Streaming to cochlear implant and hearing aid at same time?

Congratulations! I got my implant last year in October, for the time being Icontinue to wear an Oticon miniRITE on my other ear, and I use an iPhone 17 Plus. I can stream either to the hearing aid or the implant but not both - and I believe this will be the same in your case. As far as I was told, this limitation is caused by Apple’s IOS. I was told by members of the cochlear implant community that Android cell phone users don’t have that issue, regardless which cochlear implant make they have and hearing aid they use on the other ear. I have a Med-El Sonnet 3, and am waiting for an evaluation session and approval to get an implant on my left ear.

If I want to get the sound to both the implant and the Oticon hearing aid, like while attending a Zoom meeting, I use a headphone with volume, treble and bass adjustments and I keep the volume on the Oticon lowered to minimize noticing the sound processing latency between the implant and the hearing aid. I found streaming to the cochlear implant only can be very tiering - and as I was told, it is a neurological burden on the brain that should be minimized or avoided.

One more hint: following activation, your brain will need time to adjust to recognizing again sounds and voices as it remembers it, be able to understand speech in noisier environments, like in a busy restaurant.

Good luck and all the best.

@deberh said:

If I want to get the sound to both the implant and the Oticon hearing aid

If I understand this correctly your MedEl Sonnet 3 is not compatible with Oticon. You will need a separate device to stream with it. MedEl Sonnet 3 is compatible using iPhone iOS 16 and higher with a compatible Starkey aid, not Android.

Not a pro at this, just passing on something I learned recently.

Yes, you are correct. For binary hearing with the Sonnet 3 it requires a Starkey hearing aid to stream to both sides IF your phone is an Apple iPhone. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for a Starkey hearing aid because I expect to get anyway the second implant in a couple of month (and no longer have any use for the Starkey device).

As I understand it, the limitation of an iPhone is that Apple gives preference to its own devices, like AirPods, i.e. it allows to pair with the iPhone one cochlear implant on one ear and for instance an Apple AirPod on the other ear.

However, as I was told by other Med-El Sonnet 3 weares who use a hearing aid on the other ear, they pair without any issues their Android phone, like a Samsung Galaxy, to both the Sonnet 3 and an Oticon or other non-Starkey hearing aid.

I was aware of the issue before choosing from which manufacturer I wanted to get the implant. I gave Med-El the preference because I am a classical music lover and wanted to hear classical music as close or as good as I used to a long time ago.

@deberh said:

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for a Starkey hearing aid because I expect to get anyway the second implant in a couple of month (and no longer have any use for the Starkey device).

This is the same as my situation on my first implant. I knew I wanted to go bilateral from the start. I literally stopped wearing a hearing aid in my non implanted ear a short while after activation. It really helped the new implant get word understanding.

I agree, don’t worry about a hearing aid.

@ceetom1 said:

Will I be able to stream online meetings to both the cochlear implant and to the oticon HA at the same time? Not sure if the iPhone can simultaneously stream to two devices.

Only with Cochlear wireless phone clip. However, therw may be latency differences between HA vs. CI.

@ceetom1 said:

. At some point I will likely get a compatible HA by Resound just to increase my chance of having better hearing

Entering your audiogram in profile settings could help provide more accurate advices.

If binaural streaming isn’t “a must”, I don’t recommend Resound hearing aid if you struggle in noise.