"Streaming On" Indicator

Question and Answer
1

I am an 85 yr old male user of Phonak Naida Lumity PR90 HAs. I frequently stream content from my iPhone, Mac, or TV Streamer. My family never knows if I am streaming or not. If I am, I will not hear them at all, as I have to have ambient sound fairy minimized and streaming maximized.

Is there an indicator light that could be worn as a pen or clip showing that my HAs are streaming? I have seen such devices to plug into a computer. Why not an indicator LED so people know I am incommunicado and they will need to get my attention.

It’s pretty easy to see with earbud users that they are ‘tuned in/out’ and won’t hear a word you say. We HA users need something to warn when we are streaming.

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2

I put together a manual flag light that I wear on a cap. I bought these little lights which stick to a money clip attached to the brim of a ball cap.

LUXPRO Waterproof Micro LED Puck

WH

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3

Thanks White Hat! I had that same idea, but wouldn’t it be nice if the light would turn on/off automatically as you change to & from streaming mode!

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4

People could also get your attention and say “excuse me” before starting to talk

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5

That would be nice, but I don’t know of a way to do it. I would think it would have to be an action on the part of the streaming source, or the app on your phone which can monitor the HAs.

WH

6

Hi MDB
Yes, I guess people could do that. However, my experience in trying to get that to happen has not been good. Sort of along the lines of “If” pigs had wings they could fly, too.

8

It’s one area where I really try to model how I want to be treated. I also find it more effective communication as you know you have somebody’s attention. I agree that most people won’t do it. They also probably won’t pay attention to the light.

9

Thanks MDB
I appreciate your first sentence very much and will try to take it to heart. I know when I see my kids wearing earbuds - I just stop trying to communicate w/them and wait until later. I think I’ll just try a baseball cap with a sign on it “Streaming”. (Perhaps I should add - " Could You Come Back Later" - at least that would be a little kinder than “Do Not Disturb”

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10

A good idea. I switched back to using over-ear headphones when streaming because the large headphones visually signalled to my wife that I was streaming! (Also, sound quality was better)

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11

paul.cleary.nz
Can you wear over-ear headphones with your hearing aids? I thought not, although I’ve read about it in the past.

12

@maggie07 it can get confusing with headphone physical shapes as sellers do not always label their headphones with respect to “on the ear” vs “over the ear”.
I have a pair of Bose noise cancelling QC25 headphones. These are “on the ear” style headphones so uncomfortable to wear on top of my Widex Moment 330 RIC HAs as the headphones press against my earlobes (pinna) to get a good seal against outside noise (Bose QC35 and other models are similar).
Confusingly, in ads Bose label their headphones as “over ear” when they are really not!!

I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD569 headphones which are “real” over the ear headphones in that my earlobes (pinna) fit completely inside the earpad cushions so they are easy to wear over my HAs. To see what I mean by the above, if you can find a high-end audio hifi shop near you, drop in and ask to try out one of their “over the ear” headphones for fit and this will demonstrate what I am saying much better than my words.