@tenkan , can the TV connector be connected directly to the SoundBar? I cannot get my DVD player to run through the TV connector. Any help?
OK. Success, I think.
Found the PCM (Pulse-CodeModulation, I learned) toggle in an audio sub-menu. Clicked it and the aids jumped to life.
I put on a Marvel movie to check sound effects; the rear speakers from the sound bar worked as well as the front, and the subwoofer seemed to be OK.
I can control the HA volume only from the Phonak app or the aids themselves.
Thatās understandable, and Iāll get used to that.
With this setup, though, it seems I can control the soundbar audio only from the SB remote; previously, I could use the TV, cable box or streaming box remotes to work the sound bar.
Does anyone have experience fixing this problem? I suppose I could get a separate universal remote, but the sound controls on the remotes all worked before.
Thanks to all who responded with advice!
I think if it has optical out, not sure if all soundboard have this tho?
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Ahhhh, man this is one of the bugbears thatās so annoying, you fix one problem only for another to be rear itās ugly head! Sorry I canāt offer anything on this one.
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My hearing aid specialist recommended the TV Connector for my home theater, because he thought I would be able to get multi-channel audio and not just stereo as I thought, since it accepts Dolby Digital signals.
Before ordering it, I wanted to ask your opinion.
I was thinking of connecting it to my PCās sound card, an Asus essence ST: will it work? But above all, will I really be able to get multi-channel audio or Iāll get simple stereo audio?
Thanks to anyone who can help me
I attach images of the sound card
@Raudrive
There must be 3 versions then. I donāt know of the Costco version, but there are definitely 2 versions of the Phonak TV Connector:
- V1 has no on/off button, or physical volume control. No mention of Dolby either.
- V2 has an on/off button and a physical volume control.
I have 2x V1, and they work great. I have my main TV one on a smart plug, so I can disable it totally. My 2nd (in the bedroom) is powered from the TVs USB, so only comes on when the TV is powered up. Both work brilliantly in full stereo.
I have Roger devices that have TV base units, that have Dolby and volume control. I find them hit and miss regarding getting full stereo, so that concerns me bout V2.
Peter
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Thereās a V1.1 as well which was released after the V2 because they canāt get hold of the parts for V2.
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Hereās a comparison chart for the different versions of the TV connector.
Note: only V2.0 supports Dolby
What are three of those outputs? The red and white are analog left/right which will not be Dolby output. That will work fine for stereo input to any version of the TV Connector. What is the specific model number of that card? If thatās a digital coax output in blue then you could get a converter to optical. If those are 3.5mm (1/8") optical outputs then that should be no problem using that optical connection rather than the toslink. My optical cables came with a 3.5mm adapter to attach to the toslink. The V1.1 and V2 TV Connector is 3.5mm optical (and analog stereo). The V2 supports Dolby input.
It would be my uneducated conclusion that the hearing aids themselves will not give you anything more than stereo. It would be my uneducated conclusion that the output from the V2 TV Connector will not be surround. That it can take the Dolby signal on the optical input but then crushes it down to stereo to output to the aids.
It would be my skeptical conclusion that using headphones (hearing aids) canāt reasonably possibly provide surround. How could it. Itās two speakers immediately attached to the ears. Thereās no spatial surroundness to be had unlike speakers set around your listening area. Iām even skeptical of the simulated surround from some sound bars somehow doing magic with reflectance. But what do I know. 
I forgot to say that the card is equipped with a digital coaxial/toslink adapter so I can connect the card to the TV Connector with the supplied cable.
My doubt, as you rightly pointed out, is that even though the V2 is compatible with Dolby Digital, I can get multi-channel audio as my hearing aid specialist says.
This is why I was asking the opinion of some Connector owners.
The only āmulti-channel audioā is that the Connector will crush it down to stereo for output. The Connector can receive the Dolby signal but it will output that crushed down to stereo. Meaning all the 5.1 surround sounds will be output to the two left and right āspeakersā. Of course this all depends on the actual audio source going IN to the sound card.
I could verify all that by setting up my surround amp and then doing a sound check from the amp UI on a screen outputting a sound to each speaker and seeing if the aids play a sound from like a rear speaker. Not front left or right or center. It would matter more to test a rear speaker output. It would be in one of the ears but it would verify that 5.1 gets crushed to stereo. Thereās no surround, simulated or otherwise, in the aids themselves and again how could it.
Or someone here could do that with their currently set up system. Mineās not set up.
So Iām asserting all this from my own reasoning and understanding.
I would be very grateful if you could do some tests to see how you perceive the rear channels, but also the subwoofer
Iām sorry but Iām not going to go to that effort. Iād have to pull out the amp buried where it is, hook up a video connection to a screen, hook up the optical to the Connector, put batteries in the amp clicker, remember how to access and operate the amp UI.
As for bass, hearing aids can only go so low. I can do that here without the amp. I can perceive a pure sine wave sound down to about 50hz via bluetooth. Maybe a little less. Turning up the volume doesnāt seem to help. And of course hearing anything depends on the programming of the aids and ones hearing loss.
Maybe someone with a working, set up system would be willing.
Again, 5.1 should get crushed down to stereo by the Connector to send out to the aids.
Ok, no problem. I thought you had the system already connected, thanks anyway
Iāve been learning more about the TV Connector, but one thing is still unclear to me. While using the TV Connector, the main TV audio continues to play so that people near me can still hear it - but will I hear the main TV audio if I lower the volume on the TV Connector? Or will I be isolated from surrounding noise?
You can vary how much āenvironmentalā sound (which includes sound from TV speaker) by pushing the buttons on your hearing aid. (Top button increases TV Connect sound percentage, bottom button lowers TV Connect, increases environmental sound) Not sure how clear that was.
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