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Live theatre assisted listening

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Friends have purchased tickets for a theatre performance. The last time I attended the theatre, I had decent hearing! I hope you can give me advice about accommodations.

I wear Oticon ONs, with . It’s possible that I’ll be fine without help, but the T-coil setting with the induction loop in our church is a superior listening experience – similar to Bluetooth streaming. The theatre has an infrared system, which I understand is different.

The theatre offers headsets for the infrared system or the choice of three options that are compatible with their portable RF receiver (which I guess is ?): headphones, “ear speakers” (an “easily cleaned” ear clip that “doesn’t mess up hair”), or an LA-166 neck loop made by Listen Technologies.

All of these induce a strong gross-out, yuck reaction. I don’t for an instant believe they are well cleaned. And I am self-conscious about devices that call attention to the wearer. I guess the least offensive choice would be the RF receiver with the neck loop.

Does anyone have experience or advice about this? Are neck loops interchangeable? I have one kicking around from the pre-Bluetooth era. For people who attend the theatre more frequently, would buying their own neck loop make sense? (The LA-166 is discontinued, but the same company offers a new version for $93.)

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I went to a theater recently where they were using the Listen Everywhere app. I installed the app, but could hear fine and didn’t end up using it.

But this approach seems good. It works with both Apple and Android phones and doesn’t require a . I imagine it will become standard in the future.

Your best choice is probably the neckloop. Bring a sanitizing wipe if you are concerned, but I wouldn’t think theatre goer’s necks are terribly dirty. Bring your own neckloop if you like and see if you can just swap it (often you can), and then you’ll know. Might be worth calling ahead to make sure they will have it ready–our local theatre theoretically has neckloops available, but the ones they always have on hand when you come unannouced are the pendant earbud ones which are incompatible with hearing aids.

@seaduck said:

I am self-conscious about devices that call attention to the wearer.

You’re sitting in the dark? Grabbing the assistive listening devices and then picking up the nosebleed seats for cheap is a big life hack for normal hearing folks, so really it just marks you as being clever. :wink:

@chrisb said:

I went to a theater recently where they were using the Listen Everywhere app.

Amazing, I hadn’t seen that. Can’t wait until that’s everywhere.

I would definitely go with the neckloop. Bring, or ask a staff member for a sanitizing wipe and wipe it down.

The way I see it, I’ve only seen one other person using an assistive device in a movie theatre here, and that was many years ago. I was told my the person handing me an assistive device that they have at least 20 devices at a time, with many more in boxes ready to go in case they do need them, but they haven’t been used all at one time in many years.

@seaduck said:

Does anyone have experience or advice about this?

Go early. It sounds like that place has many more options than usual! Depending on how busy it is you could try more than one.

I think the system requires you to use their special, all-contained, headset. I don’t remember how RF works. Their neckloop should not touch your ears, but would hopefully plug into a receiver and connect w/ you . If you have your own neckloop, I would carry it along. It’s been a couple years since I’ve used any of this stuff, so see what others have to say. And, yes, phone them if possible to learn more.

I appreciate all your replies!

For the record, my are Oticon OPN1 Minirite-T, about 5 years old.

I am also intrigued by the Listen Everywhere concept. Does that mean that the theatre somehow transmits sound to our phones, and we use our usual Bluetooth to hear it? That sounds like a dream. A good dream.

It sounds like going for the neckloop, with their RF device, is the way to go. It might be worth the experiment/experience in any case.

Does anyone have experience comparing the sound of Bluetooth vs vs Infrared?

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