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Phonak Infinio Spheres 2 questions

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I’ve been trialling the Phonak Inifinio Spheres, which I quite like, and have found the comments and reviews so far very helpful. I have 2 questions which I haven’t seen addressed:
1 - they don’t have t-coils, and my audi says none of their accessories have either t-coil or a 3.5 mm audio jack. Is that true? For me, not being able to directly access the sound systems of places like my arts centre so the sound comes directly into my hearing aids is a huge disadvantage.
2 - of lesser import, but would be helpful, is there any way to create a widget on my phone to change programs? I had that with the Oticon Intent, and really liked it - could just swipe down from any screen and change programs without having to open the app, etc.

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Edited

1-Roger on has a usb 3 input. I see usb 3 to 3.5mm cable on Amazon for around $7. I haven’t tried it but I think it would work. (Edit: My comment 1- is incorrect. See subsequent posts from Whitehat)
2- I bought one of the small Phonak remote controls for very cheap on Amazon. When using it, I just push the button to change the program or volume. Much easier than fooling with your smart phone.

In reply to @raylock1

@raylock1 said:

I see usb 3 to 3.5mm cable on Amazon for around $7

None of those cables work to my knowledge. They are intended to send the sound signal in the opposite direction than what you want to work with the Roger. They are intended, for example, to be used in the car with your phone to inject music into the car sound system through the aux port. The media cable that came with my Roger on sends the cable from the 3.5mm to the USB so the roger can send it to the . If you were to find one that works, several folks here would be interested in the lead! They wear out and get lost, so a source would be wonderful. Except for a place in the UK, I’m not aware of any. The provided a couple to me when I asked, so I know they can be had.

WH

@Jody said:

1 - they don’t have t-coils,

That’s a big problem for me too. I need a t-coil for headphones as I am an audio engineer and use headphones all the time for mixing music and critical listening.

I asked my audiologist 2 days ago whether Phonak might put out a Sphere version with t-coil. She doubted it since the Sphere was already quite large and a t-coil would make it even larger.

That sucks for many people, especially those like you using t-coil in public places - waiting for to be enabled in Sphere AND for the public place to get an Auracast transmitter as well… I suspect there are many people that are disenfranchised in this respect.

In reply to @raylock1

The user guide shows the USB C cable sending audio out from a computer INTO the Roger ON. It should work the same with a 3.5 mm plugged into a receiver from an system or other typical headphone jacks in the receivers you get in a public venue and the USB C end plugged into the Roger ON which sends it to the hearing aids.

In reply to @Hooby

@Hooby said:

I asked my audiologist 2 days ago whether Phonak might put out a Sphere version with t-coil. She doubted it since the Sphere was already quite large and a t-coil would make it even larger.

Do we know what’s inside the Sphere case? I’m thinking of the Signia model that’s been mentioned in this forum, where the version has a longer rechargeable battery runtime. I assume that’s because the case, being bigger to accommodate the antenna, also has room for a larger battery. Maybe the Sphere has a big battery and room to spare for a T-coil.

I believe the Sphere has both a larger battery and a second chip. The Era chip is the main one, and then there’s a Sphere chip that activates Spheric speech in loud noise, I think these two things account for the larger size, and they probably felt that they couldn’t go any larger to accommodate a t-coil.

Other brands have dealt with this by putting the t-coil into an accessory, such as a remote mic, that then communicates with the hearing aids by bluetooth.

In reply to @sterei

Thanks everyone for your responses.
1 - I understand that the Roger On 3.0 (which isn’t available yet in Canada) has a 3.5 mm jack on the base, but it would be really cumbersome to carry your On and its base around. Plus, the base requires to be plugged into an electrical outlet, so it wouldn’t be helpful in the theatre-type situation. I suspect that the tv transmitter would have the same issue.
2. Maybe widget wasn’t the correct word to use. Maybe it’s a shortcut. In Oticon, I could swipe down from any screen and quickly and easily change programs and volume. It took very little space. To do that with the Phonak widget, which takes up a lot of real estate, I have to open my home page and scroll to the page with the widget before I can do that.

@Jody said:

a 3.5 mm jack on the base, but it would be really cumbersome to carry your On and its base

There is one in the base, yes, but there is also one on the bottom of the mic itself. No need to carry the base.

WH

In reply to @WhiteHat

@WhiteHat said:

The media cable that came with my Roger on sends the cable from the 3.5mm to the USB so the roger can send it to the HAs.

So, if I understand what you’re saying, there is a 3.5mm to USB C cable that works in the right direction, bringing the sound from theatre systems into our hearing aids, it’s just hard to source? And one came with your Roger On?

Is my understanding correct? What would you call such a cable?

@Jody said:

Is my understanding correct? What would you call such a cable?

Fairly accurate.

Media or Analog audio cable.

This pic is from one of the Roger On user guides:

Screenshot 2024-11-21 at 17.24.07

WH

Forgive me WH, but now I’m thoroughly confused. I thought you said that the 3.5mm to USB C cables wouldn’t work because they send the audio in the opposite direction than what we want. I’m not sure how I see that the cable you circled is different from the one on Amazon.

I’m sorry to keep bugging you about this, and you’ve been very patient (your moniker is well chosen), but I do want to understand whether I would be able to use the Roger ON in the theatre-type situation to bring the sound to my hearing aids. That could be a deal-breaker for me in whether to keep the Spheres or not.

@Jody said:

I’m not sure how I see that the cable you circled is different from the one on Amazon.

You aren’t going to see how it is different. There is a chip in the cable to convert the analog to digital and pass it via the USB-C to the mic. In the cables on Amazon, that chip converts digital audio data (from a phone, perhaps) and sends it out the 3.5 as analog. The transmission is in a different gear, and you can’t change gears.

WH

In reply to @Jody

@Jody said:

I’m not sure how I see that the cable you circled is different from the one on Amazon.

As an afterthought, you can always buy one or two and test it out. As I’ve said previously, we’d all be glad to hear of one that works. It isn’t impossible.

WH

@WhiteHat said:

As an afterthought, you can always buy one or two and test it out. As I’ve said previously, we’d all be glad to hear of one that works. It isn’t impossible.

I bought three and tried them before I concluded that you were right. Fortunately, Amazon has an easy return policy :smiley:

In reply to @Hooby

Aura cast only needs Bluetooth I understand so it should work as soon as places start to get it installed. Whenever that might be. Meanwhile it’s captioned theatre for me!

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