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Need help connecting KS 10 to Windows PC

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Hey guys,
New user here :slight_smile: I received my Costco’s Kirkland Signature 10.0 Hearing Aid — KS10 last week and so far, so good. I’m getting used to them…no problem thus far but I’m having problems connecting to my Windows 10 (64 bit) system.

I bought a Bluetooth adapter Dual mode Class1 from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LVH5BCP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=118 and I was able to successfully pair and upon first use, it worked well. However, I can’t seem to re-connect. If I go to 'Bluetooth & Other Devices" and select the ‘R-KS hearing aid’ and try to ‘Connect’ it can’t do it.

Have any of you found a successful Adapter/Settings mode to make this reliable successful?

Any help is most appreciated!

Thanks all ~ Ken

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Is it possible you’ve already got two devices (phone and tablet?) connected to your hearing aids? I’d try basic troubleshooting stuff with the aim of trying to simplify. Eliminate other connections and rebooting. If it worked once, it seems like it should continue to work with proper conditions.

MDB,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did this. My iPhone is the only other connection and that works great. I think this problem is on the PC side; either the adapter or something in the system.
I tried a re-installation again today and while it connects initially, after it loses the connection, it will not come back.
Quite frustrating.

Ken

Really don’t know. I’d probably try another dongle. Phonak suggests a Sennheiser, but they’re pretty pricy. I just use a cheap Insignia one from Best Buy and it works great with my KS9

Hi Guys,
More on my investigation…
As far as I can tell, the adapter/dongle requires the A2PD protocol. This may be the reason for the re-connection problem.
I sent an email to Phonak and asked them for a known working recommendation.

They replied:
"Thank you for contacting Phonak with your inquiry. We have a few that we have tested and used successfully.
Sennheiser or EPOS BTD 800
Avantree AG80

In addition, if you continue having connection issues, we recommend going into your Phonak app and going to the menu in the upper right corner>Select My Hearing Aids>Select Bluetooth Phone Call>Set the option to Fixed rather than Adaptive. We find this option works best with PC connection issues. (I tried this but it didn’t work for me.)

Since they didn’t provide a part number for the Sennheiser (maybe the same as EPOS), I ordered the EPOS BTD 800 for about $58. Although this may be a bit expensive for a BT dongle, I’m happy to pay it if it works. It does advertise itself as adhering to the A2PD protocol and it is also designed for UC (Unified Communications)… a plus.

I won’t have it until next week but I’ll report back as to the success or failure.

Ken

Thanks for letting me know. Thought it was worth a try.

As mentioned, a Bluetooth dongle would probably help you.
Good luck

In reply to @ken1

@ken1 said:

Since they didn’t provide a part number for the Sennheiser (maybe the same as EPOS), I ordered the EPOS BTD 800 for about $58. Although this may be a bit expensive for a BT dongle, I’m happy to pay it if it works. It does advertise itself as adhering to the A2PD protocol and it is also designed for UC (Unified Communications)… a plus.

Completely different use case but I have a BTD 800 (Sennheiser) that I use with an iMac Pro to communicate with an Oticon ConnectClip for streaming from the desktop computer. It “just works” unlike the built-in bluetooth but the built-in bluetooth in a MacBook Pro works without the BTD 800. Note that EPOS has a program that will update the firmware (and itself) to support new things and fix bugs. The EPOS Connect program is currently at version 4.5.0.1295 and my Sennheiser BTD 800 “USB for Lync” is is shown as up to date at 2.16.7. My BTD 800 came with the ConnectClip when I purchased it from my provider. Oticon also recommends the BTD 800 if you have issues with the ConnectClip and bluetooth - I was told by tech support to always use it with a desktop :slight_smile:

EPOS Connect2

Hey biggar,
Thanks for your message. Interesting information!
This sounds like good confirmation.
I’ll have to try on my Mac laptop but I have a suspicion that it will work right out of the box. Mac seems to have a more flexible integration.
~ Ken

I use a cheap Bluetooth Dongle bought on eBay on my Dell desktop. Every morning when I take my KS10s out of the charger, with the computer turned on previously, they connect automatically.

Screenshot 2021-07-01 153808
I have no idea what is in the dongle but this may be a clue:
Screenshot 2021-07-02 154039

member6,
Well, that is exactly the behavior I’m looking for as well.
I’m glad to know that. Maybe I received a defective adapter because it just won’t reconnect.
Thanks ~ Ken

There are other stories on the forum of people struglling with MacBook connections.

Maybe useful to know that the KS10 will connect two protocols to your phone and pc. The A2PD is a high quality stereo one way connection for listening to music/youtube etc where the mic is not active. The other is HDP [? or something similar] which is a communication connection. This one is a mono 2 way that includes the mic but has much lower sound quality as it covers just voice mainly.
When you connect up to a pc you should see 2 sound options when selecting speakers:
KS10 Audio
KS10 hands free ag audio
or something like that.
You cannot mix the two protocols, so either you just want to listen to music or you want to use the mic in a call and have lower quality music. The change over used to be automatic in Win10 just like on a phone but since the last update in July I have had problems getting the change from audio to communications.
Still looking to fix this and a dongle may help but wanted to get the concept out there as it took quite a bit of research to figure this out…

@Barstad said:

the KS10 HAs will connect two BT protocols to your phone and pc. The A2PD is a high quality stereo one way connection for listening to music/youtube etc where the mic is not active. The other is HDP [? or something similar] which is a communication connection. This one is a mono 2 way that includes the mic but has much lower sound quality as it covers just voice mainly.

This is a very interesting update that would explain so many complaints about Bluetooth streaming with these aids.

Thanks for sharing.

My ks10s connect to old hp laptop + win10 with latest version (NB), with little problem. In my travels to understand , I found many perspectives in w10 – Control panel, both sound and hardware, and Sound settings.

My ks10s show as both stereo receivers and as mono 2-way. The link below is comprehensive in looking at another BT problem, which might give you clues for your particular issue.

https://www.thetechminute.com/bluetooth-headphone-stuttering-windows-10/29

I am returning to the initial query: will the KS 10 pair to Window 10 as an Audio device?
Advice in the KS 10 portal1 is specific to Windows 10 mobile not to PC’s or laptops from other manufacturers. Unitron states1 that on the Windows 10 platform, Bluetooth ’s “only support(s) phone calls through programs like FaceTime, Skype or WhatsApp. They cannot be used to listen to audio books, music, videos or other streaming multimedia.”

I was therefor pleasantly surprised that Ubuntu 20.04 installed on my dual-boot laptop pairs with the KS 10 as an audio device, allowing audio files and CD’s to stream directly to the HA without use of an intervening audio-> dongle.

if someone wants to connect windows PC with hearing aids. Try this, this is a cheaper solution if you don’t want to buy a usb bluetooth dongle which is usually expensive if it has to be compatible or phonak tv connector.

This saved me money. I use my old android smartphone, when I want to connect hearing aids to a pc. i just turn on bluetooth on it and click on that app to connect. It only takes 30 sec. But this is just one-way sound, there is no use of a microphone for skype or anything else.
https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/using-a-smartphone-as-a-pc-sound-card-replacement-for-a-bluetooth-dongle-or-tv-connector/63731/2 (member archive)

Regarding the compatibility of windows with hearing aids from the Sonova group (Costco ks9, ks10, Unitron BLU, Phonak Naida paradise, Phonak Audeo paradise, etc.)
i think support can be done if Microsoft were to work on solving the problems because the problems are mostly software and not hardware.

Can we launch a Petition that we would all sign and send to Microsoft to fix this problem? What do you think ?

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