Can the fitting for the open fit receivers be saved as custom setting? That way if the molds are not working for me after couple of weeks I can switch back while waiting for my next appointment. Scheduling is currently 2-3 weeks out at my nearest Costco and seems to be about the same at others in the area.
No. You’ll need to have the feedback test re ran and open domes selected in the fitting. This can’t be changed on each program. Once changed, it changes all of the programs.
What are you suggesting that has replaced or is replacing the system? I live in one of the “most looped” parts of the USA (W. Michigan), with loop systems still being installed in public places around here. Many years ago I did read a suggestion that BlueTooth would replace loop systems – but at least one manufacturer seemed to be suggesting that all users would have to have the same brand of hearing aids.
I now have appointments for August 3, 17, and 31 at the nearest Costco. Perhaps the reason for the long wait is that the most-experienced guy is out on medical leave; I hope the others are good.
I think you’re right, because is a one-to-one pairing, whereas is a broadcast (one to many) relationship. Still, for whatever reason, T-coil just didn’t find very enthusiastic deployment in the US. I know of one movie theater in Santa Rosa, CA that proclaims its availability, and other than that, I’ve never seen it.
I personally have never had a device that was proprietary . When using my computers, tablets, phones, and stethoscopes I’ve moved between device types (speaker, headphones, now hearing aids) and manufacturers easily. I could maybe see a closed transmitter system using BT set up for only their own receivers that could be distributed to users at the site to prevent bootlegged recording or something?
I asked earlier about pairing the KS10 with an Apple Watch. I read the replies and checked the referenced thread. I now have the KS10s and am not having any luck. Maybe next iteration…
One problem I have with my new KS10s is that the double tap on the right ear that brings up Siri doesn’t seem to work once my iPhone has gone to sleep. When I turn the iphone back on I see that the KS10s have to re-connect to the app. I presume that when the phone goes to sleep the app loses connection and the double tap for Siri doesn’t work. Do I have this right? If yes, is there any way to keep the KS10s connected when the phone goes to sleep.
One problem I have with my new KS10s is that the double tap on the right ear that brings up Siri doesn’t seem to work once my iPhone has gone to sleep.
I suspect (but I’m not a software engineer) that there are connection niceties missing in the code that binds the devices to each other. For example, if I’m watching a video on my laptop or my iPhone and an email comes in, the video sound diminishes and playback pauses while the email is received, but then playback resumes and the sound comes back up. If I’m watching a video on my laptop and streaming the sound to my KS-10s, video pauses and streamed sound stops, but it doesn’t start up again when an email comes in.
The app does not really have much to do with it ( although it is useful to set the tapping behavior to you liking). Once you have done that you actually don’t even have to have the app installed at all ! Tapping functionality in normal usage only uses Bluetooth - the app is not used.
All you need is the paired and connected via Bluetooth to the phone and the audiologist needs to have the tap behavior set correctly for you to do this. I believe that is the default behavior… but the Audiologist needs to check it is set right in case it was changed for some reason.
However, when using Alexa to say “Call my wife” for instance, if the phone is locked then Alexa asks you to unlock it first… and you have to ask Alexa again to place the call. Maybe Siri and iPhone behave slightly differently in this respect?
The sound’s path from any CE device’s source to ’s is controlled by multiple software drivers, applications, the OS’s, and any universal alerts that will alter if the signal passes, and what the sound level will be. Worse, the rules for each device is different, when connection is lost, restored, or weak. I’ve been at it for the past year and a half on my powerful PC. The sound is fantastic, but still drives me crazy, often doing something unexpected due to the multiple complex stacks for sound.
Although you weren’t referring to a PC, each device could be even more complex, or simpler. The “designers” of how it is supposed to work don’t coordinate what they do. They each make decisions that they deem “correct”. But the result is extremely confusing, since you can’t see any of the rules, nor how each rule interacts with the others’. You can only infer what those rules are, by experience.
Here are several of my own workarounds that I use… Few of these involve the HA device itself, with one possible example: Occasionally, my HA’s won’t connect when demanded by my PC. I’ve had to reboot the HA’s, generally by sticking it into the charger.
When I walk too far away from my PC, the connection is intermittent–on for 20 seconds, and off for 3-6 seconds. Fix is to keep “settings” for BT open on my PC, and then hit DISCONNECT, and then wait 5 seconds or so, and then reconnect. That will generally work 90% of the time. It fails, when I didn’t wait to reconnect. The problem can also commence when the PC is “too busy”.
No sound at all, is a constant challenge. Worse at times, is that when my batteries go dead, the sound switches to speakers, and blasts everyone around. The fix is to set the MUTE on, when BT is NOT connected. Then, connect the HA to BT. The mute when using HA’s will NOT affect the speaker’s mute, so when the batteries go dead and it switches to speakers, the PC is already muted.
When listening to most anything, and I activate the MEET, ZOOM, SKYPE, DIGITS, or other voice activity, the volume is either radically reduced on your listening source, or completely muted. Hang up now… does the sound resume?? Seldom. Sometimes just closing the window of the app does it. Other times, I have to refresh the page for the source. Sometimes I must disconnect BT completely and reconnect.
In case I didn’t mention it, most BT devices will automatically connect to your HA. So, if doing the dis/re – connect trick on the PC, if you are too slow and your BT is enabled on your tablet, your PC will fail to connect and you can’t see why. Look at your other devices, however, and your HA connected to them instead of your PC–surprise!
If you don’t know this already, most all BT sound is sent unfiltered from the PC. That means that NO tone or equalizer adjustments are possible on the PC. Since this will be dictated by the driver developer, YMMV and it could be allowed to work, or you could start messing with adding a bunch of new sound tools. Your HA provider however, should have them preset and precisely where they are best! (See my other posts about boosting the BASS to normal, using occluded ear molds.)
(Don’t add sound drivers or utilities, ever – IMO, when you try to radically change and add any media drivers, it will drive you crazy “getting it right for your desired result”. Once changed, it is unlikely you can set back to default drivers and settings!! My company has provided storage device drivers to OEMs for decades, and trust me, it is more of an art form than science.)
I dream of a time when I could see the complete sound stack, see what parts are doing what, and just easily adjust or rearrange them. Doubt it will happen, since that complex stack would make most people dizzy, and would involve hundreds of companies that would have to support that effort. Been there on similar quests… It could, but won’t happen.
One word of caution about using your HA, instead of the CE communication device’s microphone systems. Your HA are designed to pick up everything around you–the more, the better. Your phone and PC are specifically designed to screen out ANY sound that is not right in front of them. So, your Zoom call will likely add your TV, two rooms away, and random conversations there. So now, everyone on your call can also hear the TV and conversations you don’t even notice. If it is extremely important, make sure your HA are not the active mike, if the conversation is extremely important or a large meeting! Test it out sometime while connected, simply by trying out “closed captions”. I can READ what is playing on my TV in the next room, better than I can actually hear it.
I’ve had the KS10 for the better part of a week, replacing my KS9s. Overall hearing is better -better speech recognition, better discrimination between wanted/unwanted sounds, and I’m hearing sounds that I never noticed with the KS9. I’ll be keeping these hearing aids!
With Covid I never had much of a problem in restaurants because we stayed away. But recently we’ve been dining out a bit and the KS9s weren’t even close to being satisfactory. I’m anticipating that the KS10s are incrementally better than the KS9. Incremental won’t do it, so I’m going to be looking for a better option.
With my KS7s I could put my iPhone on the table at the restaurant, and it worked pretty well. I don’t think this is possible with the KS10. What I’ve run across is “Roger”. I find Roger very confusing - numerous products, “iN” suffix, don’t know which are compatible with KS10, is added programming required, is there a option, some of the prices are in the stratosphere and I don’t see why, etc.
Can somebody get me started on sorting through this thicket of confusion and pointed toward some restaurant options that will work and won’t use up all of my next Social Security check?
Can somebody get me started on sorting through this thicket of confusion and pointed toward some restaurant options that will work and won’t use up all of my next Social Security check?
This got a good chuckle out of me this morning.
Thanks
There’s a PartnerMic, that works best if clipped to somebody’s shirt or worn around the neck. It’s excellent for one on one conversations. Cost is about $300 through Costco. New ones are available online for ~$200 and used ones for ~$100.
Yeah, if optimizing speech in loud noise program doesn’t cut it, solutions are expensive. If your iPhone really was a solution, you could return KS10 and get a Resound, Phillips or Rexton aid from Costco (price range $1800-$2000) Backing up a minute–iPhone worked with KS7? That doesn’t make sense. KS7 had no streaming capability unless you used wtih the pendant device. KS6 (Resound) perhaps? Anyway, KS6 and the other brands I mentioned are all made for iPhone and should let you use iPhone as a microphone on the table. Resound aids also have MultiMic as an option ($300-$400?) that does a decent job set on the table.
Yes, I’ll bet that it was the KS6 and not KS7. I can’t remember for certain what I had before the KS9. It was a Resound.
In any event, I ain’t giving up these new KS10s no matter what, lol. I love the hands-free, two connected devices, and the hearing is really good. I’m willing to pay for some sort of Roger solution, if I have to, but I’m confused about it. Do you know about Roger? It seems as though the “Roger Select” is a solution. But I’m confused. There is this “iN” suffix. Does iN work with KS10s? What is different about the iN devices from the non-iN devices. Phonak descriptions don’t tell me much of anything. If you could point me to something that is actually descriptive that would be great.
Oh, and you said “…if optimizing speech in loud noise…”. I have the restaurant program, of course. And I have a follow-up scheduled. What do you suggest that I tell the fitter to tweak to make this program as good as it can be? Maybe that would be good enough. After all, I never had a chance to work with a fitter on the KS9 as I used them during Covid.
Las Vegas
