other shirt without pockets, in order to orient the ConnectClip for best results?
Thank you.
@mrchemo: I really learned a lot from @biggar’s reply. My response is not so technically literate, but to rephrase what I posted above:
… the convenience of hands-free phone calls while driving, the ability to put a mic on a friend in a noisy restaurant, or close to the speaker at a seminar (Don’t forget it!), and to be able to change programs and volumes while I’m teaching - without touching my devices or taking out my phone - are enough that I could justify paying the extra for it, were VAC not providing everything.
Perhaps, however, these advantages to me are of little or no value to you.
Hope that this helps you a bit.
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The instructions for use and technical data sheet both refer to the microphone in the ConnectClip as directional. Page 22 of my printed booklet “Instructions for use” shows the proper orientation of the microphone (line of the directional microphone aimed up at the speaker’s mouth). It can be clipped to a garment or worn with a lanyard. The optimal distance (found in yet another document) is on the order of 6" to 8" from the microphone to the mouth. One other document showed a ConnectClip fastened to the neck opening of a T-shirt, again with the line of the microphone aimed at the mouth.
As I don’t have access to or haven’t been able to find real technical documents, I’m assuming that the clip actually has an array of some number of microphones. If the signals from the individual microphones are processed with phase information/delay, the array of microphones acts like a directional microphone which picks up sound best in a particular direction from the array. Note that this type of processing can be used for an array of acoustic sensors (microphones or SONAR sensors or hearing aid microphones), Radar (phased-array or electronically steered flat antennas), and other similar functions.
So, for best signal-to-noise as a remote microphone, the ConnectClip should be worn such that it is aimed at the speaker’s mouth and it should be fairly close and not hanging on a too long lanyard or clipped to a belt or put under clothes. Sound from an idealized “point source” falls off according to the inverse square law - that means if you double the distance from the source to a microphone, the signal is reduced by a factor of 4. Ten times the distance yields a reduction of 100. That is why a remote microphone works - it is typically MUCH closer to the desired signal source than the hearing aid microphones so the desired signal is typically louder than the sound environment picked up by the hearing aid microphones.
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I have the Oticon Opn1 and the ConnectClip. Since I have an iPhone, the aids connect directly to the phone for me. The ConnectClip has been invaluable for me to connect my aids to my work laptop. This helps tremendously with MS Teams or Skype calls, etc. I typically stream 3-4 hours worth of calls with it for work. The remote mic feature is also great.
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Another use of the Connect Clip that I find beneficial when traveling is to use an inexpensive bluetooth transmitter (such as the TaoTronics Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter and Receiver from Amazon) with the hotel TV.
I have it. its definitely worth it if you want to pair with any other device besides your aids, and the remote speaker is worthy. keep in mind your phone and aids will pair without the remote, but if you want to pair bluetooth with anything else (car, tv, laptop, tablet, ect) you will need the connect clip
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I am trialing the More aids and the ConnectClip. One thing I want to note is that my phone, the Samsung Galaxy Note9, is connecting with the hearing aids without the ConnectClip, even though my phone is not among those listed as compatible by Oticon. My phone is a couple of years old.
This means that I can get alerts for text messages in my ears without the ConnectClip being connected to the phone. I like this a lot, partly because it keeps my necessarily loud text alerts from disturbing my husband.
The ConnectClip, when it is connected to my phone (because I want hands-free during a call), has quite a lot of range within my house.
It is doing quite well connecting to my MacBook Air; I have the Sennheiser bluetooth dongle but it hasn’t been necessary. There seems to be no lag at all when I am watching a dance video. This is a change from my Widex Com-Dex, which has a lag occasionally (video ahead of audio).
It seems quite reliable too.
I do not like the fact that for charging, a USB-B (micro?) cable is needed rather than the USB-C cable my phone uses. Considering that USB-C has been “out” for more than five years, it’s unfortunate that the old style is still being used. USB-C does not require a right-side-up insertion, so I don’t have to squint and fiddle to use.
Also, I dislike the “long press” required to turn the ConnectClip off and on. I have some upper extremity sensitivities that make such actions hard at times.
I miss the easy “microphones off” feature of my Widex Com-Dex, though the kind folks here advised me that a long press of the down-volume button would do the trick.
I have a lot more to learn about ConnectClip, but despite my quibbles, I love having it. If I decide to keep these aids, I might actually buy a second one.
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I just got the More3 yesterday so testing to see how they go. I am a cookie bite in the mid range so now testing to see how they perform when in a restaurant or trying to order at SBX etc, the pesky screens, masks, AC, background music and then trying to order and hear what they are saying back! I go back next week to Audi to check on progress.
Seems like none of your quibbles are dealbreakers. I second that the ConnectClip has been invaluable, particularly with connecting to my laptop for work calls.
The quibbles are definitely not dealbreakers.
I have a ConnectClip that I no longer need (I have moved from Oticon to Phonak recently).
It has not been used much at all as I never got on with it. If you or anyone else in the US is interested in it please send a private message.