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Help Please I urgently Need help figuring out what's going on with Phonak Lumity 90

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Edited

I can’t begin to fathom the cause so maybe you can help why suddenly there’s a loud Roaring noise starting and stopping every 60 seconds or so. Twice this weekend - once when my son was visiting and just now sitting here in my house alone hoping for much needed time out instead I’m trying to gain control of these relatively new to me H. A.

I’m alone most of the time so I haven’t really figured out my new Lumity 90 in many environments The trial period just ran out and so now that I’m stuck with these they arent working properly. Right now as when my son visited there is a whole lot of noise that sounds like maybe Bluetooth is cutting in and out. But it’s. Loud Roaring noise sufficient to drive a sane person crazy. It should be quiet as all I have running are ceiling fan and small oscillating fan. Since we are just beginning at least a week long heat wave emergency the fan is going to be on night and day and if this racket continues I will have to stop wearing hearing aids.

My aids are supposed to be set on Auto Sense as default but now they seem to be doing their own thing. When my son was here the problem started when I realized I was having trouble hearing him which is not how they were during trial period, I could hear most everything being said. Then the loud periodic roaring noise.

I DONT KNOW IF IM MAKING SENSE, it’s hard to think with this roaring starting and stopping every minute or so.

I haven’t had time to get well acquainted with these hearing aids because of very little free time and now I fear I am paying the price and am not able to figure out on my own. Years ago I was officially diagnosed with complex PTSD which unfortunately makes anything at all out of the quiet ordinary I need - very stressful. Combine my ADD disorder which makes concentration very challenging and frustrating so help is both appreciated and needed.

Maybe I should change my moniker to Basket Case.

I wish I could decipher how to input my hearing test results but 8 can’t do I will try to attach them here momentarily. I can’t figure it out as it is how to attach maybe later when are back in order

6 people in this conversation9 min readJump to latest

I will get that kind of noise when Bluetooth kicks in or out when something stimulates my phone or ipad. My solution is to turn off Bluetooth on all devices if I am not streaming. Fortunately, my android phone has a setting in the Bluetooth connections area to turn off streaming but to leave telephone on.

Thank you for sharing what your experience has been. that sounds like a useful setting - to turn bluetooth off but still have it work with your phone. I will try to find something similar on my android.

Definitely disable Bluetooth on your phone while this is happening to see if it immediately stops this. You say Android - in most cases you should only need to swipe down from the top and tap the Bluetooth icon/label to turn it off or on again entirely.

If disabling Bluetooth immediately solves the 60 second roaring noise, I would suggest having your audiologist make adjustments to your Bluetooth program in your Lumity devices.

If disabling Bluetooth doesn’t resolve, then turn Bluetooth back on and connect with the MyPhonak app - you should be able to watch the app to see if programs are changing suddenly. If it’s staying in Auto Sense, you may need some of the programs adjusted including how quickly/abruptly the Auto Sense programs transition, or how the noise reduction is functioning.

I have confidence this can be fixed if it’s not a physical malfunction. Granted I’m biased toward Phonak for audio quality but my Audeo L90 aids are my 6th pair from Phonak over my lifetime. They’re the best ones yet for me.

In reply to @kcsummerkc

On my Samsung A5, go to settings, select connections, select Blueooth, and at the right of phonak hear aid, there is a setting wheel, select that and there is the option or turning on or off calls and turning on or off audio. I turn off audio and leave call on. Works on my phone, maybe its similiar on your andriod.

In reply to @AZTravelGuy

Thanks, lots of good suggestions I will surely try and also talk to my audiologist the next time I have an appointment, which should be soon as I want to get this resolved. I’ll try turning off the bluetooth when/if it happens again.

Edited

In reply to @raylock1

Thanks - I was checking my android to see if it has the same settings but I didn’t get very far. I saw that one (right) phonak was connected but the left wasn’t listed. It did have previously connected as left and right phonak. So now I don’t know if the left is connected or not and I’m not sure how to find out. Just now I did try to connect left without success. Does your settings list both left and right phonak? I recall my audiologist saying something about some setting or other usually going the right side - so maybe that’s why - if it is in fact blue tooth. I’m going to look further and see if there’s a way to tell if both left and right are connected.

Thank you for your input - I don’t know if anyone else has the same experience but its been confusing before (the question about what is installed or connected).

That’s a big reason why I never get very far - getting confused over a smaller issue before I get to the one I’m trying to fix or change.

I just looked on my phone and when I swipe down it lists Internet, then next
It shows the Bluetooth symbol and then to the right it shows Phonak hearing aid 90% battery, nothing specifically for Bluetooth.

There is a setting for DEVICE CONTROL but its faded out and says UNAVAILABLE. That must be the setting you were able to change about connecting bluetooth - if so, its not an option for me. There are so many different androids which all seem to have setting variations its confusing.

Time for my next ADD medication - maybe I’ll come back to this afterwards as that’s when I usually can think/concentrate better.

I have a Pixel, Samsung does things a little differently. I’ll explain a bit about how this works.

What you see here is the Bluetooth Classic connection I’ve renamed Lumity Aids. Your audiologist sets one of your devices as the Bluetooth Classic device (mine happens to be the left) and that’s the hearing aid you connect to for streaming audio via Bluetooth. The one hearing aid then transmits to the other. This is a Bluetooth Classic limitation - using Classic you only connect to one device to stream audio.

The other two connections in this screenshot are the Bluetooth LE connections that are currently connected to via the MyPhonak app. While Phonak uses Classic for audio, they use the Bluetooth LE for device management.

Screenshot_20230823-162819

@kcsummerkc said:

Thanks - I was checking my android to see if it has the same settings but I didn’t get very far. I saw that one (right) phonak was connected but the left wasn’t listed. It did have previously connected as left and right phonak. So now I don’t know if the left is connected or not and I’m not sure how to find out. Just now I did try to connect left without success. Does your settings list both left and right phonak?

  1. How aids show up in on the phone: In BT on your Android phone, it should only list ONE pair of Lumity Life aids. If you had any other pair of aids (Marvel, whatever) paired + connected to the phone, they show up as R-Phonak, with the newer aids showing up as L-Phonak. Those names do NOT refer to “left” and “right” Phonaks. If this is confusing, just rename the hearing aids paired + connected to your phone. I have TWO pairs of Lumity Life aids. I named one “Silver” and the other “Champagne” so I know instantly which one is actively connected to my phone for streaming phone calls.

  2. LOUD NOISE blasting in aid(s) without warning: I’m guessing that your Auto Sense is set TOO high. You may want it turned down to a minimum setting for starters. This is your default (i.e., start-up) program, so it should be as natural and not annoying as possible.

  3. Keep Bluetooth ON: Rather than turning BT OFF in your Android phone, see if you can adjust the Auto Sense (or Noise Management) so that the aids don’t disable ALL settings when a call or text comes in. I say that cuz you don’t want to be fiddle-faddling with the phone when a call comes in and BT is turned OFF. Cuz you won’t be able to stream a call till you turn that back ON, then check that the aids are also connected to your phone so you can stream the call. Does that make sense?

As others have said, every time you get a text or phone call coming in, if BT is set to ON, your aids will go out of any program or setting - so ambient noise ROARS. For instance, in a restaurant, I have my Lumity Life aids in “Speech in LOUD Noise”. Text comes in and my aids all of a sudden ROAR with ambient noise so I’m alerted to look at my phone. It shouldn’t last 60 seconds - more like 5 or so? Annoying, but I live with it.

  1. Firmware update: As of Aug 14th, Phonak announced a firmware update needed for Lumity Life aids L-90s, et al. So get in to have your audi do that and see if makes the aids more stable for BOTH the right and left one.
Edited

In reply to @AZTravelGuy

Okay that’s very helpful. Mine is showing much the same way. Anybody know what LE stands for, just curious.

Right now I just logged in to My Phonak App and it was connecting with Bluetooth streaming plus microphone which is most likely the source of my problem that I described. HOW DO I MAKE CHANGES TO THE DEFAULT SETTING. I want it to be Automatic but somehow I must have changed it to something else. I clearly don’t know what the heck I’m doing and it must be in user’s guide but before I get sidetracked I just want someone to please set me on the right path by telling me how to set it to Automatic. Now it starts out with Bluetooth Streaming but quickly changes to Automatic - which is an improvement but I want to skip the Bluetooth streaming and always start in Automatic. How do I accomplish that - skip the Bluetooth streaming and start in Automatic instead. I see the button ADJUST PROGRAM - how does it function?

What are the steps to save the default start-up? Because somehow without realizing it I changed it already without knowing how. I apologize for my quirky ADD mind it causes me no end of problems.

I was pretty good at playing Monopoly as a kid - like DO NOT PASS GO - DO NOT COLLECT $200. But now I’m SUPPOSED TO BE A GROWN-UP and know how my hearing aids work. I can see right now that it would never work for me to try those do-it yourself adjustments I see many discussing. I would have them totally screwed up

KEEP IT SIMPLE is to be my new Motto.

Thanks for helping.

@kcsummerkc said:

I can see right now that it would never work for me to try those do-it yourself adjustments I see many discussing

Ouch. I totally agree for me, too. Dang, but part of me wants to be a DIYer for greater independence AND knowledge of how to manage and improve my aids’ performance, but I don’t want to override a setting or program with some “fat finger” on my part.

This forum is about as close as we can ever get to a true “Geek Squad” with all the advice, knowledge and inputs from others who seem to have the answers.

I think I will listen to that little voice telling me not to go off on my own Self. With few exceptions, everytime I have ignored that voice I later regret it to some degree or other.

Good luck if you decide to strike out on your own with the DIY Movement. I agree it would be nice to be less dependent on others.

I have the same issue with Bluetooth, which is too sensitive and kicks in often even though I was not using any streaming. I noticed that app has a function to adjust ambient balance. So I asked my audiologist to adjust that permanently. She had to call Phonak technician to guide her how to do it. They are able to reduce the background noise in Bluetooth environment and too. It’s much better now, mine is set at minimum background ambient possible. Talk to your audiologist.

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