I was looking for a Soundgate for my Bernafon Chronos aids. The technology seems to be imported from its mother company Oticon. I am able to buy an Oticon streamer for 25€, rather a steal, if they can be coupled to my Bernafon Chronos aids with the Oasis software.
Does anyone know whether this is possible, whether it is as straightforward as coupling a Soundgate or just plain different technologies?
Thanks
But it does have to be paired by your audiologist using the Bernafon Oasis software. Check with them as to whether they know if it is possible. May be the same hardware repackaged, but the firmware may be different.
Even though they are sister companies, I was told that Bernafon could only be paired with the Soundgate and Oticon with the Streamer.
I have the software and hardware for programming. So that won’t be the problem.
That would be bad news! I’ll check with my local audiologist.
I think the problem you will face is Bernafon uses Oasis and Oticon uses Genie. Good luck!
I just called my audiologist and he said that the hardware is identical, but the firmware is different. The difference would only be a switch or number that actively prohibits pairing.
As the only thing that is registered in Oasis and my hearing aids is the identity string of the streamer device, that would be start for hacking.
I could simply hack that number in the saved programs and reprogram my aids with it.
If I were able to get upgrade firmware for both devices it wouldn’t be too hard to use a hex editor and start changing the firmware as to look like a Bernafon.
However, I can’t find the firmwares with Google. Nor, do I have the identity string of the Soundgate that was coupled to my hearing aids a long time ago.
Would anyone have a lead on the firmwares? Could anyone post a working identity string as displayed in Oasis?
I just got the deviice. It doesn’t pair, as expected unfortunately. My audiologist gave me Oticon’s Genie software. So it’s hacking time!
My audi says: “Not only are these devices identical but configured to block other brands, but the hearing aids themselves are also identical. The difference between a Chronos 9 and a Chronos 5 is are switches which allows features to be turned on and off!!”
Quite an eye opener. So I guess I should start looking into that, too.
The data that is programmed to the hearing aids can be found in the directory “programdata>Oasis>Database>#clientnumber>#SessionID”.
There are three binary files associated with a hearing aid: “Left Fit.bin”, “Left Logging Learning.bin” and “Left Sel.bin”. I’ve uploaded them here.
“Left Sel.bin” is a text file with acoustic data and In Situ audiogram.
“Left Logging Learning.bin” is a text file with 2 long strings containing the logged and learned data.
“Left Fit.bin” is a text file with the actual programming of the device. It also contains the line “Connectionstate : Disconnected”.
I expect this last line to change when you succesfully pair the Chronos to a Soundgate and I hope it will contain a ID string of the Soundgate. My mother will be getting a soundgate 2 soon, so I will update when I know more.
I got the Soundgate 2 today. When I pair it to my aids an extra section is added to the “sessions.ini” file:
[Rc]
Create Date=24.09.2014 21:16:44
Created By=Marije
Action Description=SoundGate
Name=SoundGate
Serial No=1037700
Private Bytes=111
Private Data=2014-09-24T211644\Rc.bin
It points to a binary file Rc.bin:
1f4
REMOTECONTROLDATA
{
REMOTECONTROL
{
DEVICETYPE : ID_EXT_DEVICE_PHONECLIP
DEVICECODE : 1074779524
}
}
The “Serial No” is the same as the one displayed in Oasis and written on the device.
So I tried changing the “Serial No” to that of the Oticon Streamer, but in Oasis it remained set to the value above!!? Rather odd, so I changed the “DEVICECODE” to another number, but the value remained.
The only thing I can guess is that the serial number is embedded somewhere it that very long hexadecimal string in “Left fit.bin” and “Right fit.bin”. However, it seems to change quite a bit between programmings of identical settings in Oasis.
So at the moment I am nowhere nearer to a successful hack. If someone can give me some pointers, I will be quite glad!
Does anyone know whether the hexadecimal code is indeed code, some assembler type or something, or whether it is just configuration?
Hey @markismus I trialed the Oticon Streamer but bought the Bernafon Soundgate. The 2 streamers did look similar but some buttons worked differently. I would be very interested in hacking if possible, for example I would always want to mute the mics when streaming which the CostCo Audio says can’t be done. Curious where you got the software etc…
You can have the microphone attenuation set to -12 dB in all your streaming programs. If that’s not enough, you can mute the mics by holding down one of the SoundGate volume buttons for 2 seconds.
I suppose you did this with different brands of hearing aids? If not what was the brand of your hearing aids?
My audiologist is a very kind man. When I told him that I understood that musicians were a niche too small to specialize in and that I was thinking of doing my own programming, buying the hardware from ebay, etc., he volunteered his old Hi-pro that was gathering dust on his mother’s attic. Gave me the cables and software, too. Asked me not to share the software on the web, because that could give him troubles.
There is a thread on Oasis 19 software on the forum, though.
I hold the volume button now @Rasmussen, I would just like it to default off which my Costco Audio says is not possible.
@markismus Yes I had the Oticon and the Bernafon aids. Is Oasis 19 the software for the Streamer or Soundgate?
It is the software for the Bernafon hearing aids. The Soundgate has no software. The Oticon Steamer has an update firmware program that is installed with Genie (Oticon hearing aid software.)