Soundbar vs. Bluetooth for TV?

Hearing Aids
#1

I’d appreciate any advice and experience as to what I can do to make television viewing a pleasure again. I was never an avid tv fan, so as my hearing worsened, I just stopped watching.

So having solved my phone problems with a smartphone that actually works in my rural area and the Smart Connect that works with my Trax, I’m now considering the television. I can hear most newscasters fine, but in dramas, all too many voices sound like mush. Maybe I’d do okay with captions if I kept trying, but what I experienced in trying that was I read the captions and don’t watch the show.

My tv doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, but am I right that I could get a streamer that would allow BT? Would that probably give me the best chance of enjoying tv again? Or would a soundbar be a better bet? I don’t have to worry about others in the room when I watch tv, but I don’t want to damage my dogs’ hearing either.:slight_smile:

#2

I have a Hitachi sound bar with a speech enhancement option (Clear Speech) that’s pretty decent. BT is, however, a bit better.

#3

Get the TVLink and you won’t look back… Your family will thank you for no longer blasting them out of the room. That said I still turn CC for some of drama shows. The Americans, Blacklist, etc…

#4

I know exactly what you are talking about. The evening news is perfectly clear but the movies and series dramas are muffled and you miss words and whole phrases. This despite a fortune in hearing aids.
The answer is no to the sound bar. I bought a very expensive Bose and the problem persists.
I bought a Bluetooth transmitter and plugged it into the optical out of the cable box. Then I use over the ear Bluetooth headphones. That solves the problem. I may look a little funny but I can hear every word. ( and walk around the house listening )
Jake’s suggestion of Tvlink is the high bucks version. I already had the earphones so my only cost was the transmitter:

Anyway, the solution is not a sound bar. Save that money.

#5

Although some people don’t have feedback issues wearing Bluetooth headphones (I don’t), some have feedback wearing headphones even though they have the feedback programming already turned on in their hearing aids. Usually it’s more common for folks wearing open domes or CIC with large vents. In that case, the TVlink can help. It’s also nice not having to wear headphones if you can stream directly to your HAs either via a TV streamer or a neck streamer, in case you want to lean on a pillow or on the side when watching TV (assuming it won’t cause feedback of course). Of course it all depends on whether you want to fork out the $ for a TV streamer or not.

But I agree that direct streaming or some sort of Bluetooth solution is much better than the sound bar option.

#6

Further to Coroplast’s post. The device he or she linked to is similar to mine. It features the Aptx low-latency codec (which is actually different from vanilla Aptx). The advantage is that you don’t get any audio-delay issues. No discernable audio delay means no lip-sync problems. Here’s the thing though. To take advantage, you need a bluetooth headset that supports that codec. Only a small subset of them do. I use the Plantronics backbeat pro. It’s a beautiful piece of kit- possibly discontinued by now but there will be a replacement model out there- that will make any soundbar sound like mush. Now, different people have different levels of tolerance for lip-sync issues, and it may be possible to get gear that isn’t Aptx low-latency that works for you. That’s more luck of the draw though.

#7

I have the same transmitter that was shown on Ebay link. I got it on Amazon for substantially less.

It is a good transmitter with low latency. Most of the time it syncs fine. On rare occasions it will lag very slightly. It links well/easily to the Resound Phone Clip.

#8

Thanks, everyone. I called Costco just after posting yesterday, and to my surprise got an appointment for this afternoon. I’m going to order to streamer they sell for my aids on the theory that if it’s not satisfactory, it’s easy to return it. (Have been thinking about some changes to the way my aids’ buttons are programmed anyway.) And if I do have to return it, I may try the recommended transmitter from Amazon, as it’s easy to return things purchased there too.

#9

You’ll be happy zero delay. Be sure they don’t set it to auto-connect every time you walk in the room.

#10

Even people with normal hearing have been complaining about understanding dialogue on many drama shows. If both of us are watching the show, we just turn on the CC.

We have Bluetooth streamers hooked up to two of our TV sets.  They work fine. I don't use them, but my wife does when she watches the "walking dead" or "game of thrones" that she likes to put on loud volume.  I don't watch those shows.

I use a Bluetooth headset on one ear for my cell phone which I have used for over 10 years. I am on the phone a lot during the day. It works fine with my HA, which I've had for about six years.
#11

We have been using the TV Link II for several years with our Direct TV box and with Blue-Ray for streaming. It worked wonderfully (though we also used closed captions for everything but news programs). Recently, we wanted to increase our internet speed, which required a switch to a cable provider. The cable box did not work with the TV link, so we bought Tivo Bolts for our two TVs (we could not make a Tivo mini work with the TV Link). The only problem is that we’ve had to move from the middle digital sound connector to the analog option on the TV Link. The sound quality is ok, but if we move away there is a lot of static.

Before Tivo, we tried Roku. That didn’t work at all.

#12

I use the TOSLINK connection on the TV connected to the OTICON TV Streamer and works great

#13

You could use bluetooth transmitter for tv. If you don’t how it works, you can follow this website:

http://transmitterreviews.com/how-bluetooth-transmitter-works/