Review: Unitron/Phonak? TV connector

Hearing Aids
#4

And I believe @Rand will find this answer useful: you can ask your fitter to change TV connector program to not connect automatically when it detects the gadget but on manual (there are two manual options, I chose the one without any sounds).

Then when you want to listen, you either click the button on HA to switch to that program, or for lazy of us, you grab the phone and select it from there.

I usually know when I want to watch TV and have phone near me (or HA button), however I’m also lazy to stand up and turn on/off TV connector, as I saw many people do as a solution. So I share mine :wink:

So basically, remote is there, just not for TV connector but your HAs.

#5

The Phonak RemoteControl is something I am wanting to be able to toggle through programs which includes the TV Connector. I think it would be much handier than pulling out a phone.
https://www.phonakpro.com/com/en/products/wireless-accessories/remotecontrol/overview-phonak-remotecontrol.html

#6

You can use HAs volume up down button, just long press and it switches between programs you have, including tv connector or roger or partner mic, depending what is currently active. That should work unless you want very discreet option or you can’t access HA (eg under some cap), or you hate clicking that button for any reason.

I mean, it works, I use that or phone.

#7

Yes, I know.
Big hands little buttons.
And, I really don’t want to play with my phone all the time.

#8

Yeah, I totally can understand both. During my trial for marvels, I had problem opening the battery door while the aid is on my head, it is/was so tough. I feel sorry for everyone with any dexterity problems of any sorts.

And those buttons also aren’t easiest to click, they’re too slippery and need non trivial pressure to catch a click IMO, and whole aid is slippery as well.

That’s why I mostly use phone for switching. Plus, it says what it is, I don’t have to count :joy:

#9

I have found the the HA volume buttons only change the balance on the TV Connector which I turn gives you a slight increase in volume, but if you turn it down then you hear a lot less from TV and more from the outside world. I also find it very noisy when in quite parts of a show or music, a lot of noise and doesn’t matter if you use toslink or the audio connector. But my older Unitron TV connect and Udirect works perfectly, volume works as it should and there is no noise or static at all on it. It is perfect. Phonak really dropped the ball on the new TV Connector.

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#10

I have just the opposite opinion of the TV Connector. To me, it is one of the few things Phonak got right. It does have some peculiarities that you have to get used to, but they are trivial com[pared to trying to get used to wearing aids.

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#11

Agree with John, Phonak got the TV connector right! Also use it on computer. Will also probably work great on plane (if I ever start flying again)

#12

Have you tried quite scenes on TV or music, or have you tried pausing the TV? I find it noisy and any noise, static or distortion drives me crazier. I use the word crazier because from what others say about their TV Connector I must already be crazy.:joy::slight_smile:

#13

What’s your low frequency hearing like? People with very good lf hearing often complain of sounds the rest of us don’t hear. I think most of us think tv connect is pretty slick.

#14

You can change volume for source, but not with HA buttons. You can do it in the app, or on the tv connector volume buttons themselves.

About static / noise when show is quiet, ask your fitter to reduce soft sounds to maximum. In both autosense streaming programs - music and speech.

I could hear people taking breath before speaking parts of the sentence, then reduced that and voila, all good. Considering that annoyance :joy:

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#15

My low frequency hearing is good, but the high frequencies are really bad. 24 years of exposure to fighter jets does that to your hearing they tell me. No kidding !. Both ears are very similar but when above 2000 hz it drops pretty fast to 60dB. Maybe that explains it, but I would have sworn the noise was caused by high frequencies. My Audi did turn down the gain at 3 of the higher frequencies because I noticed it when reading in a quiet area.

#16

I agree completely, this streamer is full of static. The Resound unit was much better, but the Resound aids were awful compared to the Paradise. I may contact Phonak support and see if they have any suggestions.

#17

They sent my TV Connector in for maintenance and gave me a demo one that was just as bad. When mine came back they had given me a brand new one, but after hooking it up and checking it out, it was only slightly better. I happen to be trying a pair of Unitron’s which are basically the Phonak Marvel, and the TV Connector is so much better, it’s hard to believe that they are the same thing just different name. They work almost as well (95%) as my 4.5 year old uTV and uDirect 3 that I was using with my Unitron Moxi Fits. I still can’t believe the difference in performance form something that is supposed to be the exact same thing, even looks like the exact same thing right down to cheap fiber optics cable. If anyone can shed light on this please let me know !!

#18

What’s the difference between this and bluetooth connection to a TV? How is the experience when watching TV with others who don’t have hearing aids?Using Bluetooth in the past gives a sense seclusion

#19

This part depends how bt programs are tweaked, so your fittter should be able to help you with that.

Plus for bt media streaming, you have volume buttons on aid itself or you can use phone app, with both you can adjust how much environmental sounds should pass through.

Same is with tv connector, it has own program which can be adjusted as needed.

Main difference is in having program for each, so in case you use them in distinctively different situations, ability to tweak them with your fitter can be valuable.

Second one is that battery drain on HAs is roughly three times lower if you’re using tv connector as opposed to bt. For rechargeable battery, and zinc airs show similar behaviour, but can’t confirm the numbers exactly.

#20

Thanks! I might give the TV connector a try. Also, with bluetooth it seems like you have to disconnect when your done watching TV otherwise if someone else starts using the TV it automatically connects when you’re not watching. It’s a pain to connect and disconnect to the TV.

#21

Okay, I recently tried the Unitron rechargeable DX model(forget the name) and it was basically the same as the Phonak Marvel. The Unitron TV Connector was exactly the same as the ones I had for the Phonak Paradise, they looked identical in every way. But plug them in and the difference was night and day, while the Phonak was very noisy, the Unitron was very quiet. But as for the volume control it’s all screwed up like Phonak’s, the volume control actually controls the balance between TV and your Surroundings not the volume. What a hair brained idea if you ask me, the volume control should only control a volume and a balance control only controls balance, and I don’t care if it’s on my phone. How often do you change the balance versus changing the volume? My guess is volume gets changed a lot more, especially since each TV channel seems to be a slightly different volume, and let’s not forget how bloody loud commercials are. Give me a proper volume control on my hearing aid, not a balance control.

#22

I just upgraded to Phonax P90-R and I am very happy with them so far, especially being able to blue tooth to my iPhone instead of trying to use Airpods! But I am very disappointed with the TV Connector! It keeps dropping in and out when I move around the room and the constant connect and reconnect beeping is very annoying. The worse part is when we are streaming a show and we pause it for a while, the blue tooth disconnects and when we start play it takes awhile to reconnect and so you miss some of the show conversation!! I previously had a Unitron uDirect 2 which was so far more superior. It was a toggle thing worn around the neck and I could walk into different rooms without it dropping out. Also a big plus was it had volume control and a stop/start button all at handy reach! Does anyone know if there is anyway we can keep using the uDirect or is there something wrong with my one!!

#23

The TV Connector on the Phonaks has to be out in plain view and pretty close to centre for hearing. I tried 6 different places and the one that finally worked the best was on top of my left stereo speaker, it is off when watching TV so there won’t be any interference. It wasn’t centered as I sit to the right of the TV, but it couldn’t work on my right speaker as the short non-standard toslink connector would reach that far as it is only 3 ft long. I also suggest getting it set for manual activation as the auto connect will drive you crazy.