Apologize if this has already been answered - of so, please point me to the correct thread.
Just purchased a set of Cala 8’s from Costco. As most know you get a free micro-mic, clip or remote. Since I use an iPhone i have no use for the remote.
Here’s my question. If i’m going to stream TV to my hearing aids, is the Resound TV Streamer significantly better than using a generic BT streamer + clip?
I can get a generic streamer for under $100 whereas the Resound streamer is $300+/-. Unless the resound device is a lot better, doesn’t seem worth it.
I too have the Cala 8 and an iPhone, so don’t need the Clip for normal use. One use I did find was at a classical concert - I used it to change programs and play with the volume. You aren’t supposed to have your phone on during the concert, and I find pressing the buttons on the aids to be awkward, so I used the remote. And of course, I wanted to make sure it worked, so this was a good excuse.
Thanks for the reply. Is the volume control a true volume control or a program switcher? I’m currently wearing 6 1/2 year old Beltone Reach (Resound DOT) HA’s that don’t have a " volume" control, just multiple programs.
Plus and minus for volume control. It also can pair to any phone or Bluetooth transmitter. One nice use is to get a low delay transmitter to attach to the TV which lets you avoid the Resound TV product.
I don’t have Resound HAs but I didn’t realize that there’s such thing as a generic streamer that would work with most HAs (or maybe with just Resound?). I always thought that you’d have to buy the specific streamer designed for that specific make/model.
I know that sometimes even different brands are under the same parent company and there may be cross compatibility that allows streamer from one brand/model to work with another. But I never thought that streaming of HAs really follow any standard protocol that would allow generic streamers to be a possibility.
The Cala 8 's are have Bluetooth low energy (BLE) built in and will pair directly with a newer iPhone / iPad or with Resound’s tv streamer. TaoTronics makes a low-latency Bluetooth classic streamer for under $50. However, to use the TaoTronics I’d need to use the Phone Clip to get the signal to the HA’s.
I guess the real question is “Is the Resound tv streamer worth $400?”
Just by looking on line. Was going to discuss price with my Costco HIS when i pick up my new HA’s. Maybe i should have checked first:o - but that said - $210 vs $50 - is the streamer worth it?
OK, I fully understand now. I thought you were talking about a generic neck/or clip HA streamer as an alternative to the Resound Phone Clip. But in reading it closer, you’re just talking about using the (included) Resound Phone Clip as the HA streamer. It sounds like your TV is an older unit that doesn’t have Bluetooth built-in so you’re needing to get a Bluetooth interface/functionality for your TV which is the Taotronics for $50.
To me, the generic Taotronics $50 Bluetooth interface is not what you want to compare against the Resound TV streamer, because if you had had a TV with built-in Bluetooth then you wouldn’t even need the Taotronics in the first place. I wouldn’t even call the Taotronics a “streamer”. To me, a “streamer” is something that interfaces directly with your HAs, like the Phone Clip or the iPhone or the Resound TV Streamer. The Taotronics is not in that class because it doesn’t interface with your HA.
The way I see it, what you should be really asking is why do you need the TV streamer if you already have a Phone Clip streamer? OK, the TV streamer doesn’t require a Bluetooth interface to your TV, but the Phone Clip does (hence comes the Taotronics into the picture, since your TV doesn’t have Bluetooth).
I think the real question is whether the Phone Clip broadcasts to your HAs in stereo or in mono? Because it’s designed as a “phone” interface, there’s good chance they design it to be mono to save $. If that’s the case, then the TV streamer wins because it has stereo. But if the Phone Clip broadcasts in stereo to your HAs (and read stereo from whatever Bluetooth device), then I don’t see why you need to buy the TV Streamer. Just buy the Taotronics to use for your TV or laptop or any other non-Bluetooth device you have.
The interface protocol between the TV streamer to your HAs is probably the same as the interface protocol between the Phone Clip to your HAs, as long as they both broadcast in stereo to your HAs. So there shouldn’t be any quality difference between them in my opinion.
In my opinion, no. I have a low-latency device I purchased from Amazon that does a great job for clarity of speech.
To be fair, I have never tried the TV device. But the phone clip + and the Amazon device does do a great job for my understanding. If you stream a lot, you may have to plug the clip in if it start to flash low battery. I watch TV from bemostly and plug the PC+ into a charger and lay it on the night stand where it continues to function OK.
Thanks for all the input. Probably go with the phone clip and amazon streamer. The phone clip appears to give me more uses than the micro-mic, and to be able to stream tv for under 60 is a plus.
The PhoneClip+ is your TVStreamer interface (zero delay), your BT devices interface and your hands free phone connection. I know, I know about the iPhone connectivity. I have seen the streamer and clip bundled under $500. Check with Costco I believe if you bundle with your Cala’s they also have the same trial period.
I have the ReSound TV streamer and think it is worth the extra money. I bought mine at Costco for $210. Here are the thing that I like:
The Bluetooth distance range is amazing. I can go to another part of the house (like the bathroom) and continue to listen to the TV show.
You control it with the same Iphone program that you use to change HA programs, volume and bass and treble. So just have to tap the Iphone to switch the streaming on and off.
The Iphone program gives you two sets of volume controls, one for the TV sound and one for the HA microphones. That lets you mix in a little room sound if your spouse starts talking to you.
You get true stereo sounds. It’s like wearing a pair of stereo headphones, the channel separation is so good.
Live concerts on TV sound can sound incredible. PBS was broadcasting a remastered copy of a 30 year old Roy Orbison concert last night that sounded fantastic.
I figured I paid $1800 for the hearing aids at Costco, it’s worth another $200 to be able to hear the TV really well again.
I think this is the key differentiation here in my opinion. It hasn’t been established yet whether the Phone Clip streamer is in stereo or mono yet on this thread. Can somebody test it out? Youtube has plenty of videos for stereo testing.
I have a Bluetooth headset (Plantronics Voyager Focus) that is very interesting to observe: If I connect it to my computer via Bluetooth, I actually see 2 devices: PLT Focus Hands-free HEADSET, and PLT Focus Stereo HEADPHONES.
If I enable it as a headset, the sound quality is poorer and it’s in mono, but it uses the mic that comes with the headset which is a excellent mic.
If I enable it as headphones, the sound quality is excellent and it’s in full stereo, BUT it does not use the mic that come with the headset (I guess that mic is disabled because it’s in stereo mode). It uses the mic that’s built into my laptop (which is much less desirable quality).
I notice the same thing on another Sony Bluetooth headset I bought from Costco. In headset mode it uses the headset mic but sound is in mono and very poor. In headphones mode it doesn’t use the built-in mic but sound is in stereo and much better quality.
The point of all this is that it maybe likely that the Phone Pilot, as a phone/headset type streamer, may be operating in mono, in which case that’d be a good reason to buy the TV streamer. Somebody should test it out and share their finding here.
The cheap bluetooth transmitters have a delay. You would have to get one of the bluetooth transmitters specifically for TV. I have tried bluetooth to my Phone Clip and it works OK, but it is a little clunky to get connected. Plus, your PhoneClip cannot connect to more than two devices at one time and I already come up against that almost every day.
Then, the transmitter activates with a long press on the volume down button on the hearing aids, which is very convenient and fast.
I’ve tried both and the transmitter is significantly better, but you would have to decide for yourself. What is the return period on the transmitter? You could buy it and try it.
BTW, the transmitter does not go through the PhoneClip. It transmits directly to the hearing aids.
The Phone Clip can connect to any bluetooth transmitter (tablet, laptop, etc.) plus I use it at work to take all my calls and Webex meetings. It is truly wonderful for that.
I really hope for all that the Phone Clip (I had Phone clip2) today is built better.
I used the fire out of them and I would get maybe a little better than a year out of it.
I have moved on to Linx and don’t need it anymore.
Picked up my new Cala 8’s last evening but they didn’t ship the Phone clip. Have to wait a while for it to show up. As for the TV Streamer 2 I was quoted a price of $250+/-.
Not really sure if i’m gong to like listening to devices directly to the HA’s. I tried watching a YouTube Video last evening on the iPad streaming directly to the HA’s - not enough bass. (I know - tough to get bass from a 1/8" receiver) Really preferred watching using the iPad speakers - not exactly a lot of bass, but the difference was noticeable. To be honest, i didn’t play with any of the pre-sets for on the HA’s in the app to see if i could tweak the sound enough to help.
I’ve also talked to my wife several times on the phone streaming directly to the HA’s - I’d only call the quality OK - does anyone know if there is a way for the iPhone to stream the call to the HA’s AND have the phone speaker active?
I have an idea i’ll be playing a lot more with the iPhone / iPad app in the coming days.
I suspect like me your prescription calls for open domes, allowing the frequencies that you can still hear well enough unaided, in through the dome holes? . With these a lot of the low frequencies leak out. Try sticking your fingers in your ears and see if there is a marked improvement. If so, there are a few little tricks you can use to improve the sound, but it certainly wont be brilliant.
Whilst the new aids are Iphone direct connect, connection via a phone clip+ gives a far better quality of sound. So i suspect the main issue is the low powered bluetooth connection from the Iphone? and or low frequencies leaking out.
You can change settings in your Iphone to output to speaker type (small speakers) - that helps a bit.
You can boost the bass from the app - that will help a bit more.
You can tweak the treble down and the Base up on the app - Other than that there is little you can do on the phone.
Whilst not needed as the aids are direct connect, connection using the phone clip+ produces a much better sound?
One last major improvement (if you can stand the possible occlusion) is to swap to Tulip domes. I use the Widex or similar Tulip Domes and have no occlusion. These have no holes for the low frequencies to leak out. However you are now reliant on the aids mics to transfer the lower frequencies or sounds that you can still hear unaided, so the aids might need a tweak.
These coupled with the tweaks above will give a marked improvement, however it will never be great,
I think you hit the nail on the head there Ian about the open dome being the issue of low bass response when direct streaming.
Regarding the 2 items I highlighted in red above:
I assume that you’re speaking from personal experience that the phone clip+ gives a far better quality sound than direct streaming? This is very interesting because I would think that the technology used to interface between the Phone Clip+ to the HA (or direct streaming between them) is the same as the technology used to interface between the iPhone and the HA (direct streaming between them), at 2.4 GHz, is that right? I own the Oticon OPN and that’s the frequency they use for direct streaming, so I’m assuming that it’s the same for the Resound Cala. If that’s the case, why would one sound better than the other? In my case with the OPN, direct streaming from the iPhone and direct streaming from the TV Streamer 3.0 has the same quality. The OPN Connect Clip (the Phone Clip equivalent) has not come out yet so I can’t say. But I expect it to have the same quality.
If the iPhone voice quality for phone calls is only so so, it’s not necessarily the direct streaming that’s to blame. It’s more likely the sound quality from the other end that’s to blame. The person you talk to may be using a phone or headset with a lower quality mic. Or the phone line signal may be bad. In order to really check out the direct streaming quality from the iPhone, try listening to music from it instead. If it’s still very crappy, then something is wrong. For my OPN, the music quality from my iPhone is the same as the music quality from the TV Streamer. But the voice quality on phone call using my iPhone varies. Sometimes it’s crappy, but most likely due to bad mic quality on the other end. Or they’re in a noisy environment on the other end and their mic may fade in and out due to auto noise reduction.
Good suggestion on the tulip dome. Beside the tulip dome, another option is to try the bass dome with a single tiny vent hole. I find that it gives me a nice balance of retaining good bass but still not feeling very occluded. There’s also a 2 vent hole version for the bass dome as well if you want a little bit less occlusion. And these vent holes are very small compared to the open dome.