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100% mute of Phonak hearing aid microphone

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I cannot resolve it @Bimodal_user , cause a users feeling if ’s are “muted” or not largely depends on:

  • Vent (the opening, “hole”, etc., mentioned above. Yes I know this is not in relation to mute of HA, but the impression for the wearer depends on it)
  • Exact model of your hearing aid
  • Exact settings of your hearing aids by your audiologist
  • Whether you operate your device only through pushbutton (your audi can assign a Mute to long press for some models, other users will “only” have normal volume control).
  • Whether you mute via App

At the end I am not sure if 90% versus100% mute matters? Taking out or switchin off HA would be kind of “off” / “muted” I assume?

But whether the mics are working at 10% or 0% doesn’t depend on any of that. Switching the aids off and then back on takes 10-15 seconds, while mute/unmute is instant. I personally haven’t noticed a difference, but I’d still like to know.

In reply to @Michael_Phonak

As I noted, I had a Audéo I90 for a trial. My audiologist confirmed with several calls to Phonak that (at least this model) can NOT be 100% muted due to safety issues. I don’t know if that will apply to the Sphere as well, I hope not. If so, the Phonak may not be an option for me. The reason for that is I want to stream podcasts through my aid while I cycle. My personal experience with that aid programmed to to “mute” the mic was that wind noise was very loud over 30-40 kph. It was not the vent, as the noise disappeared if I covered the mic. So it would appear that my experience matches what Phonak told my audiologist, and what a few others have confirmed here.

@threluja I just bought a Garmin Varia as well, between that, my hearing on the left, and my mirror, I don’t think I am missing anything. I hope I don’t also have to start covering my hearing aid every time I ride - just another damn thing to remember, when my existing Starkey makes it so easy.

May have to look at a Starkey if I can’t easily mute the Phonak 100%. Thanks everyone for your input.

Just validating your experience @Microfiche, I’ve been wearing Audeo L90-RL () for the past 14 months (previously had Oticon Open 1 MiniRiTe’s). While the overall experience with these devices has been fine, the mute programming is the most frustrating part. As you pointed out, the mic’s do not turn 100% off (I have moderate to severe loss and can hear sounds on mute that I cannot hear with my devices removed). Also, the unmute whenever there’s a change in the streaming sound (video ends, music starts playing, pop-up ad has “muted” sound on a webpage, etc.). The unmuting is especially a pain if you wear your devices in a noisy environment (e.g., airplane, open office environment, etc.) and do not want the devices to unmute, without your input.

Yup - I have a Sphere on trial now and the muting options appear to be better, but as you noted, the muting turns off ALL THE TIME. Really annoying when I am cycling down a hill and all of a sudden I have to try to re-mute the aid again. :rage: I really don’t like Phonak’s software compared to Starkey’s, I don’t think Phonak understands the Bluetooth streaming process.

In any case, my audiologist and I have determined that with my complex loss, a basic hearing aid is likely a much better option for me. It was validating to me to hear that some types of hearing loss aren’t served well by the “latest and greatest” and compression algorithms and basic can be better. He dialled down all the “features” on the Sphere in the meantime and has ordered another Starkey which will hopefully be able to give me the sound (and full muting) that I am used to.

In reply to @djhaight

@djhaight said:

The unmuting is especially a pain if you wear your devices in a noisy environment

I made an extra program ‘silence’ where I turned down everything I could find in the fitting software. So I can tap on my hearing aid to get this program instantly as a fix for turning off the and starting it up afterwards. And my custom moulds at the same time work as an extra silencer.

Sometimes I get in situations of sudden extreme noise where this can be usable for me. On the other hand the automatic modes in my Spheres 90 works well,(except sometimes not for music).

@djhaight said:

The unmuting is especially a pain if you wear your devices in a noisy environment

One of the reasons I’m turning into a Oticon fan over Phonak despite wearing Phonak for 30+ years.

The old Phonak’s, the mute was a mute.

@Bimodal_user said:

maybe here is a difference between 100% and 90% mute? I mean, “-10dB” is what we called “90% mute” and disabling “Enable Microphone” would give us 100% mute

You are here in the streaming mode with your settings. That is the automatic change to BT. There you can put off the microphone. But it is not the place to deactivate the microphone in another automatic function.

In reply to @djhaight

@djhaight said:

Also, the HAs unmute whenever there’s a change in the streaming sound (video ends, music starts playing, pop-up ad has “muted” sound on a webpage, etc.).

This drives me nuts ( & Phonak Link). I often MUTE when I’m streaming, and if anything, ANYTHING interrupts the stream, Mute goes off. Royal PITA.

@astrohip said:

MUTE when I’m streaming, and if anything, ANYTHING interrupts the stream

@astrohip
If you want your stream not to be interrupted than you have to do this in your phone. Go to settings and from there to sound and vibration and toggle mute. Probably this will be the way to go. So your stay on the programmm you had. After streaming you want everything reversed again in the same manner.
Hope this helps.

Can you elaborate?

The issue here is that any change in the app that is streaming unmutes the .

Examples:

  • [with my iPhone] if I mute my devices, then press play on a YouTube video, the devices immediately unmute.
  • with my devices muted, if the song I’m listening to ends, and another song does not immediate begin, the devices unmute.

What seems to be occurring is, the devices automatically switch off the “Bluetooth Streaming” program, as soon there is any interruption in the current streaming content, and switch to a “listening” program. When that occurs, the devices unmute.

Phonak: if you’re listening (no pun intended), add an option where the devices do not unmute when the HA program changes.

@djhaight said:

What seems to be occurring is, the devices automatically switch off the “Bluetooth Streaming” program, as soon there is any interruption in the current streaming content, and switch to a “listening” program. When that occurs, the devices unmute.

You switch to the default program, which for most people is Automatic or “Autosense” and yes, it resets. When streaming starts again, you go to the streaming as it was programmed by your audiologist. That’s how it works. I do wish some of the controls were sticky.

WH

In reply to @djhaight

@djhaight said:

What seems to be occurring is, the devices automatically switch off the “Bluetooth Streaming” program, as soon there is any interruption in the current streaming content, and switch to a “listening” program.

This I recall was a similar issue people were having with the TV connecter, hard to understand that it’s still an issue after all this time.

Phonak Marvel: TV connector disconnects after x seconds of quiet TV signal
Has anyone been able to resolve this issue? I’m spending hours on Zoom calls daily during the pandemic. The TV connector disconnects from my laptop while I am talking during meetings and no one else is talking. Green light changes to white. Then only when there sudden audio input from someone else talking in the call does the TV connector wake up and the light change to green. However this wake up process takes approx 3 seconds and I’ve often missed entirely what someone has said. Last nig…
@tenkan said:

This I recall was a similar issue people were having with the TV connecter, hard to understand that it’s still an issue after all this time.

Is there also not a possibility in the fitting software to overrule this by making an extra programm so it doesn’t come from the autosense? I didn’t try it though. But maybe someone did or found out this isn’t the way either…

I don’t know if this would actually solve the problem tho, I think the tv connecter issue was on a separate program?

In reply to @tenkan

The way I solved this is buying a USB to TOSLINK adapter and going into the TV adapter via optical. It stays up as long as the computer is up & the adapter has power. I use a mic on the computer or on the camera for my speaking.

WH

In reply to @Emile030

@Emile030 said:

But it is not the place to deactivate the microphone in another automatic function.

OK, I thought the mute option was somehow related to AutoSense.

I don’t know how I was supposed to check it anyway, because I can’t see any difference between mute and turned-off , even with earmold with 1mm diameter vent.

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