Phonak introduces Marvel platform and Audéo M hearing aids

Maybe this is related

https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/03/bluetooth-in-iphone-xs-iphone-xs-max-reportedly-causing-audio-connectivity-issues

My take is that none of this stuff (wireless two way communication) will ever be “rock solid.” If you think it’s going to be, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Heck, even cell phones which are pretty mature technology have lost connections. Expecting perfection from hearing aid wireless communication is a recipe for disappointment. Being pleased and somewhat surprised and amazed when it works will likely lead to more satisfaction.

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Bluetooth communication between my last two Android Pixel phones has actually been “rock solid” as long as I was withing 30 feet of my phone. My Pixel phone connects reliably with two wireless headphones, three different cars, two wireless printers, two Android tablets, and 3 Windows 10 computers. And, of course, I connect reliably to my Phonak Audeo Marvel M90’s.

I realize that there can be Bluetooth interference problems from other devices like microwave ovens, wireless landline phones, anything operating on the same wavelength, but I’ve personally had no connectivity problems with my devices, even when I was recently in the hospital for two weeks.

As an aside, I haven’t used my wireless headsets since getting my Marvels, as the Marvels are actually better as they are adapted to my high frequency hearing loss! :slight_smile:

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I’m the reverse. Since I have open domes and good low-frequency hearing, I haven’t used my streaming devices except as remote microphones since I got my Microsoft Surface Noise-Cancelling Over-The-Ear Headphones. The earcups are large enough to fit over my ears and Quattro’s. The headphones play whatever to my headphones and to my eardrums directly. The high-frequency loss is compensated by being played to my ears through my HA’s and the bass played directly to my ears from the headphones is stronger than the smaller drivers of the HA’s could generate. The passive and active noise-cancellation of the headphones makes it easier to enjoy what I want to hear while in noisy listening environments.

Very interesting comment! Maybe I’ve been too quick to judge and return my Sony WH-1000XM3 headset I got for Christmas! It was such a revelation to be able to once again hear the sweet sound of the violins in a symphony orchestra! I still have my older Sony WH-1000XM2 noise cancelling headset, so based on your comment, I think I’ll give it another try. I may very well be going back to Best Buy to get the XM3’s again.

I have several Microsoft Surface computers and haven’t heard the Microsoft headset. Have you compared them to the Sony?

Mark Chambers started a great thread on headphones and music. According to an NPR article by an NPR sound engineer I linked in the thread, the NPR guy feels that if you have good hearing, the best headphones to use are on-the-ear, not over-the-ear, headphones because he says some of the lower frequencies will leak out and come back to your ears and give you more a sense of spatiality. And the sound quality is better if the headphones are non-noise cancellling.

for a very limited set of 14 HA users who took a poll in that thread, the preference was for over-the-ear NON- noise cancelling headphones.

So I guess I’m different.

The Sony 1000mx3’s from a number of reviews are currently judged to be the best over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones both for noise cancellation and music quality. Most reviews judge the Microsoft effort to be an also-ran. I got mine because I’m a “Microsoftie” type of guy, I liked the dial control of noise-cancellation and volume, and I mostly listen to talk podcasts so music quality was not much of a concern for me but adequate noise cancellation was. With HA’s with open domes, I couldn’t enjoy my talk podcasts in noisy environments as much as I could by just wearing earbuds or over-the-ear headphones (without ANC).

If you search the forum, you’ll find most people are happy with ANC headphones. If you’re a true discerning audiophile and listen in quiet environments, you may not want the ANC. Perhaps if the store has the right setup and demo models, you can try stuff out in the store and play “noise” through your phone and see how they work in store before going through all the trouble of a second purchase and any further disappointment?

Apparently there’s a BT protocol inconsistency that may be neither side’s fault. But Phonak’s solution, having the fitter set whether you can use those iPhones or everything else, is good only as a stopgap. IMO here is what they should do:

Use a stable set of BT features to connect the app to the aids, so the app will work on all devices. Allow the app to connect from multiple devices concurrently.

Have the app show you which devices are paired to the aids, and let you say if a device is an iPhone XS etc. that needs the new protocol for calls and streaming. Also, and this is important, include a feature to let you say “I want to stream with this device now. Don’t let any other paired device interfere.”

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Boy I like your picture of new molds. Couple questions - is the 'receiver" still located in the mold itself and if so does it fit in the narrow tip section? Am I also correct that the outer ear section of the mold is completely clear? And these new new molds are for the Resound Quantro?

Its been a long time since I’ve seen a custom HA mold (with receiver inside) that is actually 60, 70% clear.

Here is the clear soft silicon mold for the Widex Evoke. You can see the receiver in the mold. So much better than domes —at least for me.

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And no occlusion with those molds? I think I’m going to have to get customs, because domes have just never worked for me. Last customs I had made for RICs were about five years ago and are hard, flesh-colored, and uncomfortable. If I could get a pair like those–remind me of my original molds with my first BTEs–I’m on board.

Though I am using a dome right now–not sure the manufacturer-- that is large and flared but has two cuts in it to better full the ear canal. I can touch the tube and have the domes move slightly to completely close my ear to give me better bass, but of course then I’m occluded. But then I can touch them again to clear it. Handy for now, but perhaps not a permanent solution. :smile:

No occlusion. 0.8mm trench on left and 1.8mm on right. No feedback whatsoever.

Thanks. My audiologist did mention the possibility of custom molds, and after seeing your pics, I’m going to go for it. What’s a few hundred more after paying for the Marvels? :wink:

They may be included in the package. Mine were.

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I’m posting to recognize quite an achievement for the Marvels here.

This thread was started in Oct of '18. There are now three threads that have surpassed a post count of over 600 posts. One about the KS6 that went from Apr of '15 to Aug of '16. So about a year and four months. Another Phonak, the Spice went from about Sep of '10 to about Dec of '11 so about a year and three months.

This thread has surpassed those in just around 3 months. Wow.

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Hi Craig

Yes receiver is in the flesh color shell tip (acrylic), they are on Resound Quantro. The clear part is the open skeleton lock to hold them in-place. I have issues HA’s backing out then get feedback… On prior Siemens/Signia Pure had soft Silicone but after 6 month started to turn yellow (not cleanable). They were very comfortable, but moved to acrylic to keep from replacing… Now thinking of giving soft silicone shell’s a try on the Phonak Marvels.

The rechargeable battery’s good getting to 50% at 14-15 hours usage with streaming

You are using the Quattros, not the Marvels, right? I found music much more pleasant coming from another source with the Quattros. I know we’ve debated this, but I wonder what you would think about actually experiencing the sound from Marvels during streaming. There is a big difference in my personal experience.

Open domes or not (I tried various).

When you say you are using headphones with your HA, it would be good to point out that your HA are Quattros since this is a Marvel thread.

Oh my, I just noticed this opus of a thread. :slight_smile:
Apologies in advance, but I don’t have the patience to read the entire thread. I bought the Marvel 90-312 3 weeks ago and am a very happy camper… save for the problems with the mic on the HAs when using with the new iPhone. The caller can’t hear me after a brief connection. I spoke with Phonak CS and was told it was a known problem and they are working on a fix with Apple. Someone else said they had no problems. Is anyone else using these problem-free with an iPhone XS or XR?

Addresses a few posts above.

At the right there is an up arrow to the far right next to a downward V. Click the up arrow to go to the post.

18-10-57-10

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Opus :slight_smile:
Yes. It’s a known problem. dbmtx or something seems to have first noticed it.

Yes, Marvel vs. Quattro is a possible point. But I think a far more important point (that almost makes Marvel vs. Quattro irrelevant) is noise leaking in through open domes and how noisy an environment you HAVE to be in when you are listening. And relative to that (the main point of the discussion, from my point of view), if you have open domes, no matter what your HA’s, you can’t beat noise-canceling headphones to get rid of at least steady droning noise and to clamp down heavily on sudden acute bursts of noise. Some may claim otherwise with their HA’s, whatever the brand, but what HA is rated for dB of noise reduction?? Reviews say that the Sony 1000mx3’s have set a new standard for noise reduction. You don’t hear complete quiet but there is a background aura that one reviewer equated to the sound level in a very quiet concert hall.

So what I was advising TraderGary on was, if he has open domes like me, or maybe even molds, and he plans on listening in a noisy environment, he might find wearing some excellent brand of over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones superior to streaming through his HA’s, mainly for dealing with the noise at potentially some very modest cost to music quality vs. what some claim in the gold standard listening experience, on-the-ear wired headphones, which probably won’t work very well with BTE HA’s because of mic position external to the ear, etc.

I hope that anything that I posted came across as a potential option that TraderGary or anyone else has to determine for themselves. As the various comments in the thread Mark Chambers started on music and headphones show, the optimal listening experience is a very complex problem not likely to be solved by just a set of HA’s, no matter what the brand or model. And what one prefers to do might vary considerably according to the environment one is in.

I have read a post or two in this forum where some folks (rare) prefer to take their HA’s off and use the equalizer function of headphones to ~adjust for their hearing losss and just listen that way.