Phonak Marvel Bluetooth range

Haggis, you are just the person for this question. I have a pair of Costco KS8s made by Rexton. The streaming signal typically cuts out of one of the HAs 50-60% of the time. It cuts out from one or the other, but almost never both. I am still within my 6 month trial period, so I am thinking of trying the new KS9s (made by Phonak) on the chance that this is a hardware problem and that the bluetooth tech will have improved, just because it is a newer model. As someone who deals with this hardware, do you think that this is a reasonable expectation, or do you think that the new model is likely to have similar problems?

Regarding the TaoTronics, I believe latency was a problem with older models but not with the new models. Mine works great on planes, no lag that I notice. And the range is much greater than advertised.I can take a walk all around a 747 without losing the signal.

jbtg,

I’m not that familiar with the Rextons. If the KS8’s are dependent on a direct BT connection to each HA separately, I can almost guarantee the KS9’s (if they’re like the Phonak Marvel as folks have implied) won’t have differing cut-out on different sides while BT streaming. When I’ve been BT connected with my Marvel M70-Rs, I’ve never had one side drop out without the other.

Now when I’ve been streaming with the TV connector (Phonak’s “AirStream” protocol), and I go out to the kitchen (at the limits of their range), one or the other may cut out before the other and it’s not always consistent.

But with BT streaming they seem solid until they both go simultaneously. From what I know, the Marvel’s connect Bluetooth only to the right hearing aid (which you can see paired as Handsfree or Headphone in the telephones BT detail). Then it uses some other protocol to transmit the left channel content over the the left HA.

Once or twice my left has refused to “gang” (interconnect) with my right, usually after being manually switched off and switched back on with the volume rocker long-press. In those cases cycling on and off, or putting in the charging case resets them and they link up again. But in the state where they’re not linked, the left volume control doesn’t play tones in the right HA when I change the level, and BT doesn’t stream at all to the left.

But when BT streams to both HAs, it never cuts out on one but not the other.

Hope this helps. let me know if you have any other questions or would like me to test anything.

Thanks, Haggis. That was enlightening. It does seem that the KS8s each have a separate connection to the phone, since both of them take turns cutting off - not just one.

As a matter of design, does it make more sense to stream from the phone to only one HA, and then relay the signal to the other?

Or is it a better idea to stream to both?

jbtg

Legsmaniac69, more power to you.

My experience with any single Bluetooth device is that when you most need it to work it will inexplicably refuse to connect, if not inexplicably come unpaired. You have to reboot, or re-pair, or both. It’s hard enough with keeping a reliable connection between two devices over time. With four devices in the mix, you’re multiplying the probabilities.

1st time it usually works. The question is on the 101st time when you’re settling down to watch that RomCom with the wife and everything goes wrong and you have to futz around and the mood is lost.

OK so I’m a cynic. You see a glass half full, and I see a glass half full of sewer water.

Just to give you an example of my cynicism about Bluetooth, here are some “fun” events I’ve had recently. OK, so they’re not all about Bluetooth, but include related things with technology of the HA.

1. Last month my phone inexplicably dumped all its Bluetooth pairings after an OS upgrade. I lost my selectable contact upload feature and I had to upload all 2,000 of my Google contacts to my car.

2. I have a Taotronics BT transceiver set up as a TV transmitter. I use it with my Bose QC35 headphones. It fails to connect to the TV about 10% of the time I turn them on.

3. I didn’t want to mess with BT switching on my Marvels so I got the TV connector from Phonak. About 5% of the time I go into the living room, my HAs go into a connect/disconnect loop with the TV connector playing that psychotically-annoying jingle over and over and over and over and over again until I reset them.

4. Sometimes when I reset my Marvels by turning them off and on again with the rocker switch, they refuse to pair with each other until I reset them in a charging case. I don’t carry a charging case with me, so on a recent plane flight I was unable to use my HAs properly the whole day until I got my luggage.

5. The BTLE connection from the Marvel Remote app in Android takes 5, 10, or 15 seconds to connect to the HAs. BTLE should connect in milliseconds. Sometimes one or both never connect, and the app is useless until I reboot my phone because something stupid locks up and even force-closing the app doesn’t remedy it.

Maybe it’s my personal Feng Shui. My Karma. The universe laughing at me because it knows I fly into an indignant rage (as an engineer) when things don’t work right because people haven’t bothered to sweat the details in their designs and provide intelligent error recovery.

Hence the “sewer water”.

Is there an on and off switch on that TVConnector?

Thanks,
That would stop annoying Bluetooth connection when not wanted.

@Raudrive said:

Is there an on and off switch on that TVConnector?

Not on mine, but it wouldn’t be a good solution anyway because it’s across the room and would require getting up. Which means buzzing down the recliner footrest, and sometimes moving the cat. When mine delay reconnecting I try hitting volume, pulling up the app, etc. Something like hitting an elevator button repeatedly even though you know it won’t make any difference.

I have had the same problem with my Marvels … bluetooth streaming great indoors, but with frequent cutouts when walking outside. I was able to improve the situation somewhat by carrying my iPhone in my shirt pocket. But since all of my summer shirts only have a left-side pocket, I also had to have my audi switch my primary aid to the left side. As I walk around my block (about a half mile) the bluetooth cuts out about half the time, and is fine for the remainder. I suspect that the many homes that have wi-fi may be the source of the problem. I can only hope that Phonak comes up with a solution … or markets a made for iPhone aid in the future.

That sounds very similar to the TV Link 2 and Beyond/Venture aids. The reason I ask is the recliner is about 25 feet from the TV.

@Raudrive said:

the recliner is about 25 feet from the TV.

That might be pushing it. We have a tablet on the dining room table, BT to audio receiver for playing music and displaying artist info and lyrics at the same time. Distance is about 24’ and it’s a quirky connection. Mostly works but can be slow to connect. Based on that, your connection might work perfectly until you turn your head the wrong way. Also, forget about growing a mullet.

25’? Perfect excuse to get a 10’ screen. Perfecting Proximity: Finding The Optimal TV Viewing Distance | Audio Video Unlimited1

When we bought this TV we both agreed we are older and can’t see as well as we used to. So we got a 75” TV.
A mullet. Haven’t heard that in a while.

@risenfald: bluetooth streaming on the Marvels does not work well outdoors for many people. It’s not the HA connection to the phone; rather it is the connection between the left and right HA that suffers when outdoors. Bluetooth streams from your phone to one HA, and that HA then forwards the signal to the other HA. Apparently, the HAs have trouble communicating in a straight line (through your head) and rely on walls and ceilings to “bounce the signal” off of. You may notice that it works better outdoors when you are near a wall. I’ve even found that wearing a wide-brimmed hat seems to help

Regarding music sound quality: at first I felt that there was not enough bass, then I had my audi update the fitting for music streaming to add more bass, but it was too much and resulted in distortion. Then we tweaked the levels some more and I finally achieved amazing sound. It required several iterations, but it was worth it!