Thinking about purchasing Costco Philips 9040 to backup my Oticon Reals

Hearing Aids
#56

Thanks for the update. You’re right not to lose sleep over buying the Reals before the 9040s. You didn’t go wrong doing that. Now you have one of the best pair of aids for your primary, and one of the best value pair of aids for your backup, life is very good for you!

It’s good that you have DSL Adult on the Real and NL2 on the Philips so you can compare. If you consistently prefer the NL2 over the DSL later on, it’s never too late to add a program that has NAL-NL2 to the Real and have REM done against that for the Real as well. Then you’ll have both on the Real. I also find the DSL Adult more tinny than the NAL-NL2 myself. But in complex environments, that tinniness from DSL may prove more helpful in better speech understanding than the NL2, even though both of them are geared to prioritize speech first.

My only question is you mentioned that the charger and the TV Adapter are the same, which is fully expected. But you didn’t say whether you try to interchange them and they still work. For the charger I can see that they’re easily interchangeable. But I’m not sure if you can pair the 9040 with the TV Adapter for the Real, and vice versa or not. Also, did you get the regular charger or the SmartCharger (that has its own built-in battery)? If the later, then are they interchangeable, too?

You didn’t mention the ConnectClip vs the AudioClip, so it’s not clear if you have both of these as well or not. And of course, the big question is whether you can use pair one with the other brand or not, and vice versa. I think some folks have reported that they can’t, but it’s good to get a confirmation here as well.

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#57

(brackets indicate corrections to original)

Just to update with a non-update: I did have my appointment two days ago, with the result that I will pick up a pair of 9040s and microShell molds on Dec. 11 after a fitting. So I’m still curious, along with @Volusiano, as to whether the 9040s will pair with an Oticon TV adapter.

#58

Thank you. My restaurant experiences with the Reals haven’t exactly been stellar. I can hear alright but the sounds come in a bit too high pitched. I’m hoping to find a difference this evening as we are going to a noisy restaurant. I can give some input later with that experience. My time is a limited at the moment to investigate connecting both at the same time to the TV adapter as I think it has to be reset then pair configuration. Maybe reset the TV adapter then pair both sets of hearing aids at the same time may work. I’ll experiment tomorrow with that and the Connect clip. I’ll post an update.
Regarding your question

I got the Smartcharger with the Reals and the desktop with the 9040’s, they are interchangeable from what I’ve experienced so far. The buttons on the 9040 are slightly different but they do fit the Real smart charger. The Reals are sitting in the 9040 desktop cradle right now.

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#59

Update on the restaurant experience with the 9040’s. We dined at the Keg steakhouse last evening, which can be and was a loud experience. I didn’t struggle with hearing as I did with the Reals dining experience this past Saturday. Settings on 9040 was “speech in noise”. I did have a little more background noise coming through on the 9040 than the Reals. A Coffee get together this morning with a group of 7. I experienced no issues with hearing but there was less background noise than last night. I think somewhere in these 9040’s there is a happy medium as far as background noise in loud environments versus quieter. I think tempering it a tad will make it just fine. So far I am really liking the NL2 setup of the Philips over the DSL set up of the Reals. It’s still early in the game but I like the 9040’s a lot. One of the differences on the Apps is that unlike the Oticon there is no Speech boost on the Philips app. Also regarding the App. In my day and a half usage the Philips has less connection issues that the Oticons. My hearing aids connect immediately to my Flip4 Android phone, stay connected calls and streaming so far. The Oticons don’t.

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#60

I finally got around to tinkering with connecting the 9040’s to my Real TV adapter and Real Connect clip. I can not get them to connect. I’m not sure if they have to be set up in the Hearlink software first. My Audi says they should work, which apparently doesn’t mean they will. I’m also not seeing the TV adapter setting on the Philips Hearlink app like I do on the Oticon Companion app. I’m not going to rule it out but hopefully, although not a deal breaker, I can find a way to connect them.

#61

Since you’re using the term “connect” rather than the Bluetooth term “pair” – have you tried to pair the 9040s to the Oticon TV adapter or Connect clip? That is, to turn the HAs off then on, and put them on top of the powered TV adapter.

1:37 instructional video

#62

Yep, I have 2 adapters and tried to pair them both to the 9040’s. No dice. Any idea if they have to be set up on the Hearlink software first? I just poked around in the HearSuite software and added a stock automotive program based on the G1 program. While in the software I checked out the setting for TV adapter and didn’t find anything that would toggle them on or off. I might be leaning towards a no go for connectivity to the Philips for the Oticon adapters.

#63

Thanks for posting about this. I have Oticon Mores and really wanted a smart travel charger. The Oticon one is CAD$460 where I got my HA’s. $460 for a frigging charger!!??? Costco charge CAD$259 for the 9040 travel charger which based on your reports I am pretty certain will work. I tried my aids in their demo (Standard) charger and the aids are a bit looser but went into charge mode fine. I have ordered one (Don’t need to have Philips 9040 HA to get one) and have 6 months if I want to return it.

#64

Yep, both my Reals and Philips were at 100% charged this morning when I crossed charged them overnight. Philips fit without a problem in the Oticon Travel charger and Reals no problem in the Philips desktop charger.

#65

But Phillips is not Oticon, there’s firmware difference for a start that wouldn’t be helpful, but hasn’t this already been established, that you cannot interchange them, somewhere on this forum? (The tv link and connect clip)

#66

Some things are compatible. I’m using my Oticon Power Molds in the 9040’s and using the both chargers without issues.
I’ve not read about the TV adapter interchangeable or not, though that could very well be a compatibility issue in that department. I’m leaning towards not compatible myself. I’m going to bring my Real connect clip to my next Costco appointment see if they can do something.

#67

I don’t recall reading about incompatibility between the Oticon and the Philips TV Adapter because maybe nobody has tried it out yet until now, but I remember somebody reporting incompatibility between the Oticon and the Philips ConnectClip/AudioClip when they tried it out.

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#68

Ahh yeah that’s what I was referring too, well we’ll know soon enough.

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#69

I can’t imagine why/how the Hearlink [2] app would have anything to do with TV adapter pairing.

M’self, I think your experiment is decisive; a disappointing result, but thanks for the report.

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#70

It’s a minor set back but the positive is I think the 9040’s is a winner for the cost. The Hearsuite appears to be very good with plenty of fitting options for your aids and accessories. If you are going to self fit there’s a excellent list of program options you can choose from based on your Audi’s initial settings on P1.
My music, speech in noise, and automotive program are the 3 additional programs I am using and are easy enough to change and experiment with along with a few others in some different environments. Getting the P1 set up properly will be the Key.

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#71

I read that you need the audio clip to connect the 9040’s to a PC. Is that true? If your PC has Bluetooth can’t the HA’s connect in the normal fashion?

#72

Only if the PC has ASHA support, and I haven’t heard of any PC that has ASHA support yet. Only a number of new Android phones have this now.

#73

I just picked up my 9040’s today and I can confirm that they will NOT connect to my Oticon TV streamers or the Connect Clip.

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#74

Thanks for that update, will be helpful for others.

#76

So we’ve confirmed that Philips aids will not work with Oticon TVA3 or ConnectClip. Has anyone tried the reverse - using Oticon aids with Philips TVA3 or AudioClip?

Anyone in Europe want to try an EU complaint about this? It seems this is both anti-competitive (people are more locked in due the cost of switching) and wasteful as people have to rebuy what is essentially the same accessories but for a software lock. These should at least work with the cross-spectrum of brands from the same parent company. EU should force an unlock via firmware updates. It’s also bad for HOH people as say a friend comes over for movie night and one wears Philips and one Oticon, same for spouses, and so on. Users need to push back as the hardware is overpriced to begin with.

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