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Bluetooth for TV to Rexton Finesse HA's

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Hello, first post here. I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere but I don’t find similar in the posts or FAQs.

I’m trying to establish Bluetooth audio connectivity between my mother’s TV and her Rexton Finesse ’s. I can’t seem to get a direct answer on the possible products, configurations and compatibility.

Some specifics:

  1. The TV has RCA and optical outs.
  2. Will use for TV only – no smart phone, landline, music, computer requirements.
  3. Is a neck loop required? I’d think the ideal setup would be from TV to some kind of transmitter/streamer directly to HA’s - and avoid neck loop.
  4. Does the provider (in this case Costco) need to configure the HA’s or any of the other gear, or do they just pair up and work automatically? Maybe this is a Costco question…
  5. What specific product(s) would you recommend? I’m hoping to avoid the Rexton Mini Blu / Blu RCU because of price and relatively short battery life (she pretty much watches TV all day).

Thank you.

6 people in this conversation11 min readJump to latest

There’s no Bluetooth built into the Finesse. The Mini Blu RCU communicates with your phone and other devices and then relays the signal to the hearing aids. It comes with a transmitter that you connect to the TV. A neckloop is not required, but wearing the Mini Blu near the hearing aids will ensure the best signal. Your Costco fitter will need to enable it, and battery life is about 5 hours.

A better solution is the Kirkland Signature 5.0 hearing aids. You can use the TV Streamer 2 accessory which streams directly to the hearing aids without the need for an intermediary device such as the Mini Blu.

Thank you very much rasmus_braun for your clear and quick response.

As she’ll be picking up her Finesse tomorrow, we’ll work with that a bit. It sounds like the only Finesse option is the Rexton Mini Blue RCU if the Finesse can’t pick up her TV at “normal” volume. If she likes the Finesse and can work with the Mini Blu battery limitations, we’ll go that route. If not, I’ll suggest we look at the Kirkland Signature 5.0 and Streamer 2 combination.

Thanks again, and if any other suggestions or options you can think of, please let me know!

the mini doesn’t need to be worn around the neck… before my easyTek I would lay the mini on the arm of the chair and leave it connected to the charger.

Doc Jake, thanks for that – that would resolve the mini battery life issue.

Unfortunately the Finesse’s didn’t work out for her and she returned them this week. She’s now exploring non-Costco solutions. Will let you know…

— Updated —

Doc Jake, thanks for that – that would resolve the mini battery life issue.

Unfortunately the Finesse’s didn’t work out for her and she returned them this week. She’s now exploring non-Costco solutions. Will let you know…

In reply to @rasmus_braun

@rasmus_braun said:

There’s no Bluetooth built into the Finesse. The Mini Blu RCU communicates with your phone and other devices and then relays the signal to the hearing aids. It comes with a transmitter that you connect to the TV. A neckloop is not required, but wearing the Mini Blu near the hearing aids will ensure the best signal. Your Costco fitter will need to enable it, and battery life is about 5 hours.

A better solution is the Kirkland Signature 5.0 hearing aids. You can use the TV Streamer 2 accessory which streams directly to the hearing aids without the need for an intermediary device such as the Mini Blu.

I see that you are the expert on this website so can you please help me with a problem I have with my MiniBlue and my TV transmitter? I have tried to pair the two but I still cannot get the blue light to stop blinking on the Transmitter and be solid blue. I am right next to the Transmitter and I am pressing the Audio Selection button on my MiniBlu and wait for the Transmitter light to go solid blue but it does not.
Did my fitter forget to set something up or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you very much
Siretman

@Siretman said:

I see that you are the expert on this website so can you please help me with a problem I have with my MiniBlue and my TV transmitter? I have tried to pair the two but I still cannot get the blue light to stop blinking on the Transmitter and be solid blue. I am right next to the Transmitter and I am pressing the Audio Selection button on my MiniBlu and wait for the Transmitter light to go solid blue but it does not.
Did my fitter forget to set something up or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you very much
Siretman

Your fitter needs to enable the Mini Blu RCU in the software and add the -Transmitter program before you can connect with the transmitter.

@rasmus_braun said:

Your fitter needs to enable the Mini Blu RCU in the software and add the BT-Transmitter program before you can connect with the transmitter.

Thank you very much.

I was just wondering: the MiniBlu pairs just fine with my iPhone. Are you saying this is a MiniBlue setup problem and not a Transmitter problem? What does it mean when the Audio Source button on the MiniBlu lights up?

@Siretman said:

Thank you very much.

I was just wondering: the MiniBlu pairs just fine with my iPhone. Are you saying this is a MiniBlue setup problem and not a Transmitter problem? What does it mean when the Audio Source button on the MiniBlu lights up?

if you can read go to the seimens site then go to the professional side and read all about the minitek… same same as miniblu.

@Doc_Jake said:

if you can read go to the seimens site then go to the professional side and read all about the minitek… same same as miniblu.

I went to the professional Siemens website but did not find an answer to my question about the Audio Source light operation on the MiniTek. When I tried to pair the Transmitter with the MiniTek unit, I saw the light come on a few times but could not tell if this was confirmation of being in Transmitter pairing mode or something else.
Anyway, I will go to Costco to have the fitter set the SW up correctly. Being an electronics engineer, I like to know what it means when lights come on or go off or something beeps.
My Quintra beeps occasionally when I have not pushed anything. I know that it beeps when I turn on my iPhone or turn it off with the MiniTek paired to the iPhone. Does the Auto program also beep when switching volume or environments?

Thank you very much

the MAC address of the tvlink needs to be put in the softwhile while the mini is connected to their PC and they save the changes. download the pdf in the last link and save it.
https://us.hearing.siemens.com/hearing-products/hearing-aid-accessories/minitek/4

https://uk.hearing.siemens.com/media/2014/09/ug-minitek-master-rev03.pdf3

Thank you very much.

I already saw the first two items you linked to on the Siemens website. The third link is the MiniTek manual which is identical to the MiniBlu manual I have because they are the same unit.

The problem is that the MiniBlu manual does not cover details. It is top level (no error conditions or troubleshooting) and I have questions that have answers only in dispensers’ manuals.

Again, I appreciate your help.

@Siretman
I don’t know why he is the way he is. If I were to guess, his audiology work has become frustrating and he’s burned out. This forum would then be his vehicle to avoid really letting it loose.

If you wish you can go to your settings and place him on your ignore list. Then, he will disappear from your view. But, you might miss something of value so it six-of-one…

Like me you’ve come here un-or-poorly informed – looking for answers that fit our expectations. We tend to have similar problems and are looking for help. That creates some repetitiousness that can frustrate those who see us asking the same questions. Most understand our plight; some don’t. All the answers are probably in a past thread but we either don’t find them or don’t take the time. Let’s be thankful for the ones who really are a help. Too many nice folks than to worry about the anomalies.

Thank you very much for identifying the rodent to me. I am an electronics engineer and I hope that my questions are not one of an absolute novice. I have spent quite a bit of time on the Professional side of the Siemens website, looked at the FAQ but found nothing that handles error conditions or troubleshooting.

I don’t think you’ll find that and what limited trouble shooting an audiologist might be able to do is going to be hidden by an NDA. They send malfunctioning equipment to the manufacturer. It is proprietary. There is no standards committee for hearing aids.

it aint brain surgery… there are 2 lights on the TVLink of which one is power which doubles as power output. the other is the flashing blue light that will go solid when CONNECTED with the mini. the usb power/charger plugs into the bottom and the audeo in plugs into the cut off corner. the mini has 2 lights on the front one for bt phone connectivy (has the icon of a phone on it) the other goes to solid blue whever it has a CONNECTED session either the TVLink or another CONNECTED bt device. on top there are two buttons one is power off/on can be either red or green depending on the charge status. the other mutes the mics. now, exactly what isn’t working?

does your phone pair and then the connect with the minii when you get a call?
does a bt device like a pc, tablet, mp3,etc pair and connect with the mini?
when a device is plugged into the mini do you get sound?
when you press the front top right does the TVLink flashing blue turn solid and does the mini front top right button go to solid blue.

the mini needs to know the mac of the tvlink and/or voicelink. the mini also needs config as to sequence of bt options. program slots on your aids.

if everything is working except the tvlink either the correct mac is not in the software or you dont have the correct audeo out from your tv and/or corect cable. or you have newer tv you need check the audeo outs are turned on.

in order to lock the mini you hold down both volume keys.

inorder for bt devices to find and with the mini you hold down the front top left phone button for 5seconds or so until both the front top left and right buttons are flashing.

((My comments are in double parenthesis inside the quoted message))

@Doc_Jake said:

it aint brain surgery… there are 2 lights on the TVLink of which one is power which doubles as power output. the other is the flashing blue light that will go solid when CONNECTED with the mini. the usb power/charger plugs into the bottom and the audeo in plugs into the cut off corner. the mini has 2 lights on the front one for bt phone connectivy (has the icon of a phone on it) the other goes to solid blue whever it has a CONNECTED session ((the light on the Mini was solid but the TVlink blue light was still blinking)) either the TVLink or another CONNECTED bt device. on top (of the mini) there are two buttons one is power off/on can be either red or green depending on the charge status. the other mutes the mics. now, exactly what isn’t working?

does your phone pair and then the connect with the minii when you get a call? ((Yes))
does a bt device like a pc, tablet, mp3,etc pair and connect with the mini? ((Did not try))
when a device is plugged into the mini do you get sound? ((Did not try))
when you press the front top right does the TVLink flashing blue turn solid and does the mini front top right button go to solid blue. ((No and that is the problem))

the mini needs to know the mac of the tvlink and/or voicelink. the mini also needs config as to sequence of bt options. program slots on your aids.
((I am going later today to Costco to check on that))
if everything is working except the tvlink either the correct mac is not in the software or you dont have the correct audeo out from your tv and/or corect cable. or you have newer tv you need check the audeo outs are turned on.((See above comment))

in order to lock the mini you hold down both volume keys.

inorder for bt devices to find and (pair) with the mini you hold down the front top left phone button for 5seconds or so until both the front top left and right buttons are flashing.

Success!!!
After an hour and a half with 2nd level support from Rexton and the Costco fitter, everything now works. The fitter learned a lot because I reviewed every step and summarized what the 2nd level support person suggested to do. I am an engineer and that’s what engineers do especially after 46 years and still working.

My MiniBlu P button cycles now through all six programs, TV Transmitter works and has great sound that beats anything coming out of the microphones.
Now we can work on getting the Auto program to work properly.
I want to thank all the people that helped me.

Another day brings new revelations with the .

Scenario: HA on, MiniBlu on paired with iPhone - All by itself MiniBlu goes into Streaming mode (BT light on) with 4 beeps (P4) and I hear clicking for every key I press on my iPhone in a Note app.

I push the BT Streaming button to get out of BT streaming and the clicking stops.

Later, the MiniBlu goes back into BT streaming (4 beeps) by itself and the sequence starts again. Sometimes after a while, the MiniBlu goes back to the Auto program (P1) by itself.

If I turn off pairing between iPhone and MiniBlu or I turn off the iPhone, none of the above happens.

My conclusion is that having the iPhone paired up for BT Phone calls, and using it in close proximity to the MiniBlu, causes signals from the iPhone to mislead the MiniBlu to go into BT Streaming mode. I don’t know why a key press in an app on the iPhone causes a clicking sound to be transmitted to my HA in the BT Streaming mode.

Has anybody else seen this scenario and better yet who do I talk to get information on this? other than my Costco fitter who has absolutely no electronic expertise.

Edited

The sounds your phone normally makes will now go through the mini Blu but the problem is, it takes a couple of seconds to get that going so by the time it actually connects, the chirp or click sound may be long gone. You will need to go through all the sound producing items on the phone and decide if it is worth pushing it through the mini blu. I have all my notification sounds for email turned off, left text message notification turned on. I don’t have key click sounds on my phone but if I did I would turn that off.

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