Oticon more - BLE Auidio LC3 support

Pixel 4a, Android 12:

I am hoping that More 1 itself would get BLE support so that ConnectClip could be removed. That would require having smartphone and laptop with BLE as well.

Maybe in the future but I don’t see it happening in the next year to two years. Personally I don’t mind the connect clip. But I don’t use it all day every day. It is there and available for me when I do need it.

I’d hazard that the 44.1 KHz rate is a ‘target’ rate too. You know when your TV/IPad is streaming a program and then your connection gets a bit ropey - the service gets downsampled pretty quickly. ‘Dynamic’ must appear in the standard somewhere.

On the ‘Sound Quality’ issue, I think you’re all ignoring the issue of impedance (mis-)matching in the canal which will have way more effect on the perception of bass than you realise; even the tiniest of vents rolls the low end right off. Also if you really think that someone with a damaged Cochlea is going to actually appreciate much refinement of a boosted 10KHZ+ band; then I have some expensive HDMI leads to sell you……

I’m not saying that manufacturers shouldn’t strive to make hearing aids to sound like the stereo in a Mercedes S-Class, but as noted above; the battery power trade-off is a significant price to pay.

A minor side note too: while most manufacturers use fairly common receivers, they will potentially be using their own ‘flavour’. With Knowles receivers there is an alphanumeric description: the first two letters are the model series designation, the next four numbers are the individual model number and the subsequent suffix indicates a potentially non-standard port/coil/response etc. It will be down to the engineering request from the ‘Big Six’ as to how they want that ‘flavour’ to go.

2 Likes

That’s exactly what I see on my Pixel 5a using ASHA.
IIt won’t change based on the Hearing Aid program.
Same codec in General program.
It should switch between ASHA & ConnectClip, as I stated above.

I want those HDMI cables!!
I’d be delusional to think I could hear above 8K with my loss.
I agree on impedance in the canal, as I’ve tried open domes with Hearos Ear Plugs stuffed in, and it sounds like a real Boombox!
The more occlusive the better for music.

As usual, thanks for your input.

1 Like

conclusions:

  1. MFI will support hands free this month: Latest Oticon Hearing Aids Support 2-Way Hands-Free Streaming for iPhone and iPad
    unfortunately I am android user. Hands free are not so big deal for me anyway.

  2. More probably will not support BLE Audio, as somebody here mentioned that platform is 2 years old. Also standard is not set yet, so we are probably looking for newer next generation hardware and are couple of years away from it

  3. One alternative I found for having conference on my laptop without clip connect is to stream audio from desktop to my phone. I used soundwire server (it’s free) but there are alternatives. Downside is additional latency of about 600ms. So it is acceptable alternative when I forget clip connect, battery is empty or CC causing issues. It is one way streaming from laptop to smartphone and then to More. Laptop microphone is being used.

Jeff Solum from Starkey says hearing aids will be hardware ready for LC3 in 2023 and he doesn’t expect audio sharing capabilities to hit the industry until 2024. Sounds like to me BLE LC3 is going to take new hearing aids.

1 Like

We can only hope so.

Hi, i connected my more 2’s last night out of curiosity to check if any firmware update was available and there was, I updated them to version 1.3.0. Not sure if this has to do anything with the new hands free technology mentioned in this thread? Can anyone confirm? Update notes were not sayng anything related about it though.

I can confirm version 1.3.0 enables handsfree calling with the Oticon Mores. I want to use my iPhone mic but now it uses the right hearing aid mic. Not sure how to disable handsfree calling.

Well that sucks. If I am in a noisy environment using the hearing aid mic more than likely will not be optimal and as a lefty using the right hearing aid mic isn’t optimal either

so, is Oticon More support LE Bluetooth ?

Yes Oticon aids are LE Bluetooth but not the new LE audio. Oticon aids work only with iOS deand Android ASAH devices. You will need the connect clip to connect every other Bluetooth device. To my knowledge only Phonak aids just classic Bluetooth

so theoretically they are ready for auracast?

ah, right, so no Auracast support

2 Likes

I trot this little factoid out every so often. When the Mores were released, the release material included the statement that they were ready for LE Audio- a claim that has not been repeated since. What could you do with this? I don’t know.

1 Like

if someone could tell what version of Bluetooth is More using, we will figure out

Hearing aid manufacturers in general have not been good at keeping their word. Oticon initially promised a ConnectClip very soon and it took well over a year to show up. Both Resound and Oticon promised LE Audio compatibility in earlier products and then reneged… There are no advantages to be a “bleeding edge” consumer other than being able to show up here and tell us it doesn’t work.

1 Like

Finding Bluetooth version is easy on Bluetooth.com Oticon More uses BT 5.1 so definitely not LE Audio compatible (wirhout firmware upgrades) but even if it were BT 5.2 or greater is no guarantee that it is LE Audio compatible.