I have paired my Soundgate 3 with my work laptop which is an HP Elitebook 8470p Windows 7 machine. I can’t figure out how to actually get the sound to my hearing aids. I checked the user manual but can’t figure out a solution.
Just to clarify, I see the Soundgate 3 in the Bluetooth device menu of the computer so I know it has been paired. I start an audio file that I want to listen to and then short press the aux button on the Soundgate. The sound still comes out of the computer speakers and doesn’t come through the hearing aids. Is there something I’m doing wrong?
First, make sure the laptop and the bluetooth device are connecting (pairing and connecting are two different things, you pair once, connect many times). What do you have to do to connect? Do they connect automatically when in range or do you have to switch to a program or press a button on the bluetooth device?
OK, then, if you are sure they are connecting, right-click on the little speaker icon in the lower right tray. Click on Playback Devices. You should see the bluetooth device listed, along with any other speaker devices. Click on the bluetooth device and click OK. If you go back and look now it should have the green check on the bluetooth device.
If you want to use the microphone you will have to go through a setup on that too, while the bluetooth connection is up. I find it by clicking on Start, then key in microphone, then one of the first things that comes up is Microphone Setup.
When I right-click the speaker icon and select playback devices, I don’t see the Soundgate listed as an option to select. I do see the Soundgate when I click on the Bluetooth icon in the taskbar. Per the instruction manual on the Soundgate, I connect by hitting the aux button on the Soundgate once audio stream has initiated. Alternatively, I can connect via a wired connection between my Soundgate and the headphone jack on the computer, but that is somewhat cumbersome between having to connect/disconnect the wire when using the device for phone calls at work.
Per the manual: Wireless Connection To hear music or audio wirelessly from an MP3 player or computer with built-in Bluetooth ®, make sure the device has been paired to your SoundGate 3 (pages 27 to 29), that both devices are powered on, and are within range of each other (< 10 meters / 33 feet). Begin audio streaming by giving a short press to the SoundGate 3 auxiliary input key. When audio streaming is active, the auxiliary input key will illuminate orange.
Look at devices and see if you have the yellow ! on one of the devices. I think it is probably a driver issue. I think it has to show up as a playback device before it will work but I’m not sure what to do to make that happen, if it doesn’t happen when you pair. Is there any option on the bluetooth software about what it thinks your device is?
I know your laptop has a built-in bluetooth capability but sometimes the external, plug in dongles work better.
When I right click the device from the printers and devices menu and click properties, it brings up a menu of services that the Soundgate can provide. I have the following boxes checked - audio sink, hands free telephony, headset, remote control and serial port (spp) com 9. I tried updating the driver, but the system says it’s up to date.
The bluetooth software may also have settings on what kind of connection it is (Headset, A2DP, etc.). This would be the bluetooth software where you can see the paired devices and control the connections.
I see that others have had similar issues with HP Bluetooth laptops. My company doesn’t provide users with much access to customize settings so I’m guessing I’m probably out of luck. I can make do with the wired connection when I need to get audio from the computer. Thanks for all your input.
My laptop is an HP and fairly recent and it works fine. But, you could try a new, plug in bluetooth dongle and see if it is any different. They are cheap and easy, just plug into a USB port and configure and pair with your device. Amazon has them. Sometimes the built in bluetooth has problems with some devices.
Hello - my problem is that when I use the bluetooth soundgate device the sound distorts, when listening to you tube and even on my bandcamp page. This is NOT acceptable, after paying well over €1800 for my Sonitron hearing aids, using Soundgate 3!
Using Windows 10 with HP laptop - Realtek soundcard.
All drivers are up to date.
Please help - thanks
While it is possible an electronic device can have a defect, normally, for those of us with hearing loss, distortion is our ear’s response to louder sounds in frequencies we are not accustomed to hearing. The brain doesn’t know quite what to do with these new sounds. After a while most distorted sounds will sound normal.
I wouldn’t totally discount the possibility of a defect though. Maybe you could have a normal hearing person listen to the hearing aids to see if it sounds distorted to them? If you have high frequency loss the hearing aids will sound terrible to a normal hearing person, but are they clear?
Thanks Don…but listening on my normal headphones (not Bluetooth), using the hearing aids, I have no problem.
The distortion sounds like when a jack plug is not fully pushed in - crackling, and lots of clicking sounds. -
Sometimes I get a freezing effect, like when a cd sticks - one note goes into repetition mode.
I would think your Sonitron hearing aids have different programs like most digital aids. One of those programs is probably a Bluetooth stream program. Your audiologist can tune or tweak the streaming program to your preferences just like the other normal programs.
I am not familiar with your hearing aids. Just throwing something out there to help you hopefully.
I will ask him on my next visit - tho he doesn’t seem to know much about blue tooth!
One thing is that when I first got my trialling aids with bluetooth, the sound was perfect.
Then my windows 10 updated and my problems started after the update.
I looked on google and many people had the same problem with that update.
Just wondering if Soundgate are aware of this?
Windows is a law unto itself! No further Windows updates recently.
My computer restarts every time I boot up…I’m now trying to roll back to before the latest Windows update…
Thank you again for your input Raudrive - 4 AM here in Germany…time for bed!
I will let you know if the rollback helped…
