Hearing Speech in Background Noise

Many truths in that post. I have definitely walked in those shoes, and I SO agree that the Roger ON iN - for all its flexibility and my being grateful for it at home - really does make the quality of sound awful - like a public address system. Harsh, lots of reverb & ambient noise whenever I have it on.

And to add to that the more focused it is, the less recognizable voice is left. So in difficult situations I find myself switching between all settings to try what is best. But number one, be as close to the speaker as you can. And in my case, without the Link M it is better.

Indeed. I also find myself switching to the dedicated “Speech in Loud Noise” when I’m in a noisy restaurant with my Roger ON iN at my side. I try setting it to point, roundtable, move it to my left, right, all but stand up in my chair and shove it under the mouth of whomever is talking. It just picks up WAY too much ambient sound as I’ve got things configured. That’s why I’m intrigued with posts here saying folks “mute” their aids and use only the Roger device. I may go that route if I get my audi to set up the “mute” in Target.

Further edit here: I wonder why a volume slide was not put on the actual Roger ON iN device? It’s only on the base unit. Seems like a big DOH to me?

If you have the Roger active, in the AB remote app, there is at the bottom of the screen a slider where you can move to the right what makes the On mics work without the HA/CI mics. Only at every use you need to do that. But makes also that if you walk out of the room, you still hear that talking there. But also when someone outside of the room talks to you, you don’t have a clue.

Learned a lesson…

I’ve had terrible times hearing speech in Background Noise.
Yesterday I had a hearing test by my new hearing aid practitioner. It shows huge changes in hearing compared to the test done by the old audiologist 6 months ago.
Regular testing is so important.
And my new hearing service is so much better than the old audiologist that setup my new hearing aids they supplied about a year and a half ago.

I need so much help getting my Signia Pure 7Ax’s programmed for me. My dispenser appears to be very not experienced.

How do you self program your hearing aids? I need to do this myself, my dispenser is not very knowledgeable and I know these can be so much better for me.

@PeterH said:

the benefits of the Roger devices have been more marginal

I was re-reading this post and find that to be my sentiment, too! I’m VERY glad to have the Roger ON iN for TV streaming and speakerphone calls, but it simply does NOT work for me in loud restaurants. Maybe there’s a trick where I should turn my aids volume DOWN? But I can’t do that or the Roger streaming is nil. The volume for the Roger device is counter-intuitively on the charging BASE, not on the actual stick. Um, DOH?

Am I supposed to bring the charging base with me to the restaurant, demand a table by a wall socket and go from there? No. The whole point of Roger ON iN was to give us mobility with a small device that fits in a purse or pocket.

Trouble is, the SOUND QUALITY of the Roger is like a public address system jacked up to 120 dB, know what I’m sayin’? It’s harsh, painful acoustics. So I’d rather just use my aids and put 'em into Speech in Loud Noise … for what that’s worth.

You really should ask your audi to set things up so that you can mute the mic on your aids by pressing the button. Then then only audio you hear will be what the Roger picks up, which should have a lot less background noise.

If you don’t want to do that, using the volume button to turn the aids all the way down will shift the balance so that it’s almost entirely coming from the aids (counterintuitive, I know!), and all the way up will shift it so that it’s almost all coming from the Roger. Or you could mute the aids in the app, but I know you don’t want to use it.

EDIT: I just checked, and messing with the volume buttons on the base unit when it’s sitting in the base but in mic mode rather than streaming mode doesn’t seem to do anything anyway.

OK! Thanks for testing that out with the Roger base. I’d done a similar test and got the same disappointing results. Again, WHY not have the volume button right on the Roger STICK?

However, I’ll add your suggestion about the “mute” option to my list of things I’ll ask my audi when I pick up the aids (hopefully later this week!). I totally get the counter-intuitive way that my aids works with Roger: turn aids volume DOWN and I’m only hearing from them. Turn aids volume UP and the Roger streaming kicks right in nicely (for TV streaming! Not for loud restaurants).

As long as I don’t have to replace a dedicated program with a MUTE option, I’d go for it. But the 4 programs I have on my Life aids now are the ones I really need: Default, Speech in Loud Noise (for what it’s worth), Music (or what I call “dumb” ears with no corrections for dynamic range) and Acoustic Phone (SO VERY USEFUL when my calls refuse to stream or someone tosses me a phone I’m not paired + connected to).

Will come back and post the result of my query. Maybe “mute” can just be a longer press on the button between ON … and OFF? Thanks to ALL for some great suggestions here.

@CombatWombat said:

Medium downward press: mute mics

Mine, and I bet most users, get change program here. I kinda wish I had a mute button, but I’m not going to give up change program for it.

WH

Ah, good point! I only ever use the app to change programs, so I didn’t think of that. But I looked in Target, and while the downward press mutes the mics, an upward press of the same length will still change programs. That might be a little unwieldy if you’re cycling through four plus AutoSense, but it’s something.

Bluejay, did you get your mute button activated? Roger on works really well if your aid mics are muted.

@raylock1 said:

mute function box is checked in the Device Options section of Fittings

OK! Noted for my next meeting at audi’s!