Phonak Paradise: Environment sounds are very loud in Phone-call for my call-partners

Hearing Aids
#1

Hi everyone,

today i had a situation again, where my girlfriend stopped the call immediately after experiencing very loud sounds from a driving car for example, or the birds screaming. I use an Android to make these calls. I know from other bluetooth headsets/earphones, that the quality of speaking is not like using a streaming mic on your desk, but is acceptable, maybe because they have some sort of filter algorithm for environmental sounds.

Now my question: Is it possible to configure the Phonak P90-312 in target-software, to use some of the many algorithms possible for the HA-user also for phone calls, so that my phonecall partners are not so hard distracted by my environmental sounds?

Kind regards
Michael

#2

Target software allows you to change the phone call algorithm. However, this is for what you hear. I don’t know what it does for the partner, though. If you’re fully connected with bluetooth, I think the mics used for the call are in the aids themselves, not in the phone. At least that’s so for the KS10, which is the P90 rechargeable.

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#3

yeah youre fully right, the aids microphones are used for calls, that is desired by me. But the configuration in those programs have no effect on what my partner is hearing, i tested it.

I dint know, why it feels like they used about zero options to implement noise cancelling for mic input. There are several mics, on both sides, optimal conditions to implement those.

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#4

My own 2-cents’ worth here: I wear Phonak Marvel P90s and have never had anyone mention the phone calls I stream on my Android phone as being painfully loud for THEM. Occasionally, someone will say they can’t hear me, and that’s typically when my local T-Mobile tosses my call into a 3G network (they’re upgrading all to 5G in my area). Very puzzling. I hope you get input and suggestions from others who’ve had to resolve that issue.

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#5

You’re audiologist should be able to turn on filters for noise in calls. It’s a computer setting I believe.

#6

Below is a screenshot from Phonak Target (my Naida P90 UP 675, similar setting I think).

The ‘-+’ hearing aid microphone, is how much ‘environment sound’ you want to hear while on calls (there also setting for listening to music)

So, relative to your phone call volume, you can go - DB’s to reduce external sound. You need to decide how much you need (and I suggest you be realistic about still being able to hear environment sounds like emergency sounds)

Target_Screenshot (Phone stream)
Target_Screenshot (Phone stream)1138×707 65.1 KB

And there is this setting (if its available on the P90-312’s)

Target_Screenshot (Phone stream-2)

#7

@BrBarry

I was told this was impossible as it would mean the caller on the other end, won’t be able to hear you if you turn the HA Mics off.

Knew it wasn’t true, haha!

#8

Definitely not true, because the -6 dB is my current setting (along with those other settings like noise block, and the wonderful WindBlock for while I’m walking and on the phone). It maybe true if you did turn them completely off. But, I have never tested this theory yet.

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#9

Yes, my setting is -10dB and mics still work fine for phone calls.
Need to try to increase wind block. May help when on the bicycle… Callers have complained as long as I have my head straight forward. Thats when the wind-noise is worst.

EDIT: I was wrong, -6dB is the max you can enter. -10dB is only possible for “normal” streaming.
The mics cannot be muted for phone calls.

#10

I think most of your advices only affects MY output, so that I can filter environment. But the question is especially, if its possible to filter for THEM (phone-call-partners). Its bad, when they quit the call, because they get penetrated from MY environment sounds.

Thanks for all answers so far

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#11

I think Michi is correct – this is the point of those settings, the environment sounds the HA wearer hears, not the sounds the other end of the call hears.

WH

#12

It’s not possible to do this on any phone anyway, landline or mobile, but it doesn’t make sense that Phonak would actually “amplify” the environmental sounds and then mix that into the speakers calls, I never liked the idea of the “hands free” double tap features anyway, and I now see that most of the other manufacturers are all trying to get in on this as well, it’ll be interesting to see if the others can sort this issue out.

#13

I’m trying to imagine what the signal flow would have to be like.
The hearing aid would have to have a whole new pathway just for phone calls: After all, the microphone signal must not be corrected for the other party, as it is needed for our hearing loss. And yet we would like to have corrections like windblock or soundblock for this path.
At the same time, however, the signal received from the other side must be corrected for us.
Probably it is quite against the concept of how the signals are processed: Mix microphone and received signal from phone, then correct and pass to the receiver.
So I don’t think that the settings for phone calls have any effect on what the other side hears.
Just a guess, I might be completely wrong…

#14

There’s also the problem of directionality. On a phone call you really want to pick up sound from downward, where your mouth is. Regular bluetooth earpieces presumably use a microphone with fixed directionality downward. Directionality of hearing aid microphones can be varied by the firmware. But since the pair of microphones is in a horizontal line, directionality is limited to varying by horizontal angle (azimuth).

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