Widex TV PLAY

Assistive Listening Devices
#1

Finally arrived today, picked up from audiologist early afternoon so not very long with it.

Oddly don’t own any TV and haven’t for well over a decade; wanted it to replace 3.5mm (and more recently bluetooth via COMDEX) connection to computer and laptop. Easy enough to set up and a little smaller than expected. Not keen on the awkward triangle shape.

First impressions, it’s really nice to have stereo again from more than phone and the transmitter seems strong enough to cover this old victorian terrace without drop out. COMDEX and a few years ago bluetooth headset couldn’t manage it.

Hefty price tag in UK (£275!) but then again I don’t need to wear anything as I opted for RIC this time round with the Evokes as my audiologist had mentioned TV PLAY was in development.

It looks like it the EQ and balance levels are saved across reboots of phone, transmitter, or aids but will check tomorrow as I’m not sure if EQ was saved as well.

Probably more hungry battery wise. I have the zpower battery arrangement and manage a 12-14 hour day without low battery; today
however finally had low battery warning near the 12 ish mark whilst streaming.

Not entirely sure how long was spent streaming today but easily 8 hours if not more. Will have to see how the week goes.

Can’t seem to change to listening to TV PLAY without using the app; not a huge problem but a little annoying.

There is a bit of a delay connection once the TV PLAY detects audio input (anything from two
to ten seconds it seems) initially.

Widex COM-DEX
#2

But no lag once the connection is made I assume?

#3

As a note, though I haven’t been in a multi party complex environment with them, I am impressed with the 440 so far.

2 Likes
#4

No lag I’ve perceived from lips; could definitely tell over normal bluetooth no problem… COMDEX was hit and miss with delay, sometimes I could notice it easily other times not so much.

I think at my last appointment I finally settled for Universal Impact and Social for main ones, with music and MT as last two. Certainly helps! Still prefer Roger Pen but hard to compete with a microphone that’s closer to the source you’re interested in :slight_smile:

1 Like
#5

Don’t need the speech in loud noise?

#6

Not sure I follow sorry! Have the settings to give me most speech on mine and bits like RT/IE speech enhancer on for Impact, and Social; I had tried Party a few months ago but didn’t find it as useful as Social which picked out voices really clearly. Does that make sense?

#7

It does yes. I was referring to the Party program. You find social to be better than party in complex settings like obnoxiously loud restaurants? I’m asking because I don’t want to add two programs that are more or less duplicates. I had already determined to add Music and Impact and was going to add Party as I am often in very crowded/noisy environments along with one other TBD later. But after seeing what you’ve said I think I will add Social as well and compare the two. Have you tried the Quiet and Comfort settings?

#8

I do, I’ve used Party and Social in similar situations but found Social to be better overall, it has drawbacks to Party though; I don’t think the AGC is as fast acting so sudden loud noises are much more pronounced but speech seems to be considerably more punchy and clear despite clattering in the pub and bars I’ve been in recently. Party was my first try and didn’t make a huge amount of difference in the pub so in the majority of cases I’d have the Roger Pen on the table. Opted for Social in place of it to see if there’s a difference; seems to be okay for me from quiet to moderate/obnoxious for maybe 5 person sized table.

I’ve not played around with Quiet or Comfort programmes, but for each of mine I have set up, the audibility is either 3/4 right toward audibility, or entirely to the right. I tried the opposite direction but didn’t find it helped. Obviously all of the above is my take on it and your experiences may differ :slight_smile:

It might be worth having both set up to start with if you have the spare slots; as it’s much easier to compare on the fly than having to revisit to program! As I understand the documentation from Widex, Social and Impact are two new programmes for the Evokes so it may be they’ve done something special with them.

#9

Very helpful, Thanks!!

#10

My biggest problem with this new device is that it does not have an optical out port. Considering new TVs are pretty lousy at sound reproduction, many people purchase a sound bar with it. These hearing aid accessories need to share these connections with other devices.

2 Likes
#11

To be honest, I was slightly concerned based on the instructions, documentation and marketing details failing to mention what the analog input was (3.5mm for the record but documentation doesn’t say this anywhere).

I have a few gripes with it since so I’ll have to list them out!

#12

Please do so I know whether I need one or not.

#13

Oh, I forgot to add, the dumbest thing was the fact that you need your phone in order to access the tv program. There is no other way to enable tv streaming.

#14

It’s been a little over a week since, not entirely sure on the TV PLAY so far. Disclaimer, I don’t use this with a TV, rather between multiple computers.

Battery life with the Z batteries definitely takes a hit, I can quite easily cause low battery to occur at least three hours before bed; I don’t have hard recorded numbers however, but this is also with streaming for at least 8 hours (not necessarily watching TV but conferences, presentations etc). Mixture of work and background radio. Happy to get some hard numbers for anyone who’s interested, I’ll record power-on, time streaming, and time until first battery warning a number of times to get an average for you.

Use of the iPhone app (or native iOS accessibility also) is required to change to TV PLAY program as this cannot be accessed via button control on the Evokes; this shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise to anyone using the Fusion 2 Evokes anyway.

The TV PLAY does have some minimum sound level triggering and will not start streaming below, and will also stop after a timeout period if this is not reached (it only has to be brief beep to count) in ~ 30 seconds. It’s not rare to find some films or YouTubers where for the majority of the video there are no issues but in quiet parts the connection drops (by design from what I can tell).

Connection times once a signal loud enough is detected varies, but usually occurs around 10-15 seconds for both ears to connect. There’s a slight delay in connection for both ears. Nothing terrible but can be annoying if you do have a drop out due to low input volume/quiet moment for longer than the 30 seconds.

The timeout can be worked around if you’re technical/can inject a 20kHz tone at the trigger level into it, as this is far outside the Evoke receivers transducer frequency ranges and pretty inaudible if not. Not a great solution and it would be much easier if Widex could just permit an option in the app to default to “Always Stream” even if no input is detected.

Again disclaimer, I cannot speak for whether this also applies to optical input but would imagine it will do, I’ve no optical gear to hand to test but can arrange if someone wishes to know.

In my instance the shape is actually very awkward and I do wish getting hold of extra brackets was possible but it seems this isn’t the case; unless there’s anyone from Widex lurking who’d like to send me three or four so I can move it securely between computers? This is a niche point in my case as I suspect most people will just leave it attached to the TV or on a surface near.

Range is still more than acceptable and the equaliser settings are saved along with the volume settings so that’s one annoyance I expected but do not have to deal with!

Sound is definitely stereo and it’s been very strange to have that back again (in a direct to ears format that isn’t from my iPhone). Welcomed and seems to be stable, no complaints from me there!

Would I purchase another? I’m not sure. If the timeout is increased or an option is provided for “Always on” then the main issue I have would disappear and my answer would be yes.

Will I keep it? Again I’m not actually sure, it’s an improvement over COMDEX/FMDEX (either via Roger Pen or 3.5mm input) and comes with stereo, but for my situations the streaming trigger annoys me to the point I now intentionally cause beeps to occur if I know I’m in a silent or quiet section of a video or film. I want to say yes here but at the price it’s hard to justify it.

Edit: I forgot to note that with zinc-air (rather than zinc-silver Z-power batteries) I get 4 days vs 6.

1 Like
#15

Hi.

I’ve had my Evoke 440 F2’s for a couple of months. I saw the premature release information regarding the release of ‘TV Play’ in the UK and thought that this, and new aids, would solve a major problem I have. I have a pair of Sennheiser RS 195 wireless headphones, which being digital, suffer from latency. This results in the sound from the TV speakers arriving before the sound from the headphones, causing a very noticeable echo.

I received the ‘TV Play’ system a couple of weeks ago and connected it using the ‘optical’ cable. I immediately had problems setting the aid’s volume level, which was far too loud. I had to set the level adjustments to minimum, and the ‘Mixer’ to ‘Surround’ to achieve an acceptable level.

My professional consulted with Widex, who said that an aid software upgrade was necessary, and that this would solve the problem. After the upgrade all of the hearing tests and settings had to be repeated, and as it was not possible to see if the upgrade had solved the problem, I went home to try it out.

I connected the TV Play to our TV, and set the following parameters: Master volume 3. Volume left 3, right 3. Equaliser flat -4, -4, -4. Mixer centre position, which produced an acceptable level.

Whilst these settings provided an acceptable level, there was a slight, but noticeable echo. Eliminating this required shifting the Mixer control to the right, which of course increased the ‘Stream’ volume, whilst blocking the ‘Surround’ sound. This of course prevented me from hearing external sounds, and my wife :slight_smile:. In addition alterations had to be made the Master volume, Equaliser and left right Balance settings to compensate for the increase in volume. The alternative was to reduce the TV volume to zero, however this was not advisable whilst my wife was watching.

Later I had the opportunity to watch several programmes with the TV sound off. I was aware of a ‘popping’ sound in the left ear, which I presumed to be a result of high level clipping. I checked the Sound settings on our TV, a Panasonic 58DX 900 series. I tried both the PCM and Auto with SPDIF (Sony Panasonic Digital Interface, it’s basically the same as Toslink) output levels of between 0dB to -10dB, but this had no effect on (a) reducing the ‘popping’, or (b) the volume??

Finally I watched Question Time, where the popping was really quite distracting, to the point in fact where I turned off the aids and used my Senhheiser RS195 headphones. As previously stated these provide excellent sound and allow me to correct for my hearing deficiency, but can only be used when viewing alone.

Whilst using the headphones, there was no 'popping. I checked to see what effect altering the Sound settings on the TV had, altering the SPDIF level from 0db to -10db resulted in a noticeable reduction of volume at -10dB. Which I think indicates that the TV is providing a ‘clean’ controllable audio output.

My professional is discussing these matters with Widex, and I have an appointment with him in 4 days to see if/how Widex plan to overcome these issues.

Is anyone else using an optical connection and if so have they noticed the problems above?

Many thanks Noel

#17

Hi Nick.

Has your professional taken any action, are you still experiencing the ‘distortion’?

We have carried out further investigations, these revealed an interest interesting fact. If both aids are inserted, as they would normally be, the problem we have tried to describe is apparent. If however only one aid is used, either one, the problem disappears!

It appears that the aids sometimes produce slightly different sounds, perhaps a small delay, or a ‘clip’ and we hear this. Widex are investigating.

I will post again when they report back.

Cheers Noel

#18

Hi Nick

Suspect we might be suffering from early adopters syndrome .

Last night I tried again with the same results, what I did notice however was an unnatural stereo effect. What I mean is that when watching, say a drama, I was aware of louder than usual sounds off to the left and right. It reminded me of the early days of stereo records e.g. the Beatles when the stereo effect was over emphasised.

Listening using the TV speakers, or my headphones, the sound stage is balanced, there are no sudden distracting loud noises off stage.

I also noticed in another post that streaming reduced battery life by a considerable amount, 6 days reduced to 4 days, i.e. a third.

I’ve edited my profile, but it doesn’t appear to show my location on my posts, anyway I’m in the UK.

Cheers Noel

#19

Can confirm. Streaming affects battery life for nearly every hearing aid, rechargeable or not.

#20

Hi Abram.

Many thanks for providing me with the means of copy posts, which I inadvertently posted on the Widex discussion group to this forum. I’ve done this incase anyone else is experiencing problems with the new Widex TV Play.

[Member Nick 31 Jan 2019]

I’m pleased with my new Widex Evoke 440 hearing aids but disappointed with TV Play. I’ve tested with two TV Play devices (having returned the first one) as well as TV DEX. The sound from the TV Play devices is distorted. I feel like I’m hearing a split second echo or some sort of interference. I’ve tried with multiple TV Play devices and three different TV’s in my house. I’ve checked the TV output to insure the source was digital. All are consistently distorted.

On the other hand, the older TV DEX device provides a much clearer sound.

Has anyone else encountered similar problems with TV Play and is there a solution? I’d prefer to use the newer TV Play technology but will have to return this device unless I can find a way for it to provide a clear sound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Noel 03 Feb]

Hi.

I’ve had my Evoke 440 F2’s for a couple of months. I saw the premature release information regarding the release of ‘TV Play’ in the UK and thought that this, and new aids, would solve a major problem I have.

I have a pair of Sennheiser RS 195 wireless headphones, which being digital, suffer from latency. This results in the sound from the TV speakers arriving before the sound from the headphones, causing a very noticeable echo.

I received the ‘TV Play’ a couple of weeks ago and connected it using the ‘optical’ cable. I immediately had problems setting the aid’s volume level, which was far too loud. I had to set the level adjustments to minimum, and the ‘Mixer’ to ‘Surround’ to achieve an acceptable level.

My professional consulted with Widex, who said that an aid software upgrade was necessary, and that this would solve the problem. After the upgrade all of the hearing tests and settings had to be repeated, and as it was not possible to see if the upgrade had solved the problem, I went home to try it out.

I connected the TV Play to our TV, and set the following parameters: Master volume 3. Volume left 3, right 3. Equaliser flat -4, -4, -4. Mixer centre position, which produced an acceptable level.

Whilst these settings provided an acceptable level, there was a slight, but noticeable echo. Eliminating this required shifting the Mixer control to the right, which of course increased the ‘Stream’ volume, whilst blocking the ‘Surround’ sound. This of course prevented me from hearing external sounds, including my wife :slight_smile:. In addition alterations had to be made the Master volume, Equaliser and left right Balance settings to compensate for the increase in volume. The alternative was to reduce the TV volume to zero, however this was not advisable whilst my wife was watching.

Later I had the opportunity to watch several programmes with the TV sound off. I was aware of a ‘popping’ sound in the left ear, which I presumed to be a result of high level clipping. I checked the Sound settings on our TV, a Panasonic 58DX 900 series. I tried both PCM and Auto with SPDIF (Sony Panasonic Digital Interface, it’s basically the same as Toslink) with output levels of between 0dB to -10dB, but this had no effect on (a) reducing the ‘popping’, or (b) the volume? ?

Finally I watched Question Time, where the popping was really quite distracting, to the point in fact where I turned off the aids and used my Senhheiser headphones. As previously stated these provide excellent sound and allow me to correct for my hearing deficiency, but can only be used when viewing alone.

Whilst using the headphones, there was no 'popping. I checked to see what effect altering the Sound settings on the TV had. Altering the SPDIF level from 0db to -10db resulted in a noticeable reduction of volume. Which I think indicates that the TV is providing a ‘clean’ controllable audio output.

My professional is discussing this with Widex, I have an appointment with him in 4 days to see if/how Widex plan to overcome these issues.

Regards Noel

[Member Nick ]

Thanks for your reply Noel. I’ve sent your comments to my audiologist and will post if I get any helpful update from her.

Regards,

Nick

Noel

[Noel 21 Feb]
Hi Nick

Suspect we might be suffering from early adopters syndrome .

Last night I tried again with the same results, what I did notice however was an unnatural stereo effect. What I mean is that when watching, say a drama, I was aware of louder than usual sounds off to the left and right. It reminded me of the early days of stereo records e.g. the Beatles when the stereo effect was over emphasised.

Listening using the TV speakers, or my headphones, the sound stage is balanced, there are no sudden distracting loud noises off stage.

I also noticed in another post that streaming reduced battery life by a considerable amount, 6 days reduced to 4 days, i.e. a third.

I’ve edited my profile, but it doesn’t appear to show my location on my posts, anyway I’m in the UK.

Cheers Noel

[Noel 21 Feb]

Hi Nick.

Has your professional taken any action, are you still experiencing the ‘distortion’?

We have carried out further investigations, these revealed an interest interesting fact. If both aids are inserted, as they would normally be, the problem we have tried to describe is apparent. If however only one aid is used, either one, the problem disappears!

It appears that the aids sometimes produce slightly different sounds, perhaps a small delay, or a ‘clip’ and we hear this. Widex are investigating.

I will post again when they report back.

Cheers Noel

[Noel 21 Feb]

Hi Nick.

Today I received an software update for Evoke. Fresh batts then go. All went ok, had to unpair and then re-pair the aids. Then the app kept stopping and I had to send reports. In the end I uninstalled the app and the re- installed to get it all to work. It appears to be better.

I spent a couple of hours fine tuning the settings and now have a ‘working’ system. I think it’s ok, but the differences in tv programme’s sound quality gives rise to anomalies. Added to this my now ‘improved hearing’ makes the anomaly’s more apparent.

Cheers Noel

[reply21 Feb]

Hi Nick.

Has your professional taken any action, are you still experiencing the ‘distortion’?

We have carried out further investigations, these revealed an interest interesting fact. If both aids are inserted, as they would normally be, the problem we have tried to describe is apparent. If however only one aid is used, either one, the problem disappears!

It appears that the aids sometimes produce slightly different sounds, perhaps a small delay, or a ‘clip’ and we hear this. Widex are investigating.

I will post again when they report back.

Cheers Noel

[reply Nick 21 Feb]

Hi Noel,

Thanks so much for all your investigation.

After my two failed attempts with Widex TV PLAY, my audiologist took a device home to test for herself. She told me that her experience was much worse than I described. And Widex has been unable to help.

My audi then gave me a pair of Oticon HA’s and their streamer. The streamer was much better but the aids weren’t as comfortable as the Widex. Tomorrow, she wants me to try Signia aids which she thinks might be as comfortable for me as the Widex and the Signia streamer is identical to the Oticon technology.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been using TV DEX with my Widex HA’s and the quality is acceptable although not as convenient.

Thanks again.

Nick (U.S.)

[Noel 10 March]

Hi Nick.

To recap and update.

I obtained the pair of Widex Evoke 440 F2’s in November, following the publicising of the ‘award’ Widex received for their new TV Play. I eventually received a TV Play unit in January, but had problems. Watching programs containing speech/discussion, ‘plosives’ occurred when emphasis was placed on the beginning of words usually starting with a lower frequency sound, e.g. B’s and P’s.

My audiologist tried to solve this, but as no progress was made he arranged a conference call with the Head of Technical Support in the UK, many setting were tried, but all failed to resolve the problem. without avail. A week later, the local Widex manager came to my audiologist’s practice. settings were checked and a new TV Play was tried . In desperation I asked them to use the aids, and to my relief, they both agreed the extraneous sounds could be clearly heard.

The aids and TV Play were then sent to the Widex UK headquarters where they were tested and the ‘receivers’ were replaced! Logic, would propound, that in the unlikely event that both ‘receivers’ were faulty, the anomalies would also be present when the aids were used on other programmes

The main reason I purchased the Evokes was to be better able to hear the TV. I already have a pair of Oticon Synergy Sense aids, which produced better sound in a ‘social’ environments than the Evokes, and a Set of Sennheiser wireless digital headphones which perform very well but suffer from an echo when the TV speakers are on, due to digital delay.

I informed my audiologist that I was not at all happy with the Evokes, and he suggested I tried a pair of Phonak Marvel 90 R’s, and their TV Connector. I digested all of the Marvel 90 reviews and videos and discovered the Phonaks offer many more features and all of them agreed that the Phonaks exceeded all expectations.

I’m really looking forward to Thursday’s fitting.

Cheers Noel

#21

Hi Noel,

My Audiologist gave me a pair of Signia HA’s and their TV Play equivalent. Sound from the TV play was excellent …. but I didn’t like the sound from the Signa aids as well as he Widex. So, I’ve given up at this time and am sticking with the Widex Evoke aids with their TV DEX product for the TV. TV DEX provides a much clear sound than TV Play. Only downside is that I need to keep TV DEX centered via a lanyard.

Hope the Phonak work well for you.
Best,
Nick