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Bluetooth interference?

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Attempted to listen to Zoom meeting this am via connection to my computer through my KS9s. I’d make a successful connection and have great voice quality, but it was soon followed by a very loud buzzing. I tried redoing the connection a few times with same result. I’m guessing this was some kind of interference? Anybody have something similar happen? Any ideas for troubleshooting? I’m at a loss. I don’t think I’ve got anything active at BT’s 2.4 GHz frequency. Thanks.

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try to turn off all other bluetooth devices that are nearby including bluetooth mouse and keyboard.
Do it slowly so you can see which device is causing the interference.

I have very limited bluetooth devices. The only one I can think of that had power going to it was my NoahLink Wireless. So first I tried to replicate the “interference.” Played a YouTube video. No problem.
Then I tried a recorded Audiology Online course. No problem.
Is there anything special about a Zoom conference video that would generate interference that these other sources wouldn’t? I’m perplexed. I still haven’t ruled out the possibility that the NoahLink wireless was the culprit, but kind of hard to do that unless I can replicate issue.

Hmm, regarding bluetooth, now bluetooth connectivity works great for me on windows 11, I couldn’t do it before.

Let’s assume that the cause can be both in the driver and in the operating system that had some flaws regarding Bluetooth.
If you can, I would suggest upgrading your PC to Windows 11.

Also, maybe the location of your bluetooth adapter plays a role as well, that’s just a possibility I can think of. For example, for Wi-Fi, some people put aluminum foil on the antenna in order to amplify, that is, better direct the radio wave used by Wi-Fi.
Bluetooth is the same, the hearing aid also has a small antenna, it may be that some obstacle appears in between, making it more difficult to work. I’m an amateur, I’m just talking like an amateur. Try to change the position of the bluetooth adapter so that it has a clear range, somewhere elevated.

Already have Windows 11. I’d agree that it has seemed easier to get connection that my old Windows 10 computer was. Good thought on adapter. If it happens again (I rarely use Zoom), I’ll try my USB adapter. Thanks.

Edited

I had an experience one which I have yet to figure out how it happened. I was outside enjoying the nice weather from my backyard and thinking I was glad to hear birds chatter and singing.

Then this incredible noise that distorted everything and everything that came thru hearing aids to me was a mechanical sound I can’t describe it but the only thing I could figure out as a reason was that my neighbor had cut a very large tree down and a machine operated by a man was using the machine to pick up large segments of the tree they had cut up with chain saw and the interference seemed to be the machine. Maybe it was a skid loader but you see them in big box hardware stores. There was a reason for my thinking the skid loader was to blame but it was about two years ago so I don’t remember exactly but I turned off Bluetooth and of course noise interference was gone while the machinery loading up logs was still going and I could still hear that sound but not the crazy making interference. I think there are many times when you tooth is employed.

Maybe this is no help but I remain convinced it was Bluetooth causing interference and loud distorting sounds. If you want tech explanation I can’t give it I only know what I experienced. Maybe the driver of skid loader was in communication with home office of company he worked for because he was wearing very large like earmuffs but like headphones which could have béen just noise protection I dunno.

@MDB
As I am experimenting a lot with all kind of and wireless connections I can only tell you that sometimes these weird things happen. I have had even keyboards writing unstoppable on my PC next to the problem you describe with my ’s. Very frustrating and annoying.
Thought about it and experimented a lot to find out the causes. No solution found.
My conclusion for what it is worth is that there are a lot of causes possible and it all has to do with interference. BT is a connection protocol and if it gets disturbed strange things will happen. Disturbances are possible by all radiation manners. Think about magnetic field, WiFi, BT, current etc. Even if I move my arm above my head wearing HA I can lose signal from connections which where doing well because the weak signal gets interrupted.
First thing to try without damaging or loosing well running systems is to shortly quit your connection and reconnect and pray. Everything going over the air instead of being wired is unsecure at the end. Future upcoming progression will tackle some problems but it needs time to be discovered.

Bluetooth interference is everywhere. Think about it for a minute. Everyone has devices in their house that use Bluetooth and remain on even if you are not connected to them. There are also other devices that interfere with the Bluetooth frequency band including microwave ovens, unshielded wiring, power lines, etc. These all causes interference. In addition, if you are in a condominium apartment or residential neighbourhood, your neighbours will also have Bluetooth devices running which will clutter up the Bluetooth frequency range and this may interfere with your hearing aids.

My Resound Quattro MFI hearing aids suffered from this quite a bit. I would be on a Zoom or Teams call and suddenly I would intermittently lose the audio to one or in some cases, both hearing aids for a few minutes at a time. It was very annoying. Apple’s MFI is low power Bluetooth so I often wondered if it was more susceptible to this problem than Bluetooth Classic. When I got my Phonak Lumity hearing aids (which use Bluetooth Classic), the problem almost completely went away thus confirming this theory.

As others have stated, best advice is to keep Bluetooth turned off on devices you are not using.

Jordan

MDB that is a very perplexing event! I guess I’d try doing another Zoom - with different folks - and see if the same buzzing happens again.

You’ve clearly tried to recreate that issue, testing out YouTube, the online Audiology course, etc., but I wonder if there may have been some interference related to the actual Zoom session - perhaps due to interference from someone on the call or the actual Zoom connection itself.

I guess I’d ask the folks if anyone hears buzzing, and even if not ask to re-start the Zoom to see if a new connection would eliminate that.

DO keep us informed, and I hope we get others chiming in here, cuz that would drive me NUTS if I was in your place.

Keep in mind that the has multiple protocols, a high quality one for streaming sound [one way] and a lower quality one for voice [two way]. The Youtube video is a one way experience while Zoom is talk and hear.
The above is based on my experience with KS10s so your mileage may vary.

It might be possible to play with the Windows settings, so that the bluetooth is unidirectional, and the additional microphone for the computer would receive a person’s speech.

I don’t know how to do it, maybe there is some tutorial for it. If zoom is very important to someone, then we don’t need a microphone from a hearing aid to talk to someone.

Could you please tell me how to connect my KS9s with my computer for Zoom, etc. I’ve tried but I’m obviously doing something wrong because I can’t get it to work for me. If you could give me some specific steps, I would be grateful. Thank you.

Need a little more info on what you are trying to do and what equipment you have. I understand you have KS9s which is what I have. What kind of computer and what bluetooth does it have? (Built in or a USB dongle?) What have you tried and what’s not working? If one has recent Windows (10 or 11), one basically goes into Bluetooth settings and pair and connect.

I have a Dell laptop with windows 10. bluetooth is built in. I tried connecting by going to on the laptop and pairing for my ha. that seemed to work & connect. but no voice coming through from my laptop to my hearing aids. I’m not even close to being technically good at any of this. I also have the coil in my ha & have a cable that I thought I could hook up from my laptop to my portable coil accesory, but I don’t know how. Just would like to be able to ‘hear’ my zoom Friday am meetings without having to turn up volume on laptop and still not hearing all or clearly.

Have you tried listening to a You Tube video? Are you sure you’ve got audio “on” and the volume at an adequate setting? Do they stay in the “Connected” state or do they flip back to “Paired” If that doesn’t help any, try taking a look at Audio settings. Trying to figure out if issue is computer or perhaps you’re just struggling with Zoom. If it’s just Zoom, there are also settings in Zoom.

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