Phonak TV Connector Different Versions

@tenkan , can the TV connector be connected directly to the SoundBar? I cannot get my DVD player to run through the TV connector. Any help?

OK. Success, I think.

Found the PCM (Pulse-CodeModulation, I learned) toggle in an audio sub-menu. Clicked it and the aids jumped to life.

I put on a Marvel movie to check sound effects; the rear speakers from the sound bar worked as well as the front, and the subwoofer seemed to be OK.

I can control the HA volume only from the Phonak app or the aids themselves.
That’s understandable, and I’ll get used to that.

With this setup, though, it seems I can control the soundbar audio only from the SB remote; previously, I could use the TV, cable box or streaming box remotes to work the sound bar.

Does anyone have experience fixing this problem? I suppose I could get a separate universal remote, but the sound controls on the remotes all worked before.

Thanks to all who responded with advice!

I think if it has optical out, not sure if all soundboard have this tho?

@jeddmoskowitz said:

With this setup, though, it seems I can control the soundbar audio only from the SB remote; previously, I could use the TV, cable box or streaming box remotes to work the sound bar.

Ahhhh, man this is one of the bugbears that’s so annoying, you fix one problem only for another to be rear it’s ugly head! Sorry I can’t offer anything on this one.

@PeterH said:

• V1 has no on/off button, or physical volume control. No mention of Dolby either.
• V2 has an on/off button and a physical volume control.

There’s a V1.1 as well which was released after the V2 because they can’t get hold of the parts for V2.

Differences between Phonak TV Connector 1.1 and 2.0

My local Costco is now offering TV connector Version 1.1 as they can’t get Version 2 due to the chip shortage. They advised me that it (1.1) is “not as good” as V 2 but couldn’t be more specific. The price is the ubiquitous AU$130 - which is less than a third of the cost of most the Phonak TV connectors on ebay. Does anyone here know what the difference is? It looks like (on ebay) V1.1 has no top volume button… Not sure what the implications of that are. My google-fu has failed me …

Here’s a comparison chart for the different versions of the TV connector.
Note: only V2.0 supports Dolby

https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/differences-between-phonak-tv-connector-1-1-and-2-0/66482/5?u=sterei

What are three of those outputs? The red and white are analog left/right which will not be Dolby output. That will work fine for stereo input to any version of the TV Connector. What is the specific model number of that card? If that’s a digital coax output in blue then you could get a converter to optical. If those are 3.5mm (1/8") optical outputs then that should be no problem using that optical connection rather than the toslink. My optical cables came with a 3.5mm adapter to attach to the toslink. The V1.1 and V2 TV Connector is 3.5mm optical (and analog stereo). The V2 supports Dolby input.

It would be my uneducated conclusion that the hearing aids themselves will not give you anything more than stereo. It would be my uneducated conclusion that the output from the V2 TV Connector will not be surround. That it can take the Dolby signal on the optical input but then crushes it down to stereo to output to the aids.

It would be my skeptical conclusion that using headphones (hearing aids) can’t reasonably possibly provide surround. How could it. It’s two speakers immediately attached to the ears. There’s no spatial surroundness to be had unlike speakers set around your listening area. I’m even skeptical of the simulated surround from some sound bars somehow doing magic with reflectance. But what do I know.

I would be very grateful if you could do some tests to see how you perceive the rear channels, but also the subwoofer

I’m sorry but I’m not going to go to that effort. I’d have to pull out the amp buried where it is, hook up a video connection to a screen, hook up the optical to the Connector, put batteries in the amp clicker, remember how to access and operate the amp UI.
As for bass, hearing aids can only go so low. I can do that here without the amp. I can perceive a pure sine wave sound down to about 50hz via bluetooth. Maybe a little less. Turning up the volume doesn’t seem to help. And of course hearing anything depends on the programming of the aids and ones hearing loss.

Maybe someone with a working, set up system would be willing.

Again, 5.1 should get crushed down to stereo by the Connector to send out to the aids.

Ok, no problem. I thought you had the system already connected, thanks anyway

Wow there a lot of Phonak TV Connector threads! There may be another more recent version of the TV Connect. Having issues with my Infinio Spheres and my V2 TV Connect from Costco from 2020. Hearing specialist called Phonak and there’s a newer version with a higher firmware number. Mine say they have the latest firmware. I’m unclear when this change took place, I also haven’t tried out the newer version yet to see if it solves my intermittent connection issues. Will let you know after I try it out. Mention this because it MIGHT be an issue if you’re buying a used device off of Ebay. Other thing I learned is that in Target, to make gain adjustments, one uses the Roger + MIc settings (not streaming) I’m somewhat skeptical if this is really my issue as my current TV Connect seemed to work fine initially with my Spheres. Will keep you posted.

Something else I learned is that Phonak/Sonova serial numbers tell you when product was made. The first two numbers are the year it was mad and the second two are the week it was made. For example: A serial number starting with 2016 was made in the 16th week of 2020.

Brief update. New TV Connect does not seem to solve the issue. Will try something else tonight. I turned off the tap feature to pause streaming. I’m unaware of tapping my ears but the behavior I’ve experienced is what would happen if I were.

You can update firmware, probably by Target software, IIRC.

Mine from 2020 won’t update to as new a firmware of the ones from about 24 on.