I’ve experimented with various setups over the years, but I consistently face the challenge of getting sound to my hearing aids while also outputting it through speakers for my family at the same time.
This seems to be a common struggle for many people with HA. How have you managed to achieve this?
In the past, I was able to make it work with a Windows PC by tinkering with the sound settings. Now, however, I have bluetooth HA, a Nvidia Shield, a Nintendo Switch, a Samsung soundbar, and a Sony projector, and I’m feeling frustrated trying to find a solution that works consistently.
I would love to hear about the different setups that have worked for you!
I wear Phonak Audeo P70 hearing aids, which I purchased in 2022. Unfortunately, they don’t support Auracast (I wasn’t aware of it at the time), but they do have LE Bluetooth, making it easy to connect to various devices.
I could consider buying the Phonak Streamer, which I believe is the TV Connector, but I’m not even sure if it guarantees dual audio output.
I was wondering if anyone has discovered simple or creative workarounds for this issue.
The TV Connector (TVC) works beautifully. Some audio outputs aren’t controlled by the volume control. They’re always on. Other audio connectors are ie. headphone jack. My tv allows the optical output to be independent of the volume.
So what’s the make and model of your tv?
YES. It does allow for duo output. Just plug the Toslink cable into your TV’s Digital Audio port plug located on the back of your TV. Then, turn the Connector on and pair + connect your aids ONCE to this device, and you’re set! (until you power it off - but just leave that TV Connector plugged into TV and turned ON 24x7). User manual HERE.
I’ve owned a Phonak TV Connector for almost a decade now, and when my Roger mic acts up, I just switch over to the old reliable TV Connector.
You may then need to have your audi turn your hearing aid mics over to the TV Connector which will tune out ALL other ambient sound in the room. Not optimal, but will eliminate the annoying audio “echo” effect as there are minute delays in the TV soundbar and Connector streaming to your aids.
Well this is becoming trickier. So you have your display that is input only. You have your audio that is input only. So what is the video(/audio) source and make and model of that?
I have only dealt with Oticon and Signia streamers, but both of those have both an IN and OUT Toslink connector, so I go TV to Streamer and Streamer to soundbar.
I use multiple Streamers in my house and my HAs only remember one, so I have to re-pair when I switch to a different TV, but that’s like a 30 sec process.
I have used both its headphones output (3.5" standard analog) and the TVs optical output to get the sound out of my TV. When using the latter I linked it to a digital-analog converter (this device also amplifies and has a remote, helpful for muting, which the TV cannot do for its optical output). That audio source was transmitted by Bluetooth to a Bluetooth receiver whose output was split between a small, cheap (20$) amplifier with speakers and Phonak’s TV streamer. The good thing about this is that the streamer barely delays the sound- so your HAs do not produce an echo. A problem is that the Bluetooth is delaying the audio for both by about 200 ms. But you can usually “lipsync” your TV output by setting a “negative delay”. My oldish TV cannot do that, but I mostly watch over a Firestick and a Dreambox, and both can be adjusted this way (the Firestick even has a “bouncy ball” display that helps you with this).
Now things are a tad more complicated in my household, where someone else wears Bose shoulder headphones. This is also fed by Bluetooth (a separate channel). The problem I had was that there was often interference with too many Bluetooth connections going on (these also operate in the WiFi band). So, instead of Bluetooth feeding my small amp and the Phonak streamer I connected those by cable. However (if you still follow this), now there was a large timing mismatch (echo) between those two and the Bose. To accommodate that I inserted a sound-delaying device for the former (Lindy, 70$).
Yes, getting this right is complicated… let me know if you need details of the equipment cited above. Apart from the Lindy, these devices are very cheap.
I’ve used Phonak hearing aids for years, and started using assistance for TV viewing with the Phonak Compilot II system, connected via the TV’s Optical (Toslink). When I moved over to Bluetooth aids, the Compilot system no longer worked. I replaced it with the Phonak TV Connector (V1). I had it set in Target to “Manual plus beep”, and it worked flawlessly, independent of the TVs speakers.
A few months ago I upgraded my TV to (UK) “Sky Glass V2”. This is a 4K TV, with built in Soundbar and Dolby Atmos. I find this TV excellent, but sadly it doesn’t have an optical connection. One of the HDMI ports is eARC compatible, but I’ve had no success with 2x Audio extractors I’ve bought.
This isn’t a major issue, as the TV’s standard sound is so much better than my previous flat screens. I’m sure having the speakers pointing towards me, instead of downwards on other TV is a major factor. I can hear pretty well unaided! I feel standard flat screens are the equivalent of your partner talking to you facing away from you! This TV does have Bluetooth, however, and I do have 5 pairs enabled. You can choose Speakers, Bluetooth or Both. The speakers volume is independent. There is lag, and I do have to “turn up the volume” to shift the balance towards the aids, but this generally works well. I have a Blue Ray 4K player. The lag is ridiculous with this (probably 400ms). I think there’s a compensator for this, but I’ve not tried it yet.
Peter
Thank you for your detailed response. Your setup resembles what I had previously.
I still have an analog audio converter (this one) and bluetooth transmitter (similar to this), but they are currently useless since the Nvidia Shield only has an hdmi connection.
I connect the TV’s audio output to a hi-fi pre-amp with a remote control. Then to a Phonak TV Connector. My wife can use the TV’s volume control. I use the pre-amp’s remote, because the Phonak control is not able to do small volume steps and needs the cell-phone.
I have multiple hdmi inputs to my television. Unfortunately my audio system doesn’t have current hdmi standard. I therefore take the toslink out of the television into a splitter and direct one output to my Oticon TV adapter and the other to my audio system. Depending on the switch, you can also add other inputs; however, all the switching can get confusing.
Resound (actually a Jabra Pro 30 from Costco), LG TV, Optical splitter running to both a LG soundbar and a Resound TV Streamer. Obviously the TV has Optical Out which is needed for the streamer and the Soundbar has an Optical-In option. Works well for me.
(The TV Streamer II or newer TV Streamer+ will both work.)
MMMM… In some respects, YES, I prefer the Roger mic. I look at the total solution picture here. The older TV Connector is a “no-brainer”. Sound quality is very good, volume button on that small box unit is very easy and intuitive to use. But! When traveling, many TVs are either wall-mounted or the backs of them are not accessible. So even if I traveled with my toslink cable, I couldn’t plug it into the back of the TV. Grrrr…
The Roger BASE unit has to be plugged into the back of the TV, but when the small, handheld mic is out of the base unit and charged up it can be used to “stream” the TV without the base unit. The downside of that is that the mic picks up ambient noise in the room. But still, it’s a super transportable solution kit, and that’s what I travel with now: Roger oN iN V2 base, power cord and portable mic.
When I’m able to plug the Roger base into the TV at a hotel I can actually stream the shows I’m watching alllllllllll the way down the hall far from my room! Cracks me up! Imagine listening to the grisly “Forensic Files” when tiptoeing into the laundry room down the hall…
Oh right sorry you mentioned the NVidia up top.
Yeah the problem I see is that your devices that should have audio output don’t. Your display is an endpoint. Your audio is an endpoint.
Maybe there is such a doodad that can split the HDMI out of the NVidia. Take HDMI in, passively pass through one HDMI output to go to the audio device (which is then passively passing through video to the display), have an onboard sound processor that splits out the audio and outputs it to optical or 3.5mm and a remote control for discrete volume of that output.
The mic idea is good for the use case of more than you watching. The beauty of the TVC is that you can use it like headphones and have audio all to yourself and mute the rest. I agree that that’s often a problem in a hotel. The TVC works great in a plane though.
Maybe I should just buy a TV instead.