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Costco Kirkland Signature 9.0 (Product Information)

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In reply to @glucas

@glucas said:

I have just tested the push button operation - long press, when the TV connector is on, and indeed, it does switch back to the automatic program - fantastic news!

I just hopefully tried this when my laptop is connected to the TV Connector and while there is no sound being played on the laptop. Sadly my long press on the H/As does not stop the dinging. Instead the Easy Line Remote keeps jumping back and forth, with each ding, between “TV Connector” and “Automatic.” :frowning_face:
It was worth a try, though.

In reply to @glucas

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of product features. I have not seen anything in the KS9 product comparison list of programs and features about the acoustic phone program, which is part of the Phonak Marvel line. I know you said you had the Target program, but question that this is included in the KS9 version, just as not rechargeable and other differences, no , etc. Would be a nice feature let us know.

RDB

In reply to @NateS

I have 2 manual programs + the automatic. That might be the reason for the switch. Also - I had to enable “Button Long Press” = Program change in the programmer. Don’t know if that helps.

I only question stereo as the sound is from one source, not from stage left and right, so it would be monaural, the same sound in both ears, but that’s being technical. With the feature you do hear the caller in both ears, but it is monaural, and music streamed or BT from a smart phone is stereo as it exists in that way. I must admit I haven’t used a corded phone in years.

RDB

Yes, we have been cutting it short for ease, is Bluetooth, and is how the smart phone communicates with the hearing aids, ’s. The TV connector streams the sound.

RDB

Edited

The programs listed specifically for the KS9’s are, Quiet, Comfort, Noise, Loud Noise, Echo, Car, and Music, these seven and Streaming Voice, and Streaming Music, make up the 9 programs that the KS9’s have, and are all included in the automatic program. Only three of the seven can be installed as manual programs. Mute is a feature not a program. I note the different terminology comes from using the Target program meant for Phonak hearing aids, not heard of anyone having access to the Costco KS9 version which of course is supplied by Phonak with these program names to Costco.

RDB

Edited

In reply to #1289

Stereo meaning both ears is a misnomer, speech coming over a landline phone can not be true stereo as there is only one sound track, it takes two to be stereo, were the left and right hear a slightly different sound mix as in stereo music. Recorded such that if the drums are more on one side, and guitars/ horns etc. on the other, stereo will deliver this as it was recorded on, and deliver on two tracks, left and right. This is stereo just as if you had been at the concert, your left ear will hear a slightly different sound than the right. A voice coming over a landline is a single track and can be better heard, and understood if both ears are delivered the same track, this is monaural, just as playing a monaural record or tape on stereo equipment, it will be delivered on at least two sides, but be exactly the same, not stereo. The hearing aids can only deliver what they receive, stereo music, stereo from TV, will be delivered to the hearing aids in the stereo they received it, both sides slightly different. Two speakers or two hearing aids can’t make it stereo unless it starts out that way, they will deliver the same sound. Reverberation had a stereo effect with monaural sound by slightly delaying the same sound, faster than an echo, so it seemed fuller/warmer like you were standing right in the middle of the sound.

RDB

Yes, but hearing a mono signal in both ears gives about a 3 boost in volume, over hearing it in one ear. And, on top of that, one ear may be better than the other at hearing certain frequencies. The two ears together can do a better job of covering the frequency spectrum. The KS8 aids I have can be set to use the XPhone program which does send the same signal to both ears. I certainly does help with hearing while using a regular land line phone. But, I found it to be more hassle than it was worth. You have to fumble around switching to that program while you are trying to answer the phone. Sound streamed to both ears from a smartphone is much better to listen to.

Agree. You do not get stereo sound. Acoustic Phone allows both ears to hear the other party’s voice simultaneously.
Also agree that calls via cell phone/ beat landline phone/Acoustic Phone combination hands down. Given a choice, I do not use my land phone. But I listen to and try to understand recorded messages. My word recognition test shows a 22% increase when both ears participate vs. one. Believe me, that’s huge!
Sierra, I seem to recall you once mentioned that you paired your iphone with you Ooma VoIP phone. I tried that but was unsuccessful. Any advise?

Edited

In reply to @Sierra

@Sierra said:

The KS8 aids I have can be set to use the XPhone program which does send the same signal to both ears.

I asked 2 fitters if they could set up the XPhone programme. Both flatly said it couldn’t be done or there was no such feature. This was one of the reasons for returning my KS8s then ordered the KS9s from another Costco H.C. instead.

In reply to @listeningout

@listeningout said:

Sierra, I seem to recall you once mentioned that you paired your iphone with you Ooma VoIP phone. I tried that but was unsuccessful. Any advise?

All I did was download the Ooma app from the Apple App store1 and install it on my phone. It seems to import all the contacts from the iPhone so they are there to dial from Ooma. I only have the basic Ooma so I can only call out. With the premium Ooma I believe you can receive calls as well. You need to be on Wi-Fi for it to work, but it will work anywhere you have Wi-Fi, not just when you are at home. I noticed lately that it is displaying that I have a message on my Ooma system as a banner on my lock screen. And, you can play your messages as long as you have Wi-Fi. That may have started to happen with iOS 13. Don’t know. I never knew they were there.

In reply to @listeningout

@listeningout said:

I asked 2 fitters if they could set up the XPhone programme. Both flatly said it couldn’t be done or there was no such feature.

Yes, for sure it is there in the fitting software. You just pick it in the Program Handling section. Once you pick it then you select which ear you will use the phone with. See below. It is set for the right ear. Some of the literature claims it will switch to the program with a magnet, so if you put a stick on magnet on the phone receiver it is supposed to make it switch to the XPhone program. I could not get that to work. Costco were supposed to look into it, but they never did get back to me.

image

Using the acoustic phone manual program - it does work with a mobile i.e. sends the sound to both ears. Just haven’t got that working with a landline yet.

@glucas said:

it does work with a mobile i.e. sends the sound to both ears. Just haven’t got that working with a landline yet

Hi glucas - with the Acoustic Phone program, the “designated” aid (right or left set up in Target) uses its microphone to pick up the phone sound (or any sound for that matter), and sends it over to the other aid so you have the effect of the call in both ears. Its nothing like as good as mobile phone streaming, or using the DECT 2 phone with Belong/Brio aids (another thing I am really missing unfortunately), but it certainly is much better that using a landline with just 1 aid. Is it possible that Acoustic Phone hasn’t been set up properly, ie right or left hasn’t been designated? Have you tried holding the landline to both left & right aids (as only 1 will trigger the Acoustic Phone signal transfer :))

One more thing to try, one option with Acoustic Phone is to be able to decide with a button press which one picks up the signal - so perhaps try holding the Landline & pressing a button on the relevant aid.

Hi WestEndBob,

Thanks for the suggestions. I think my right aid is dominant, so that could be an explanation, as I have it set up to hear on the left ear. The button press is not the issue I think.

I will have a tinker with the programmer and see if that changes it.

Cheers.

A while back I reported that my KS9s were having a static problem when using the hands-free phone feature. I thought that a reset of my phone fixed the problem, per a suggestion here. Turns out that this was temporary, and the problem came back. I have an update. I finally found the problem, as I realized that there was no static when I was taking phone calls over the cellular on my iPhone, and not my home WiFi on my iPhone. In other words the problem was happening only when I was home. For some reason I had my phone set on the 2.4G connection, not the 5G connection, duh. When I switched to the 5G connection all the static went away. I had been getting interference.

I find the hands-free telephone feature of the KS9, alone, to be worth the price of admission. Especially for hands-free driving, which is now the law where I live. I wouldn’t have believed that it would work in my car at highway speed, but it does. I have even disconnected my phone from my car, as I don’t want any electronic confusion about where the sound is going when a call comes in. And I am using Siri for calling.

I would prefer to have the aids paired to my Apple Watch, so that I never even have to take my phone with me. And they do pair. But this drains the watch battery. If Apple comes up with 20% better battery life in the future - and they will - I will have the perfect setup for phone calls. My idea of a better future is something along the lines of the watch, working in combination with hearing devices and a future version of the Google Glass idea, with specific implants for things such as blood monitoring for diabetics. The phone is getting to be so yesterday, grin…

Sure it would be great to be able to have multiple Bluetooth connections, but I have happily sacrificed the MFI feature (and I have all Apple devices) for hands-free phone without lanyard. (And I have found that buying a couple of pair of cheap, wireless ear buds works just fine for listening to my iPads.)

I have found nothing so far with the KS9 that would cause me heartburn. The sound clarity is the best of any aid I have had - so far I have needed nothing but the Auto program to hear well in all environments. The TV streamer is the best I have had - works seamlessly, automatically. And physically, these are the best I have had: The vented domes have a large and soft contact area, so comfortable that I can throw away my bottle of Miracell. The wires fit so perfectly against my head that they are almost invisible. The aids are small and I have them in black; against my dark glasses frames you don’t even see them, according to my wife, even though my hair is short. I like the way that they open and close, with a firm snap. And Phonak has done something that is so simple, yet so thoughtful, by making a partially-open battery cage so that it is easy to knock out the old batteries with the flick of a finger.

These are good hearing aids!

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