Phonak Marvel Bluetooth

@donkramail, I had the same problems when I trialed the Marvel M90-R…static on phone calls when using a Moto G6 and poor reception if the phone was too far away from me. While streaming quality of music was pretty good, I found that the quality of phone calls and clarity of speech were not. I returned the Marvels and went back to Oticon OPN with the ConnectClip, as they seem to be a better fit for me, and I don’t have reception problems with my phone, even though I have to use a streaming device. Reception would probably be better with an expensive iPhone, but Marvels are supposed to work with Moto G6, per Phonak’s list of compatible phones–so go figure.

My wife Kate and I have an advantage for testing that few here probably have. We both have identical Phonak Audeo Marvel M90-R’s and we both have identical Google Pixel 3 XL phones. Our phone provider is Google Fi. At any given time Fi could be using T-Mobile, Sprint, or U.S. Cellular.

Of course Kate and I spend a good bit of time talking to each other using our identical phones and HA’s. The bottom line is that neither of us have ever had a problem with our phone conversations over the past three months of owning our Marvels. Our phone connections have always been good quality with no static or dropped calls.

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My wife and I each have had the M70-R’s for about 2-3 months now. she’s an Apple fan and I’m Android.fan.

She’s never had any complaints about phone conversations… I initially had comments that I sounded like I was in a bucket. My Audi made adjustments to the Microphone profile settings and I’ve haven’t had any complaints since.

What’s someone sound like when they’re in a bucket? :joy:

Rather similar to using two tin cans and some string😈

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yep, pretty much… I was told that there was a “hollow” echo to my voice… I’m not sure exactly what my Audi adjusted in the microphone profile, but everyone says call quality is much better.

Did you try pairing them with another phone to see if the audio quality was the same? The headset audio is lower quality than streaming, but the crackling sound that the other end is hearing is strange. I never listened to a recording of the audio, but I did get quite a few complaints saying that I was difficult to understand, as if I was talking through a tunnel. Did you talk to your audiologist about it?

Since I last wrote I did see the Audi. He changed a setting from variable band to fixed and solved the problem. Now if only I could say I am happy with the Marvel’s sound processing in noise. Speech sound quality is excellent. The problem I’m encountering is hearing that excellent sound through the din. In a quiet room they’re great, but this is the subject for another topic than Bluetooth.

Hi,

I just got the Marvel’s about a week ago. The sound when I connect to my phone for music was amazing. Then I paired with my computer and all was well. However the next morning all went down hill. The audio consistently sounds blown out. Like a cheap speaker. I have been in tech for over 25 years and cant for the life of me figure it out. I’ve narrowed it down that it has to be connected in headset mode. I’ve disconnected all devices and tried to pair and unpair a zillion times and it seems like it’s forcing it to connect in the lower quality headset mode. It even froze my computer, had to restart and uninstall/reinstall Bluetooth. The hearing aids are amazing and I’d love to be able to get that beautiful music back I herd the first night. Any suggestions?

Try this:

Press Start, then type Manage Audio Devices
You should see two devices for your hearing aids:

Hands free headset
Stereo headphone

You can set either to be the default device of the default communication device. Try setting the headphone device to be the default device. Then try youtube or something that gives you audio. You should be able to see which device is operating, using the graph on the right side.

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The problem I’m getting now is when I scan to look for devices only the headset shows up before I used to see a ton of stuff the right and left then the extra r for the audio. Also this doesn’t work on my phone. It’s almost like it’s stuck in headset mode. Even without them pairing my hearing aids sound low quality. I have an appointment tomorrow with the AU but I’m afraid she won’t know anything. She always didn’t know much about Bluetooth.

For your computer, delete any existing pairings.
Turn off both of your HAs.
Reboot the computer.
Go to Manage Bluetooth Devices. Turn off BT, then turn it on again.
Turn on both both of your HAs. Watch the list of BT devices on your computer and pair the HAs as they become pairable.
After they pair, your computer may tell you to reboot. (Mine does every time.)
Go to Manage Audio Devices. You should see two devices, one headset (hands-free) and one headphones (stereo).

Depending on what other audio devices are on your computer, you may need to change the default device to the HAs. If you look at the properties of the two devices, the headphones have higher sound quality and they are stereo. The headphones device should be the default device.

Unfortunately, the settings in windows 10 are pretty convoluted. Good luck!

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I have done all that about 20 times. No matter what I connect to 2 diff phones, 3 computers or a tablet it’s all the same low quality sound now. Make sure everything was unpaired and uninstall too when I switched. Also my HA’s without pairing and just normal sound full blasted with screening highs almost like it’s the most over compressed blown speaker sound ever. It’s really annoying. They were fine when I got them. I swear it went all down hill after they crashed my PC. They never worked right after that. Hopefully they send them back and they work fine. Thanks… I’ll let you know what happens tomorrow.

Sorry you’re having a hard time. There may be a problem with the HAs. Hopefully it will get sorted out.

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Hi Vee. I also have some issues with Phonak Marvel 90 Bluetooth – like the surprising single BT profile supported, but mainly the lack on a Streaming On HA button control to go with the Streaming Off.

However I don’t understand why this should be an Apple vs Android issue. I’ve gotten the Marvels working equally well with my Android Pixel 2XL phone and my iPad Pro 9.7 (though the new pairing every time is a pain).

And my Bose HearPhones can connect simultaneously and well with both the phone and ipad at the same time. What is Bose doing that Phonak can’t?

Marvels support HFP and A2DP. (Not HSP, but it’s an old profile, so not such a big deal.)

Not sure what your apple vs. android issue is. Since they use BT profiles (as opposed to MFi), there is no difference in the way they work on apple and android.

As for why they only support single pairing, that’s been beaten to death…

I know that these hearing aids require more power as they use Bluetooth classic and not Bluetooth LE. Phonak claims that they have it figured out with the hearing aids, but I haven’t heard anyone mention if these cause issues with battery life on the phone side. Has anyone noticed if their phone is suffering with battery life life compared with MFi hearing aids?

I also wonder how mush of a decrease in battery life one can expect after each ear of use? I know we don’t have this information yet, but I feel that the battery stats they quote will just meet my needs.

Today was a longer than usual day as I had an early doctors appointment. At 17 hours my M90-R’s gave me a warning that I had 10% battery left. At that point I cleaned them up and put them in the charger. I did stream music for a couple of hours earlier today. After 3 months, this is the closest I’ve yet come to running them out of battery.

Can you hear doctor easily in hospital large surface?tradergary

My first HA was fitted on 26Dec2018, so I’m still new to all this. I’ve been quite pleased with my ability to clearly understand speech in all circumstances with my M90-R Marvels. My Doctor’s appointment was an in-office checkup with my cardiologist. I understood every word he said!