Hello everyone,
I have a severe hearing loss in both ears and use a pair of Widex Super 440 hearing aids for 2 years now.
As I mentioned in another post, I have a lot of difficulties in noisy environments and also group conversations. After looking for a better solution, I found very good reviews about the Phonak Roger Pen and I got interested.
My main question is about how can I make use of the Roger Pen, given my set of aids. From what I have understood, there are two possibilities:
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Besides buying the Phonak Roger Pen (transmitter), I have to buy the Roger X, which is a small FM receiver, and finally buy the Widex FM-Dex, which has a socket to plug in the Roger X receiver and transmits the signal to the aids using the Widex wireless technology, named WidexLink.
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Besides buying the Phonak Roger Pen, I have to buy the Phonak Mylink, which receives the signal from the pen and transmits it to the aids using the T-coil.
Am I right about this two options?
If I am, I would like to know if there are differences in the sound quality between using option 1, which ultimately uses WidexLink wireless technology, or option 2, which ultimately uses T-coil.
The reason I ask this is because the price difference between this two options is quite considerable. I’ve found the 3-pieces kit (Pen+Receiver+FM-Dex) relative to the first option for 1104 GBP ( about 1670 USD ) and the Pen+Mylink kit for 666 GBP ( 1000 USD ).
So do you know if there are any differences in the sound quality that justify the huge price difference?
Best regards and thank you
You’ll get better sound quality with the FM+DEX solution. T-coils are susceptible to electromagnetic interference from common devices such as computers and monitors. They can generate a low-pitched buzzing noise in your hearing aids.
Thank you for your answer.
I see, but is it that bad to be worth the 700 dollars difference? For example in a working environment, in a meeting. I have my laptop in front of me. Should I expect that noise?
I can’t say if you’ll experience interference, but I do think the DEX solution is worth the extra cost. If you have a severe hearing loss and are considering assistive devices such as Roger, you most definitely want the cleanest, clearest audio signal possible.
I just got the Roger Pen with the Roger Mylink last week. It has been a rather brilliant improvement for at least the birthday parties of my now three year old. It allowed me to actually follow 7 different people at the birthday table. Technically very impressive, albeit rather intense–I started turning it off and on after an hour. The pen is also much better in sound quality as the Zoomlink+ with the Mylink+.
I don’t know about the interference problems, which you might have with telecoil. That is something you should test during your 2 months of trial period.
But both telecoil and the RogerX seem to introduce an analog step in the audio stream. For me the challenge was to connect the device to a Bernafon Soundgate first, which then connects to my Bernafon Chronos 9’s. It requires an ordinary stereo cable from the headphone connection of the Mylink to the direct audio input of the Soundgate. Too bad those two cannot be connected with Bleutooth, than the sound would only be generated at the last stage in my hearing aids…
So I wouldn’t bother with the DEX for the Pen.
Since I got my Soundgate, which can connect via Bleutooth with any audio device, I have rather been enjoying music for the first time in 10 years. I even had to delete my stored mp3-files, because they sounded too flat and replaced them with lossless audio FLAC-files. If you like music, the DEX might just be worth it. Based on the sound quality of the Roger Pen, I doubt that you need it, though.
Hello again and thank you for your opinions!
I am glad to say that I finally have in my hands the Roger Pen, and I opted to use it with the Widex FM-Dex, since as rasmus_braun said, as I was spending money in a FM system I should want the cleanest, clearest audio signal possible.
I only had time to test it in a car with a passenger and in a restaurant with one person and all I can say is that I can definitely find improvements!
In the car I asked the passenger to wear the Roger around the neck. And I could hear the person to the point that I could concentrate in the driving without looking to the person.
In the restaurant with one person in front of me and a huge amount of background noise (I’ve chosen a bad spot on purpose) , I tried 3 ways to put the microphone. All of them showed a considerable improvement. The best one was (as expected) the person wearing the microphone around the neck. By placing the Pen in the table, I could find improvements, especially if it was closer to the person. But the second best solution was to put the Pen placed on my wallet in front of me, so that it was pointed to the other person’s face. It worked amazingly.
The Pen is definitely an impressive piece of technology. I have no problem in showing it. In fact, it looks like a high-tech gadget that you even want to show, because it looks really sophisticated. The design is very good.
The only down-vote is having to recharge and use the FM-Dex to make use of the Pen. Even it is rather small and can be used around the neck under the clothes, when wearing a t-shirt its shape stands and it is noticeable, and also introduces another responsibility and another burden for the daily usage.
Nevertheless, the general impact is very positive. I’m now going to perform tests in group conversations, which will be more demanding.
Best regards