Phonak Infinio Sphere Ultra and BT

@1Bluejay - Wait a minute……$2000 for the TV connector? Am I correct when I am reading this that it is not only the $175 that my audiologist quoted me? You have to spend $2000 when booting it up just to use it?

You are correct! Your TV Connector is the $175 device that is NOT portable in that you can’t take it to a restaurant and put it on the table like a wireless mic (unless it has been redesigned since I bought my last one several years ago?) in order to better hear everyone at the table.

I am referring to the Roger ON IN V2 portable mic that I bought so that I could take the small cigar-sized mic to restaurants and put that on the table to hear folks (turns out my own aids work better in the dedicated “Speech in Loud Noise” program tho!). The V2 was only licensed to work with a single pair of aids, and since I have a backup pair, I was arm-twisted into buying the SECOND V2 mic licensed to those backups, so total outlay was $4,000 BUCKS for two Roger V2s.

Now I could sell those turkeys and buy the V3, which enables several pairs of aids to work with it (and no more price gouging for the separate licenses needed!).

To make a long story unbearably LONGER, there is a workaround by which I could’ve REMOVED a license from one of the Rogers and transferred that to another pair of aids, but even after multiple tries, I was unsuccessful in getting the license OFF one of my Rogers, and in the process of that (illegitimate) activity, I managed to stab my ROGER mic to death, cuz a small pin had to be pressed awkwardly into the back side of it, into a pinhole located under a belt clip. Yeah, like Phonak expended ENORMOUS effort to make that process as impossible as possible.

Now I do hope I haven’t FRIED YOUR BRAIN with this tale of woe, cuz right now I’m in a good place. I’ve got my lil’ 312 Phonaks (2 pairs) and my 2 Roger mics that work with them. Life is good.

@1Bluejay - Actually, I am referring to that TV Connector. Are you saying that you have to pay $2,000 on top of the $175 price just to use it due to clicking a button that says “okay” to accept a licensing agreement after connecting it to the TV? Because if so, I’m cancelling my order for it, because connecting directly to the TV with my hearing aid via bluetooth works just fine for me. I don’t need the TV connector, nor do I need to pay $2,000 for a licensing fee just to use it.

Unless you’re ordering the Roger ON IN, you should be fine. Here’s what they look like:

Your $175 Phonak TV Connector (connects by power cord to wall socket and to the back of your TV):

Here is what my $2,000 Roger ON IN V2 portable, wireless mic looks like:

So to be clear, these are two entirely different devices used to stream audio from a TV to your Phonak aids. Hope that helps!

Hi, I did that initially, but the current output from the TV was not clean, meaning it had added a HUMM to the audio, so I just plug it into the power bar.

@1Bluejay - Maybe I’m misunderstanding. You stated there was a $2,000 licensing fee for the TV Connector in the post I replied to.

I’m a tech geek, and licensing fees mean very different things in the tech sector.

Clarification question: is there a $2,000 licensing fee (or subscription or any other fees) attached to the TV Connector for users such as myself just to use it when you turn it on after paying $175 for the unit?

I think they mislead her into buying a second Roger on, when if they knew what they were doing, they’d have reset the license count on the first Roger to load a pair onto her second pair of HAs. Worst case should have been buying a pair of Roger x receivers and transferring those licenses into her second pair. This should have been less than a thousand buying them new, less than $500 buying off eBay. They saw her coming with $$.

WH

@1Bluejay - Thank you!! I did read it. But the meaning was very different from my POV. Thanks again for clarifying. I can rest easy now. Haha

Here are links to two YouTube videos which give some very helpful information about Bluetooth in Hearing Aids. The key word to be looking for if you want the latest Bluetooth, which is Bluetooth LE Audio which comes in Bluetooth version 5.4. On a computer you only find this in the chip which has WiFi7. The older video with Laurel Christensen of ReSound is longer, more complete.https://youtu.be/EGv1kUz8JDo?si=bdFbEZvS8LORSJGY6 . The second video is newer and the first 8 minutes of 12 is Bluetooth background which you want. https://youtu.be/rwtpGRkB5SU?si=IOwDtccGjtT-luVr5 . iPhone through 16 do not yet support the latest Bluetooth for Hearing Aids but still use MFI.