Phonak Marvel bluetooth PC connectivity issue

Hearing Aids
#1

I’m trying to connect my new Audeo Marvel 90-R hearing aids to my PC so I can stream music/audio from there, but I’m running into an issue.

I restart the HAs, and search for bluetooth devices on my Windows 10 PC. It finds both the left and right HAs and pairs to them…but it pairs as a generic device, not an audio device. Which means that even though I’m connected, Windows doesn’t see them as an audio device so I can’t send them any audio. Pairing them to my iPhone works fine, and I can stream audio from there as I’d expect.

One other maybe-clue is that it looks like they’re pairing as a BTLE device, not a Bluetooth Classic device.

Anyone else run into this? Googling so far isn’t very helpful, and I’m seeing the same behavior on two different PCs (both my desktop and my laptop). Thanks!

1 Like
#2

I’m following the matter. My laptop doesn’t recognize it as an audio device even though I did Marvel 2.0 update. OS Windows 10.

#3

Interesting – I haven’t done the 2.0 update yet because my audiologist didn’t have the updated software on her end to do it yet. I was hoping the new firmware would fix the issue but apparently not. :frowning:

#4

Only one hearing aid should show up as an audio device. The fact that both are showing up does suggest the Bluetooth LE connection the Marvel uses for app control and programming is going into discoverable mode.

Marvels can only be connected to one Bluetooth audio device at a time. If you are paired to another device for audio streaming (e.g. cell phone) you’ll have to unpair from that if you don’t have the latest firmware, or if you do have the latest firmware you will need to switch Bluetooth off on the phone.

#5

Success, thanks! It was discovering the BTLE devices. I had to go into my iPhone and forget the Bluetooth Classic R-Phonak pairing that it had (50/50 chance vs the BTLE iPhone pairing that has the same name!), and then it showed up as an audio device to the Win10 PC. Just forgetting the HA from the myPhonak app wasn’t sufficient, presumably because those are just disconnecting the BTLE connections.

Unfortunately, there’s a pretty significant audio delay, probably 300ms or so, so I’m not sure how usable it is for anything realtime…

#6

I’m having the same connectivity problem - but with my phone (Android Samsung S10). The Phonak site says to uninstall and reinstall MyPhonak, which I’ve done now 10+ times. I can connect to MyPhonak, but can’t connect to my S10 except as a generic device, which means I can’t use it for phone calls. Help?? I tried connecting my HAs to my PC last night, and thought that might be causing the problem, so I deleted that pairing.

#7

It’s a bit confusing, because it seems like some devices (like my PC) can connect to both the individual hearing aids via BTLE, and also to one of them via Bluetooth Classic (which then sends data to the other to give you stereo sound).

My issue was that I wasn’t completely disconnecting the Bluetooth Classic connection from my phone, so even when I restarted my HAs and they went into pairing mode, it wasn’t available to my PC. So I guess I’d say to make sure that all BT connections are fully unpaired from anything else.

2 Likes
#8

Hey Marral

There are two separate pairings you need to do, one for audio streaming and another for app control.

You’ve already done the app pairing you just need to complete audio pairing.

Switch both hearing aids off and on and jump over to the Bluetooth menu on your cell phone and scan. Only one device will show up as an available Bluetooth device, tap on it and it should pair in a few seconds. This will complete pairing for audio streaming.
Even though only one device is paired it will stream to both ears. You will also see three devices in the Bluetooth menu, this is normal so don’t delete any of them

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#9

Thanks, bigaltavista. I’d tried that (repeatedly), but after reading your post, I thought I’d give it one more try. Turned HAs off, and they wouldn’t turn back on. After a bit of head scratching, I thought I’d just put them in for a few seconds in the recharger (they were sitting about a 70% charge left, so I knew that wasn’t the issue - but one never knows). Well, after a few seconds, I took them out, and voila! the BT pairing (for phone calls) worked! Not sure why . . . maybe putting them in the charger is like a “hard” reboot?

#10

It is possible to place the rechargeable Marvel devices into a stock mode (very low power state designed for when the hearing aids are sitting on a shelf or in transit) by pressing and holding the lower button for 10 seconds.

When in this state the devices will appear to be unresponsive. You can exit this mode by placing them into a charger.

It sounds like you might have accidentally put them into stock mode.

Sometimes Bluetooth connection problems can be caused by low battery charge but this is more of an issue with the 312 Marvel models.

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#11

This was my issue too - I had to forget from my phone to have the audio device show up in Win10

However audio lag is awful and sound keeps dropping in and out… when connected it is like the hearing aid disconnects until sound is played… when sound is played it turns on and plays the sound… a power saving feature but if you want constant sound it doesnt seem to work well…

#12

I have the Marvel 2.0 update and I no longer have to “forget” or “un-pair”. I remain paired to both my PC and my phone. When I want to go from one to the other, I now simply choose “disconnect” on the device I’m leaving and “connect” on the device I’m going to connect to. It works every time! It’s now simple and quick to change devices. I’m also not experiencing any discernible sound delay.

#13

I’m rather leery of getting that update, or getting a different phone. The M90s work so well with my LG G6, even outdoors, that it seems like they were made for each other. Even their mottos Phonak = Life is On; LG = Life’s Good. I may come around eventually though. Hard to believe now that there was once a time when I hated the very concept of computers.

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#14

Wonderful, bigaltavista, you are the man! I have been searching for this fix for hours - so simple once you know, of course. Why couldn’t other places have given me this information.