Phonak introduces Marvel platform and Audéo M hearing aids

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#205

Thanks for checking it out. I have every expectation it should work of course. It’s just nice to confirm these things and not just go on trust alone.

What’s that site that you found?

Stereo can be tricky to detect. Early Beatles stereo had a couple instruments on the far left and a couple on the far right. Modern simpler stereo songs generally sound like they’re coming from the center. You might hear subtle little things on the left or right. And then there are things like Pink Floyd where some sounds are swirling and panning from left to right crossing center in the process. Like say the running guy in Dark Side of the Moon or the bomber.

Mono can kinda sound like stereo because it sounds like it’s coming out of both sides but it’s really just the same thing copied to both sides and then it sounds like it’s straight down the center. Center is when it sounds like it’s directly in the middle of your head (with HA’.s or headphones on :slight_smile: )

How’s it going with phone calls? Have you had a chance to try that yet?

#206

If you google songs for testing headphones and soundstage, you’ll get lots of good suggestions. Have really enjoyed this with my recently acquired earbuds.

#207

I’m still waiting for a solution from Phonak. My audiologist’s rep tells her it should be tomorrow as Phonak is waiting on info from Apple. I sense some finger pointing is going on. Not my first rodeo in having “just released” technology. This time it’s both my iPhone and hearing aids together. We fight on. Overall I’m VERY impressed with the Marvels.

3 Likes
#208

does only streaming stereo or hearing via microphone is also stereo?

#209

I was directing that question to Keithr. I think he has an Android.
Thanks for the update. :slight_smile:

I’m not an Apple guy so I was interested in your difficulties and am quite pleased with Phonak for not drinking the Apple koolaid and not getting in with mfi.

1 Like
#210

dbmtx@ the stream is binaural for audio maybe the stream for phone calls works that way.

Check out the link from cision quite interesting.

Will Android Audio Streaming for Hearing Aid (ASHA) support hands-free calling?
#211

Hi,

If you just google “stereo test,” you’ll find a lot of them. The one I used was "Left / Right Stereo Sound Test (Online) - AudioCheck.net . The exact URL appears to be Left / Right Stereo Sound Test (Online) .

Yes, mono and stereo sound very similar nowadays. In the ones I mentioned, most of the music was in the center but I found the occasional instrument on one side or the other. I’m going to have to track down some Pink Floyd, because you make it sound really interesting.

As for phone calls, I haven’t had a chance to test them yet. I don’t get a lot of phone calls, but I’ll see if I can get my wife to help me test sending and receiving calls.

#212

:rofl: I’m with you!

#213

It doesn’t seem to matter (or help). This is turning out to be nothing but frustrating.

I followed your suggestion and tried shutting down my phone and tablet. I was still unable to connect on my PC. I shut down the PC and tried the tablet again. Now I couldn’t connect to the tablet. I shut down the tablet and tried the phone. Now I can’t even connect to the phone!

Sometimes the hearing aids are found and identified as “Unknown device.” Sometimes they display something that looks like maybe a MAC address (e.g., “74:C9:76:19:D7:A7”) . Other times I get "R-Phonak hearing aid"and “L-Phonak hearing aid.” Sometimes I’ll get something like “Failed to pair.” Other times I’ll get “Pairing rejected by 74:C9:76:19:D7:A7.”

Interestingly (and frustratingly), I tried some more and was eventually able to connect my PC to the right hearing aid, but not the left. I’m able to choose it as an output device, but I’m not getting any sound.

My streamer and my smartwatch connect immediately without my intervention, but now I’m stuck with three devices, none of which I can get to connect to my hearing aids. :unamused:

#214

Sorry. Assuming your avatar was something resembling you, I had imagined you’d be very familiar with early Beatles and Pink Floyd. And certainly Dark Side of the Moon as being a wildly popular Pink Floyd album. I chose those two for their popularity. There’s lots of other music that can demonstrate stereo.
The early 60’s was the beginning of stereo so the recordings were rudimentary and also the sounds were recorded and then overlayed on each other as there were barely 4 tracks available to use and then finished out on two for left and right. Some so-called stereo was actually mono with a slight time-delay echo or reverb on the other side that gave it a slight stereo-y feeling.

#215

Now I come from a punk rock/new wave background, and have grown into an appreciation for classical, but I have to say, you haven’t lived if you haven’t listened to Pink Floyd.

1 Like
#218

Sooooooo… Currently, my Phonak Audeo B-Direct aids are paired with my Samsung S9, and by 2 separate TV streamers to our big-screen TV and the laptop where I’m sitting.

Are you saying that with the Marvels, I can only be paired to ONE out of these three devices, and that every time I want to stream to my phone, (which would definitely be my default!), the laptop here or my TV I’d have to run around and re-pair the aids to that device (requiring me to manually remove the aid, open the battery door, close it and put it back in my ear).

If that is truly the reality, I am beyond S T U N N E D. That would be (once again) like the perennial “bad joke” of new HA releases where the manufacturer offers ONE improvement (i.e., being able to stream to both ears on the phone) by removing MANY other necessities (like staying paired - even when not using - multiple devices).

Please tell me this ain’t the truth … cuz I’d seriously cancel my Marvel trial.

#219

Yipes! It sounds like the Marvel is extremely unstable in pairing to any bluetooth device. I occasionally get some odd pairing results like you have experienced (i.e., “Unknown device”) but as for pairing with the Samsung S9, both my old Oticon Alta Pro aids and these Phonak Audeo B-Direct aids are paired A-OK so I can wear either aids and just stream calls with my phone. (Note: I’d have to put on the StreamerPro necklace to stream calls to my Oticons, but at least that comes in STEREO to both ears).

Geez. I was really looking forward to next Wed and getting to trial the Marvels. I would not be happy if these 1.) can not be paired to more than a single device at any one time, and 2.) are extremely unstable in pairing with any device that is bluetooth-enabled.

It would be a deal breaker for sure! Could it be that Marvel was rushed to market with NO user group testing it in the very basic ways that you are doing? Astounding.

#220

Please reread my posts. These devices are not unstable. And you do not have to re-pair every time you move from one source to another. You can only connect to one at a time but you could be paired to hundreds if you so choose.
The issue I’m having is a very narrow issue having to do with the Apple XS series of smartphones. And Phonak is aware of it and is working on a correction. Other that this, I am extremely happy with mine and I’ve been an MFi user for years.

3 Likes
#221

No no, It’s some faulty information that I got from a rep (given to a whole room of very puzzled audiologists, frankly), which sounded outlandish to me and turns out to be untrue. I should just go back and delete that post, really, so that no one else is confused.

Had some time to play around with a set today. Streaming sounds great. Car is shockingly quiet (I have to mute the HA mics when I’m streaming in the car with the Opns). Cannot find a dome that is comfortable, but that’s normal for me; I’ll just yank my tips off of the Opns and jam them onto these. Phone call in quiet no problem for the other person (slight echo), phone call in noise difficult but that doesn’t seem unreasonable. Zero connection issues with iphone 7. Nice volume buttons, but the volume itself is doing something bizarre with the expansion when I turn it up.

#222

I’m glad you’ve been successful connecting to iPhones, but I have not had that same kind of success with Android or Windows. I don’t know if “unstable” is the best word, because they work well (and are stable) once you get them connected. Getting connected has been my issue.

I’m not ready to blame the hearing aids completely, because I’ve had issues with Bluetooth and other devices. My old streamer drives me crazy trying to connect to the TV adapter. There are times when I try everything – multiple connection attempts, turning the streamer off and on and trying again, cycling the power on the adapter, re-pairing the streamer and the adapter – and I end up just giving up, because nothing works. If I try a day later, usually it connects immediately. And I have had ongoing problems connecting to two PCs.

As far as pairing to “hundreds” of devices simultaneously, you’re probably right, and I hope you are, but this is what the manual says on page 21: “Your hearing aids can be paired to one device at a time.” No wonder the reps are making this claim.

#223

For me, as frustrating as this has been, it’s not a deal breaker for me, because I don’t have a choice. I absolutely need new hearing aids now (after putting it off for two years while I waited for Android compatibility) and the Marvels are my only choice with Android. If I couldn’t hear or understand with them, that would be another matter.

Here are my latest (very strange) results. My Bluetooth settings show a connection to the right hearing aid (only) and the Remote app does not connect to either. But I listened for a couple of hours to Pandora music, and I heard through both hearing aids, and it definitely sounded like stereo.

#224

Unfortunately, that is true. Apple updates all iPhones right away any time an update comes out. We have to wait for the manufacture to make their modifications to the new OS and send it on to the provider, who then makes it available to us poor end users. As much as I like Android, that is a big disadvantage (unless you have a Google phone, in which case the process is streamlined).

#225

I was finally able to test phone calls, and the results were fantastic. Despite the fact that my phone and the Remote app don’t think I’m connected properly, both outgoing and incoming calls worked seamlessly. The hearing aid buttons answered, rejected, and hung up on calls just as they’re supposed to, and the sound quality was excellent on both ends.

If I can just get the Bluetooth issues worked out, I think I’m going to love these hearing aids!

2 Likes
#226

Sounds like a typo. Many people use the word pair when they really mean connect so maybe the manual writer did that. I would expect to be able to pair to 7 or 8 devices, at least.

It is very disappointing to be able to connect to only one device at a time. To me that just puts it in the niche category, instead of mainstream. I trialed a system like that, the Costco KS8 with the Smart Mic and I was turning Bluetooth off and on all day to connect to the two phones.

With the Costco Phonak Brio 3 and the Compilot 2, I answer whichever phone rings, and I can still stream from a laptop, all at the same time.