Smart phone compatibility--reality vs what people want

#33

I have read this whole thread - now totally confused as to “what, if anything, is out there”.
I am on the phone, a lot, for business. For years before I got HA about 7 years ago - wore a Bluetooth headset. I have had no trouble using the BT while wearing the HA.
I sure would like to be able to dispense of the BT and some how use the phone to communicate with the HA.
Question - Is there such an HA in existence? I gather, in reading this thread, that Apple has something. I am vehemently opposed to using Apple products. Prime example - ALL phone manufacturers agreed to a charging port protocol years ago - except Apple. All our devices are “Google based” - from phones to the Google smart “Home” to the Google mesh wifi system in our home to Google video and audio streaming devices.
My HA (now almost 7 y.o. Phonak Audeo) are starting to show their age. If something is on the horizon, I’ll wait a year or two before getting new HA. I buy cell phones that are top of the line (Samsung or LG) every 2-3 years.

Thanks.

#34

Given that you want to stick with Android phone, the only hearing aid that allows direct streaming from phone to hearing aids is the Phonak Audeo B-Direct. If you’re willing to wear or carry a small device (either worn around the neck or clipped to a pocket, depending on manufacturer) several manufacturers offer hearing aids that will work.

#35

That is not correct. I have used these for over a year and found them to be the best solution for my profound hearing loss:

http://www.soundworldsolutions.com/store/hearing-aids/companion

#36

I’m very glad they work for you. You probably consider me quibbling, but I don’t consider them hearing aids. They seem to be very impressively featured PSAPs (Personal Sound Amplification Product) They do not appear to have the precision adjustability of hearing aids. That said, I can imagine them working well for somebody with a fairly flat hearing loss. Curious about battery life. I’m guessing the rechargeable battery is either pretty big or doesn’t last long since it uses standard Bluetooth.

#37

They are hearing aids. When new, the battery lasts about 12 hours. After a year’s use, I usually have to charge them in late afternoon…it takes about 30 min. What I find most useful is the Andorid app which I use to check on the volume setting and occasionally change the frequency response settings. I don’t care what they look like,

#38

@miket I’m trying out Phonak Audeo B-Direct and it does connect to my Samsung Note 8 directly and the HAs act as a headset.

My qualm with the Audeo B-Direct is lack of connectivity with other wireless accessory options Phonak offers like the Roger microphones for FM feature.

Also, I was slightly disappointed the hands-free bluetooth cell phone call options only streams to one aid, which in grand scheme of things isn’t really bad… I use my right ear almost exclusively for phone calls. (I have normal puretone audiogram but have difficulty with speech in noise/over phone due to CAPD) Supposedly other non-streaming aid act as a microphone.

Since the connectivity technology exists, I hope Phonak expands the streaming capabilities between bluetooth devices and the HAs. At the moment the B-Directs connects to phone or to the TV and some other bluetooth devices via TV Link. It’d be a shame to under utilize the first ‘made for all phones’ feature.

#39

Phonak Audeo B-Direct apparently range in price from $1400 ea to $2400 ea. I bought my Sound World Companion hearing aids for about $670 for the pair. I was so sick of my Hearing Health Center audiologists I would, at that time, try most anything. For that price, I could sell them on eBay and recoup most of the cost if I didn’t like them. But, they were so much better than my Audibel hearing aids there was no question of keeping them. The CS Customizer application on my phone works fine but the Personalize application within CS Customizer really does not work well for me. Currently my settings, after running the Personalize application, for both ears, are: Volume 4dB, Treble 4dB, Mid 3dB, and Bass -7 dB. So, the Bass is essentially turned off.

Finally, I can easily afford to buy any hearing aid on the market. I am a retired electrical engineer.

#40

@member6

I’m actually fine with how much the Audeo B-Directs will cost me.

With my specific needs, cheap devices will not be an option since I need HAs with a good speech in noise program.

Anyway - I was mainly replying to miket, since they were asking about direct connectivity to androids.

#41

I will make one more comment then shut up. Noise supression must be difficult to implement. How does the circuitry decide what is noise and what is a legitimate signal? Anyway, my hearing aids do squeal occasionally when my wife whistles and while watching some
TV programs. In contrast, my Audibel hearing aids essentially shut off when I was driving or running a sink full of water.

Well, it is time to go. My left hearing aid just said, “Low battery.”

#42

Generally the circuit looks for the modulation in the signal to determine whether it’s noise or speech. Speech tends to have lots of modulation while static noise (mechanical sounds like fan, road noise, water running, etc) tend to have less modulation and therefore are considered noise.

Noise suppression is usually done by controlling the directionality of the microphones to block out surrounding sounds and focus on the sound in the front. Noise suppression is also done by detecting non-modulating signals and consider them non-speech noise and their gain is attenuated.

There are even more ways to improve speech in noise but the 2 mentioned above are the most basic ones.

#43

They do sound like interesting devices. I’m guessing Volume of 4dB is 4dB above baseline? I think I remember there was some sort of initial settings that get input. If you wanted to give a full review, you could log on to the main Hearing Tracker site. Then go to Hearing Aids and a submenu opens up and select Personal Sound Amplifiers. If you go further down and select the brand they will pop up. Nobody else has done a review. I do think hearing aids continue to get better. I remember my father in law’s hearing aids always used to squeal loudly. Mine will chirp slightly if I cup my hand over my ear. From reading the literature, yours do have some sort of noise and feedback suppression.

#44

I think to write a review I would have to have some experience with a wider range of hearing aids. I am replying because my hearing aids have absolutely no feedback when I cup my hands over my ears. This is only because I use Comply foam tips on my hearing aids. When the audiologist at COSTCO saw them she said I could use double domes on their hearing aids…nuts to that! I seem to be an outlier in this forum. It surprises me to read posts on this forum that imply a direct connection between an Android phone and hearing aids isn’t implemented more widely because Bluetooth requires too much battery power. I use my Bluetooth direct connection all day with no problem at all.

#45

I agree that we’re still a couple of generations away from full bidirectional functionality between hearing aids and cell phones. My biggest gripe is that if I have my Starkey Halos paired with my iPhone, I have to live with the phone attempting to push audio (iTunes, phone calls, etc.) to my hearing aids, even when the phone’s settings state otherwise. The ability to adjust hearing aid settings from my phone has limited appeal for me. I tried that functionality a lot when my hearing aids were new (4 1/2 years ago), but all of my efforts to improve on the audiologist’s settings were always less successful than leaving them alone. I now never pair my hearing aids with my phone.

#46

Your problem, @steven_k is notifications. All those annoying sounds can either be disabled or set to vibrate. You do that in you app settings.

#47

@KenP - it’s not the notifications. I have most notifications turned off completely and the few remaining don’t hit my hearing aids. Besides, my phone is almost always in do not disturb mode.

It’s the handoff of audio coming from iTunes and phone calls that are the problem. No matter what I have done in the iPhone’s Settings, the audio insists on routing to my hearing aids, forcing me to manually change the destination after the call or first song starts.

#48

Well, I don’t stream much but with phone calls I get a popup that lets me select aids or speaker. I think the settings allow you to define that and it defaults to “automatic”.

#49

Hello,
Guessing you have may already tried this but to have control over call and media routing through to the hearing aids have you tried SETTINGS>ACCESSIBILITY>MfI HEARING AIDS>AUDIO ROUTING. This will then give you the options of adjusting/cancelling the signal routing depending on what you are wanting to use it for. I have a few patients who only want to use the app so I disable all of the routing capabilities which seem to work well.

Also, from a clinician perspective I am also finding that there seem to be a number of different teething issues with the Mfi hearing aids. the seemingly endless recent spate of iphone updates is also making for some interesting results!

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#50

MFAUD - yes, I have tried that. No joy.

#51

LOL! Ain’t it the TRUTH. I had to share this with my hubs, the Tech Kahuna, who can relate, having used many of these OS’s in his day. Now who’s going to write a similar joke about “If Browsers Ran Airlines”?

To your original point, tho, YES, I think many of the HA community want the damn aids to just WORK and do what they need, effortlessly. No one wants to read a manual much less kludge together a custom solution with HA, app and device (phone, TV, laptop, other Bluetooth thingey).

Part of the problem is that the HA community is still largely on the senior side. Times are changing with younger, more tech-savvy wearers hopefully driving some market solutions.

As for Apple vs Android, I still maintain: 4 out of 5 worldwide cell phone users are Android. So having a bluetooth-compatible solution for that platform should be a YUGE market opp’y. I have to say Oticon was late to the party with a ClipOn streamer for Android (did someone say Santa is delivering them soon?).

#52

From years ago:

zh4F55R.png1601×1176 167 KB

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