Thanks for the correction. I was misinformed. I will check out the closest Costco first hand.
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I really appreciate you taking the time to quickly respond. I previously had the Jabra ha and I suppose they may have worked well with an iphone, but you never knew what would happen when my android phone rang. The 9050 sounds like just what I need. Thanks again!
I appreciate the report on the 9050s and an Android phone. I still have KS9s, am worried one of them will have problems and leave me without aids for weeks. New Phonaks are beyond my budget, and I hate the idea of going back to aids that don’t give hands-free phone calls with the same ease. Of course the fact that the 9050s only do hands-free with a few new and relative expensive phones is a negative and for me just adds to the price of the aids. My phones have always been $100 Tracfones, and I like the one I have. But I figure first step is to try the 9050s. If they don’t help me hear better for starters, I don’t have to worry about a new phone. I returned the KS10s I tried for that reason.
You want to take a look at used unlocked phones sold on Swappa. Still more expensive then a $100 Tracfone, but cheaper then a new phone.
The Google pixels are relatively inexpensive and do have LE Audio for hands free. The 7 and 7A should get you into hands free.
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@bobbydigital16 Further proof Oticon and Philips are not the same:
This was just posted in another thread.
Firmware and software are mutually exclusive.
However, as @Volusiano mentioned, the value is the driving factor, right?
Heck, with the $$ you save on the 9050, you could buy a bunch of TVA’s!!
The Philips 9050 have a Music Program available which your HIS can program as an additional program for Music/TV. You are absolutely correct about the General program being tailored for speech, while the Music program dispenses with all the digital features used for speech only.
Doesn’t philips have their own branded TV adapter? This doesn’t mean the core hearing aid isn’t necessarily the same. Do I believe that it’s possible that there are differences? Of course. The fact it doesn’t connect to the Oticon branded TvA proves that.
Not necessarily a difference in hardware. It could be just a difference in software to force you to use the more expensive Oticon TV adapter with Oticon hearing aids?
Thanks! I DO use the music/tv program. I will see about getting that program tweaked a bit when I go in.
Very unlikely the hardware is different. The design and manufacturing costs are prohibitive (based on my 40 years as an engineer in the electronics industry). In addition, different hardware would require separate FDA approval. Most likely, the hardware is the same, but the firmware is (somewhat) different.
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The bold part above is the key differentiation between the Oticon and the Philips aids. The hardware and some peripheral software features are indeed the same, like built-in programs, wind control, sudden sound control. frequency lowering, feedback control, etc. But if one actually installs and reviews Genie 2 (for Oticon) and HearSuite (for Philips) core software features, one will find that the core features are quite different. They don’t have a one-to-one mapping like with the peripheral software features.
Perhaps an analogy is like with an automobile. The core engines might be of the combustion type (analogy to AI technology), but one might be of the rotary type while the other is of the piston type → this is the key differentiation. Meanwhile, the peripheral stuff like the cooling system, alternator, transmission, braking system, electronics, etc may be the same technology. Even the hardwares, like the car body, the tires/wheels, suspension, the styling, might be exactly alike, but with different colors and patterns.
So does that make them the same car? It’s up to the buyer to decide, I guess. It depends on whether you care if one is a rotary type combustion engine and the other is a piston type combustion engine or not. If not, then OK, you can call them the same.
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A concrete and important (for some) example is that if someone prefers using NAL-NL2 for the general program and DSL v5 for music, they can easily do this with the Intents. In contrast, with the 9050, users are restricted to the same fitting formula across all four available programs.
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A most excellent point!
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Ah, that may be the problem, because the 9050 uses the same fitting rationale for music as oticon, and it’s designed to mimic a specific sound profile which some people (myself included) really dislike!
You may wish to ask them to create a music program based on the general program, but with all the speech processing programming turned off. This will give you a better outcome.
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Thanks for the info! I am new with the HAs so have no experience of what is possible, what is not.
I hear you (pun). Let your fitter know what you dislike about the sound of music, and if they can’t tweak it, ask for the custom program like I described. They should be able to do it.
As for your TV streaming, I’m not sure LE Audio is completely ready for prime time, but @RSW posted in another thread an app you may wish to try :AudioRelay. Works with android, iphone, and windows.
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Volusiano has spent a lot of time on another thread explaining detail the differences between the firmware in earlier Philips and Oticon hearing aids. I can’t remember the thread, but you might search for it.
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My understanding is that you cannot yet pair the hearing aids to a computer until the manufacturer updates the software to include the new LE Bluetooth audio coding.