Please Help: UNDER-Whelming Performance from Phonak Roger On iN V2

Assistive Listening Devices
#1

I have a brand-new Roger On mic paired with KS10s.

It’s first maiden voyage into a noisy restaurant today was grossly underwhelming.

Lunch party of three. Roger On locked in Table mode. Roger On placed on center of restaurant table. I tried adjusting the Ambient Balance setting.

There was no discernable focus on voice conversation at my table. And certainly no discernable reduction of restaurant noise.

I heard every dish bussed from every table. Every fussing/crying toddler. The loud talker in a distant corner of the restaurant.

When I turned-off the Roger On mic in frustration, my hearing aids (in Restaurant program) did a better job of noise reduction on their own.

What’s my other basis of comparison? My used $60 Phonak PartnerMic does an exceptional job of filtering out restaurant noise and focusing on voice conversation. Albeit only one speaker at a time.

I’ve since downloaded the myRogerMic phone app but haven’t used in noisy environment yet.

My Next Action Items:

  1. Verify/update firmware for the Roger On mic
  2. Schedule appointment with Costco Hearing Aid Center to evaluate
  3. Return the Roger On mic to retailer within 30-day grace period

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

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#2

Heres what I do.

  1. I try to sit with my back to the noise.
  2. I have Noiseblock set to Strong on the Roger program (your pro will have to do that)
  3. I mute my mics so everything comes through the Roger On.
  4. I use the MyRoger app “pie” to only listen to directions i want.
  5. I position the Roger On so the usb port points to me. That way the pie slices make more sense.

I can hear about as well as anyone at my table. Sometimes i turn the volume down on the Roger On, in the My Phonak app.

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#3

Costco isn’t going to be of any help with the Roger On. I don’t know them well but I know there’s a way to make it so all the sound is coming from the Roger and none from the hearing aid microphones. Are you getting any indication the Roger microphone is picking a direction to focus on? I believe there are lights that indicate this? If no luck, you might see if there’s a local audiologist that could help you (for a price of course) Yes, do make up your mind within the 30 days.

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#4

Thanks Don, great tips!

I’ll ask the BC-HIS at Costco about the Noiseblock setting.

You the man, Don!

Below screenshot is from page 7 of Phonak Target 7.1 | Junior Mode Fitting Guide, attached.

Program Options

PH_Desktop_Fitting_Guide_Target_7.1_junior_mode (2021).pdf (1.4 MB)

#5

Thanks MDB. There was not an indicater of direction showing at lunch.

But after installing the Phonak myRogerMic app on my phone, I can now enable/disable each of six (6) directional zones in Table mode.

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#6

I find that the Roger On works best in the pointing mode in restaurants with the hearing aids muted. The table mode works if it is not too noisy. It it is really noisy, the Roger in table mode will just pick up and amplify all of the noise. Presenter mode is best if there are only two of you. Again, mute the aids so you only get sound through the Roger.

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#7

Thanks for the tips, raylock1!

#8

Sadly my experience is poor. Can’t get shut of background noise with the ambient slider.
Noise block set to maximum.
P70 UP.

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#10

Agreed on the Ambient Balance slider. No joy with the Roger On.

But that same slider is 100% effective with my PartnerMic.

Thanks for sharing your experience, michael1!

I’ll continue to post updates.

#11

I find all the Roger Mics (Pen, On, Select, Table Mic) a bit disappointing. I only use any of them in 2 environments: Meetings and quiz nights in the pub.

Sometimes they work extremely well, yet sometimes they just have a very marginal effect.

I’m sure they’d work if I positioned them more centrally in the room, but to be honest, that’s unlikely to happen.

Peter

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#12

The Roger stuff saved my, working, life. Without it my hearing had diminished to the point i was seriously considering retiring. It was a small boost but significant. No, I don’t hear as well as I used to. And, it did require a lot of experimenting, and using all the apps, and learning about all the settings and features. But for me it was definitely worth it. YMMV

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#13

Thanks for sharing the feedback Peter!

Given what I paid for that Roger On Mic… It should be streaming me the answers to quiz night at the pub. :grin:

I’m continue to post updates.

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#14

Thanks for the word of encouragement!

This Thursday PM, I’ve got an appointment with the Costco BC-HIS and remain optimistic.

I’ll continue to post updates.

#15

For me the Ambient Balance works brilliantly. I have Reverse Slop loss. Most people don’t know the Roger On can be programmed by the audi, same as the hearing aids. Keep experimenting.

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#16

Thanks P11! I’ll be taking the Roger On Mic with me to Thursday’s appointment.

#17

Hahahaha. To be honest, on the odd occasion it does, as it picks up some mutterings from other teams :wink:

#18

Gene, you sound like me 2 years ago when I got mine. I first used it in a Board meeting by placing it in the middle of the Board table. Since typically only 1 person speaks at a time, it worked great. I was now able to hear everyone in the meeting.

Then I tried it at my favorite sports bar with my wife and daughter. Horrible experience. But I realized that in a noisy situation like a restaurant that laying it on the table just picks up everything 360 degrees in the entire restaurant. So I lifted it and pointed it at who was talking, my wife or daughter or waitress. At the same time I discovered Ambient Balance and shifted the control so that I could block out the noise behind me. It took a few tries to get it right. But now we go to the same restaurant weekly and it works well. It can also act like the Partner mic by having my wife wear it in the car or hold it up to her mouth when talking so that I don’t have to turn my head towards her to listen. If I did it again, I should have had my Audiologist set it up better instead of figuring out the optimal settings myself.

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#19

Curious what Costco said. I’m guessing they didn’t want anything to do with it but you might have gotten lucky.

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#20

With most of the Roger devices, the best way to use them is either on the person or using the pointing mode. i know everyone just likes the idea of planting the microphone in the middle of the table and for everything to work perfectly, however physics still comes into play. This is why your partnermic is seemingly more effective than your Roger mic, place the partnermic on the table and you’ll have even less success.

There some program option changes your aud can change

(1) Ask them to switch the RogerDirect program to ‘dual’ mode from the program options screen. This lowers the overall boost to sounds when it gets noisier, and changes the noise reference point from the Roger mic to your hearing aids.
(2) Increase NoiseBlock on this program as well, however this will only work to improve lower frequency based noise (not sounds like dishes or voices).
(3) Deactivate hearing aid microphone on that roger direct program - this is risky as you will lose all awareness from the hearing aid microphones themselves when using Roger, but will ensure you’re only hearing from the Roger microphone itself without any other external interference from sounds around your head.
(4) like all streaming programs, Rogerdirect has a low frequency boost which can result in the perception of more noise when using the Roger microphone. It may benefit you to have them reduce that low frequency boost manually, but reducing the gain on the lower frequency channels for that roger direct program only.

You may also face the challenge of an aud that is simply not very well versed in roger microphones, as they are not commonly fitted at costco.

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#21

Frankly, it was a disaster last Thursday at the Costco.

Not only did the junior “specialist” make zero progress on tweaking the Roger On…

But also, she jacked-up (overwrote) the perfectly working PartnerMic program. Even though, I intentionally communicated such upfront. “Please make no changes to the PartnerMic,” I requested. “It’s working perfectly,” I reiterated.

My PartnerMic is useless now. I’ve never been more discouraged…

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