Phonak Marvels and Bluetooth... what would you do?

Hearing Aids
#21

Hey Bob, my experience exactly. The Compilot 2 just works and I know it connects to at least 3 devices at one time. I have it connected to my office phone, cell phone, and streaming from a tablet. I get a call to either phone, the streaming pauses while I take the call.

I bought a lapel Mic and plugged it into the Compilot 2. I keep the Compilot 2 under my shirt with just the tip of the lapel Mic showing.

I don’t think they will let the Compilot 2 work on the Marvel, but if they did, they would have the best solution out there.

The Roger Pen can do Bluetooth phone and it connects to 2 devices at one time, and pairs to 7 or 8, so that is an improvement. Roger Pen connection to Marvel should be available 3Q-4Q 2019.

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#22

Hi thanks there are some really interesting responses here.

Picking out a few things I’d like to clarify, the tv connector unless I’ve misunderstood streams audio from laptop to your aids. But where would the mic be for your voice to go back to the recipient? Would I have to buy a standalone mic or something as well?
At the moment I just use a headset with mic attached. Using the laptop built in mic won’t be an option due to the sound quality for the recipient.

The future roger pen option post firmware update… are my expectations (as far as we know now) correct in that the pen will connect to multiple devices (phone and laptop) and stream from there plus take in audio input to send back through the laptop mic? Just trying to visualise the setup .

Thanks appreciate the guidance :slight_smile:

#23

Of course! I didn’t think about your actually owning the stock! And me an active trader too.

#24

Hi Acton,
Overall I’ve been quite pleased with the Marvels. I’m retired and don’t have a need to be connected with more than just my phone and my laptop at the same time. To be able to do that the TV Connector attached to my computer works perfectly.

I’m a fairly accomplished classical pianist and I can once again hear the top octave of my piano! Streaming music to my Marvels from my Primephonic subscription any time and anywhere in superb quality is truly amazing!

1 Like
#25

my suggestion is this
Connect only to your Phone but use

#26

Axton,
I neglected to comment on fan noise and sound direction. Clicking on my avatar, you can see my hearing loss. Kate and I both got our Marvel M90-R’s on the same day and we both were amazed to hear the air conditioner fan noise being so loud. After a few weeks the noise receded to the background and neither of us notice it anymore.

As for direction of sound, we both have open domes and have never had a problem with where sound is coming from. I would imagine this could be more of a problem with closed domes or molds.

#27

I’ve had the Marvels for several months now. I also came from a pair of Starkey’s. I would say that before I really had a chance to get used to the Marvels, I thought a lot about how to pair these to other devices. I became used to the idea of needing to directly connect to devices or stream in order to hear correctly. I will tell you that the sound of the Marvels is incredible. Sometimes I catch myself looking around in amazement at sounds, like a person seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. I priced the TV connector and learned all I could about the Rodger devices, fully anticipating that I would need to purchase these in addition to the hearing aids themselves. I would tell you to use the hearing aids on their own for a while and I think you will find that they allow you to hear more like everyone does and that you will not necessarily need sound pumped directly to your hearing aids as much as you initially thought. The nice thing is however, if you do or want to have sound pumped directly to your Marvels there are a lot of options! the TV connector, Rodger devices, and I was told by a Phonak rep that they are currently testing a version of the firmware that will allow you to connect to 2 devices at that same time, so that may also be an option in the future. If your audiologist is up to speed with the Marvels and knows how to program them correctly, I would really recommend them.

3 Likes
#28

I want actually give a little bit more information to Airfoil because i not think that anybody truly has look at this thing.
However what you can do is that you install airfoil on windwos or your Mac and use that as one server to your sattelite apps which of coarse can be android or IOS so at that point you only needed to connect to your Phone and Arfoil server will stream what ever you like to your phone so there is only one connection needed to your Marvel and you can get multiple sources because you can use also the server as one intermediate device to pick up things from other sources.
On the sattelite app you can than control volume bass treble etc.

#29

I like Airfoil, the only issue is the delay, and it’s significant, about 1.5 to 2 seconds. The delay is not an issue if all you’re doing is listening to audio, but if you’re watch any sort of video Airfoil will not work. The truth is that if all I want to do is listen to audio, I’ll just directly use my iPhone. Because of this I haven’t really found any practical use for Airfoil on my computer.

#30

I just noticed this thread. I’m in a similar situation to you. I have an iphone, an android phone and a laptop. I use skype with my laptop for hours every day. I tried Marvels and could not put up with the bluetooth limitations, so I returned them and got Opns. Opns support mfi, so they connect to the iphone directly and they can be concurrently paired with a laptop or android phone (but not connected at the same time) using the connectclip. They also have a tv interface that connects similarly to mfi (using ble). The connectclip can be paired with multiple devices and it does not have to be re-paired to switch from one device to another. It’s a minor inconvenience compared to the single pairing limitation. In addition to the single pairing limitation, I also found that the Marvels frequently disconnected, resulting in me dropping out of skype calls. Since I use skype for business, the frequent disconnections were intolerable. I am very happy with my Opns.

#31

I’m in a similar situation, open office part of the time, home office part of the time. I don’t use Cisco, but I use Skype and Zoom. I’m demoing the Phonak Marvels. I have connected them on Bluetooth to my PC, and can use them for audio and mic for Zoom, but only audio for Skype. I have about half of my meetings on Skype and half on Zoom.

In general, independent of HAs, I have found that a wired device or wireless that device that is connected by USB (then connects to the headset using some type of 802.11) provides better sound quality and performance than a Bluetooth connection. Prior to HAs, I tried using a Plantronics Bluetooth connected earpiece that connected directly to my PC via Bluetooth, and the sound quality, especially the mic was not very good. I have other coworkers that use this, and they are always hard to hear, sometimes garbled. Also the range of Bluetooth is not that good. With my Plantronics Headset that plugs in on USB and connects via 802, I can walk to the other side of our office (probably 100 ft away) and still have a perfect connection.

So at this point I’m sold on something that connects directly to the PC. The solution @TraderGary is using (the TV adapter) is a good solution, it’s a direct connection to the PC. If I connect that way, I can use the HA mic on Skype. I thought that I would not be able to use my standard headset due to feedback issues with the HA, but that has not been an issue.

What I’ve been doing when I’m in the office is using my standard headset over my HA in the office. It’s consistent, and I know my mic is working well, so I will sound good on a call when I’m talking. Also, coworkers know I’m on the phone if they come up to my desk. When I’m home, if I’m on a call where I’m not talking much, and it’s on Zoom, I have done the direct Bluetooth connection to my HAs. I may end up picking up a second TV adapter for home use on Skype and Zoom.

For face to face meetings, the HAs have been great. We have a few “soft talkers” in our group, and I have been able to hear them. It’s been wonderful.

I’m still experimenting, but so far that is what I’ve settled on for work.

On a side note, this is my first set of HAs. I have an additional challenge, my daughter has Misophonia, which is the opposite of what most of us are dealing with, a hypersensitivity to sound, and a physical reaction to it. She can’t stand the sound of me eating, or the sound of the TV. So for years my wife and I have had to watch TV using wireless headphones. Now that I can connect my HA to the TV adapter, it’s like a new freedom. I love it. No more headphones while watching TV.

Keep us updated on what you settle on.

1 Like
#32

Target? Is this a setting I don’t know about?

#33

Target is the name of the fitting software that the audiologist/hearing aid fitter uses to adjust the hearing aid. Besides the software, special hardware is required. If you’re interested, check out the DIY portion of the forums. Search for PVC. Click on his avatar. Should be pretty self explanatory from there.

#34

Thanks, MDB. I’m sure i’d seen other references to using the Target software, but hadn’t paid attention because it wasn’t something I wanted to get into at the time.

Maybe someday!

#35

Thanks for the pointer to PVC. Unfortunately I cannot find any links to the Target software from his avatar. Is this a recent change or am I missing something? Any other source of the software you could point me to? Thanks.

#36

Yes, this is a recent change. PVC seems to have taken his ball and gone home.

#37

You got a chuckle out of me with that.
Made me think of an old movie.
I am worried about him. He hasn’t been himself lately.

#38

I thought I’d seen everything in forums over the years, but the wholesale post and thread deletion, and all the thread re-titling by a contributor is a new one for me. It’s a loss to the forum, and if PVC doesn’t relent I’ll probably post something myself to help the beginners with DIY.

1 Like
#39

Yep,
As far as the DIY forum it’s bad. The threads that have been locked were not only PVC’s but many other members who participated. Many of the pros also helped. He did organize them which was a major feat.

He and I joined this forum about the same time. I don’t remember if he or I first started self programming. He has been a major help to me and many many others. Hopefully the issues will be fixed up soon.

2 Likes
#40

Hi there just revisiting this if I may… the phonak update convinced me to go for it so I’m now trialling them.
My current challenge is that my laptop does not have a native built in Bluetooth connection. Is there a specific dongle I need to buy for this or will any do? Does anyone know?
Also, would this connection allow for the mic on the phonak to work the other way in addition to streaming the audio from the laptop to the aids?