Phonak introduces Marvel platform and Audéo M hearing aids

I was very happy with the improvement in hearing, going from a single Phonak Naida Q90 RIC to dual Marvels. (My biggest hearing problem is a severe conductive hearing loss in my right ear. The problem with my left ear is much less severe, but having two HAs helped in noisy environments.) I had a Com Pilot, but I never used it. I just always used my phone with my left ear. I purchased the Marvels equally for hearing and for connectivity.

Before I returned the Marvels, I got a pair of Opn 1s. They aren’t perfect, but they support multi-pairing and to a degree, they are simultaneously connected to multiple paired devices. In my opinion, the Opn connectivity is so much better than the Marvels, it isn’t a fair competition. I have them paired with a laptop, an iphone and an android phone. When they are connected to my laptop, I can monitor the battery condition and adjust the volume using either of my phones. Additionally, probably due to MFI, even while they are connected to my laptop or android phone, I can take a call on the iphone, so they support dual simultaneous streaming connections (one of which must be MFI). (The TV connector is the same.) The drawback is that the connect clip serves as the microphone. (Streaming out is also through the connect clip for the laptop and android.) Some people are making a big deal of this because it’s not “direct streaming”, but all of my colleagues tell me the sound from me is much better using the connect clip (positioned in front of me) than it was from the Marvels. The other improvement is that on the phone, the sound comes to both ears, unlike the Marvels. I’m hoping Oticon will extend the connectivity so they can be simultaneously connected to all paired devices, not only for volume adjustments but also for streaming. Switching the connect clip from one device to another is done by turning on BT on the device you want it to connect with and turning it off on the other devices. It connects to whatever device is on. (If multiple devices are on, it will connect with whichever one has the strongest signal at the time. It will stay connected with that device until you turn off BT.) Definitely easier than un-pairing and re-pairing and it takes literally a few seconds to switch.

I have no idea why Phonak released the Marvels with single pairing or whether they will fix it. Presumably they know but they aren’t talking. The Marvels and the Opns sound somewhat different, but to be honest, I would not be able to tell which was which. I would have been happy with either the Marvels or the Opns, but the connectivity is what made the decision for me.

I just got back from the audiologist, a different woman. Long story short she setup a music program turned the microphones to omni directional, disabled whistle block, and changed the MPO setting. I think whistle block was the main problem.

My guitar sounds great now. No more warbling . I’m quite happy now, and am so grateful that this wonderful young woman took the time to help me. She says she’s going to dig deeper into it. Apparently I’m the first person they’ve had to complain about the issue, she seems intrigued by it now.

So it appears you have the TV Connector that would work with the Marvels, correct? I’m planning to pick one up from my audiologist next Thursday. Others on this forum have indicated I can use it with my MacBook Pro laptop. My laptop has a built in microphone so I’m thinking I will be able to Skype with my grandkids?? Anyway, could that have solved your problems with your laptop connection? Not a big deal for me as I’m retired so I appreciate your situation is quite different from mine.

@darylm said:

The other improvement is that on the phone, the sound comes to both ears, unlike the Marvels.

I thought it was the Audeo B Direct that has the limitation of hearing only on 1 side when you’re on the phone. I thought that with the Marvel, you can hear on both sides when you’re on the phone, no?

The Oticon ConnectClip can be paired with up to 8 devices.

Ditto for me. No idea where that is coming from. Marvels stream audio and phone calls to both ears. Technically they stream to the primary ear which then splits and sends it to the other ear, but the result is the same.

There are a few posters here “over hyping” their own HA’s (and maybe some dealers) which does get a little old. Then occasionally you have some misinformation being thrown out intentionally to confuse things further. I tend to think users of “hearing aid clip” are a little jealous of Marvels stream capabilities to both ears (without device assistance).

I had the Phonak tv connector, but I didn’t get around to trying it. I have the Oticon version, whatever it’s called. It’s with my TV, so I use it for that purpose. You could use the TV with a computer and use the built-in laptop microphone, as long as your laptop is front of you. In my case, I have a docking station so my laptop is off to the side and it’s not always even open, so the built-in microphone is of no use.

If you’re going to call someone out, grow a spine and quote them. This isn’t about jealousy, it’s about debunking over-hyped marketing. Does it hurt your feelings to have someone point out the limitations of your hearing aids?

I’m an ex-Phonak customer. I have a Naida, which I was very happy with, which is why I bought the Marvels. I returned them after I found that Phonak had over-hyped the direct streaming capability. I gave Phonak plenty of opportunity to fix the single-pairing and constant connection dropping. All I received from them was excuses. They would not commit to fixing the Marvels, so I returned them and got Opns.

I’m much happier with the Opns than I was with the Marvels. The Opns aren’t perfect, but they are far less imperfect than the Marvels. I would rather have a connect clip that works than the Marvels, without a connect clip, but with the other limitations.

I did get a new audiologist, with the Opns. I’m not talking about headphones to stream audio for music or video. I’m talking about as a headset with a microphone, to use with a telephone. There are two bluetooth devices, one is a monaural audio with a microphone, the other is stereo audio, but no microphone. As I said, the audiologist told me the telephone headphone used to use both ears, but Phonak changed it to one ear for “safety” reasons. I had to chose the ear. I watched her select the ear in the software. I have no reason to doubt what she told me, but to be honest, it doesn’t matter anymore. If your Marvels stream audio to both ears when you’re in a telephone call, be glad.

@darylm said:

I’m not talking about headphones to stream audio for music or video. I’m talking about as a headset with a microphone, to use with a telephone. There are two bluetooth devices, one is a monaural audio with a microphone, the other is stereo audio, but no microphone. As I said, the audiologist told me the telephone headphone used to use both ears, but Phonak changed it to one ear for “safety” reasons. I had to chose the ear. I watched her select the ear in the software. I have no reason to doubt what she told me, but to be honest, it doesn’t matter anymore. If your Marvels stream audio to both ears when you’re in a telephone call, be glad.

Are you talking about a separate device to be used in conjunction with the Marvels to talk on the telephone? Or are you talking about using the Marvels themselves to talk on the telephone?

I’m not being forceful. I’m being factual, based on my experience and what my audiologist told me.

You say points, plural. Which points? The point about the single ear telephone streaming was from a couple of weeks ago. Maybe you’re the one who’s out of date.

What other point are you claiming I am making is out of date or not factual?

Never mind. None of this is worth the time to take to parse out every line I might have some thought to challenge in many of your posts in this thread. I’ll decline. Sorry to waste your time.

I may have accidentally flagged you. I was curious what the little dots were for. Not intended.

After 2 weeks of using my M70’s, I’m very happy. I can hear all kinds of new things. We’ve had our coffee maker for at least 5 years. I never knew it beeped when it was done brewing. LOL

I only have 1 phone. so the recent complaints about multiple pairing really doesn’t apply to me. It works just fine with the TV module too… Although, I’m considering attaching it to my PC to stream music from the hard drive rather than using it with the TV.

I have 2 minor wishes;

#1 would be for different tones when changing programs via the HA’s. I have 3 programs right now and without using the App, I tend to forget which program I have selected. It’d be nice to have a different tone generated when selecting each program.

#2 is for a similar wish for different tone when you reach the extreme’s of the volume & the mid point… It’s be great to have a different tone for the mid point in volume vs the other extremes. In louder environments, it’s tough to tell if I just turned it to the max or if that was the mid point in volume.