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Oticon OPN 1 streaming interruption/ disconnect with IPhone MFI

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I updated my OPN 1 aids to firmware version 6 several days ago and so far my experience with streaming has been very good. No dropouts and no sign of the intermittent clicking problem. I did have a reboot once today on one side but otherwise they seem to be working quite well so maybe the firmware update did solve some of the problems we have been experiencing with streaming and clicking noises.

I plan to update my iPhone 8+ to IOS 12 on Monday so we’ll see if that has any effect on streaming.

I did update my iPhone to IOS 12 on Monday and so far the streaming experience with my Oticon OPN 1 aids (which are running version 6 firmware) is excellent. I haven’t experienced any clicking or dropouts and it just seems to work well.

Maybe both Oticon and Apple have finally ironed out all the kinks and bugs involved with Bluetooth connectivity.

Just an update to report that my experience with IOS 12 on my iPhone 8+ and my Oticon OPN 1 aids running version 6 firmware is still positive. Since updating to version 6 and IOS 12 last Monday (9/17/18) I have not experienced any clicks or other problems at all - it now just works like you would expect when streaming from the iPhone to my aids.

Audi Updated my OPN1 aids to firmware V6 a few days ago. No drop outs or problems with connections on iPhone 6 updated to 12.0 and iPad still using 11.4.1. I do still get the fluttering from 1 ear to the other, but no disconnects with loud noises - which I only experienced when Speech Rescue was enabled in P1 about a month ago. When streaming in the other programs without Speech Recuse - no drop outs ever. That tells me the SR enabled processing was an Oticon issue and v6 fixed it - Yay! The fluttering – I still get – definitely while streaming from iPad. Will see if updating iPad to 12.0 fixes that. The sporadic fluttering is a very minor annoyance compared to the quality and ease of direct streaming.

Back in May, when the problem of Bluetooth streaming interruption while using MFI capable OPN hearing aids was posted here, I wondered if the frequent frustration with broken connectivity was bad enough to override the many positive features of the OPN technology.

For months, my audiologist and I worked together to solve drop out problems during an extended trial period. We also drew on the experience shared by all of you as we worked through various setting changes, reset strategies and work-around ideas.

Nothing we tried could correct the problem, but it was very useful during this time to know that others were affected in similar ways and trying to figure it out for themselves – some of them in very clever and insightful ways!

After contacting Oticon by email in June, I reported to you, that they said that their engineers were aware of our mutual problems and working to solve them. So I decided to wait it out. For me, connectivity interruption was a secondary concern because I’m completely unable to function socially without the best amplification possible. So, as desirable as MFI Bluetooth advantages were, I had to learn to live with the frustration and sometimes the embarrassment of frequently lost connectivity.

Since then, it appears that the engineers have delivered a solution. A upgrade to firmware version 6 last week along with my iPhone 8 running on IOS 12 seems to have reset everything to work as it should. Reliable streaming has brought with it clear, unbroken TV reception, podcasts, audiobooks, function and phone calls. Collectively, this reliability improvement has made staying in touch much less stressful for me. Throughout this experience, my audiologist was the cornerstone of the process. Thank you Dr. Lohman, for your patient listening and support and thanks also to each of you who contributed to these postings over these past 5 months.

It’s been a day since I’ve updated mine to firmware 6 and I’m also please to report that I don’t have any cut out due to loud noises anymore with Speech Rescue enabled. Usually it happens a few times a day.

I also updated to firmware 6 yesterday and it totally solved my problem, which was pretty bad to the point I couldn’t even wear my in the gym.
Still don’t see how a company the size of Oticon could have let such a buggy piece of software out.
My Audi didn’t say a word about paying her. Perhaps I’ll get a bill. Or possibly Oticon is footing the charges. That would be nice :grinning:

Since the issue is looking fixed, this is just useless rambling. I notice that people said the OPN dropped the Bluetooth connection when something loud occurred. I remember this from when I was trialing them. Here is my conjecture. I don’t think the Bluetooth was dropping at all. I think that the algorithm in the aid was listening to the microphone…always…even when streaming with mics ‘off.’ I think that algorithm was applying its loud transient noise dampening to the receiver side of things. So you are streaming…a loud transient occurs…not only does the sound from the mic get dampened but the streamed sound does as well because the attenuation was occurring to the receiver no matter what. So if I am correct, what had to happen is that the streaming had to be left alone when transients occur. So the attenuation has to occur further upstream and not just be slapped onto the receiver in a global manner.

If I am correct, this was a pretty significant rewrite of the firmware. Anything that depended on the transient suppression working the way it did had to be changed.

My hat is off to Oticon.

I’m not sure if this conjecture makes sense simply because I have tried turning the Transient Noise Management feature off and the same issue still happened to me. I know that somebody else was saying that turning off TNM solved the problem for them, but not for me.

The other factor as observed by somebody else is that if they had Speech Rescue on, the disconnect would happen during streaming on loud noises. And on programs without Speech Rescue, they didn’t notice that. In my situation, I have Speech Rescue on on all my programs so I guess my issue is caused by the presence of Speech Rescue and not the presence of TNM.

Besides, I don’t think that a loud transient being dampened by TNM would result in enough attenuation that it would be perceived as a cut-of for a few seconds. TNM should just dampen the loud sound enough to take off the edge (the sharp attach points) and smooth it out so that it would not sound so loud, that’s all. I play tennis and when I have TNM on at full force (max value), the pop on the tennis ball when hit by the racket definitely sounds dampened and no longer natural sounding. But I still hear the pop, nevertheless. It simply just doesn’t sound as natural as it should be, like when I have TNM off. But I never not hear any pop at all to the point of the sound being cut off for a few seconds.

My conjecture is that whether it’s affected by TNM or Speech Rescue, the loud sounds might have activated enough digital processing to manage those loud sounds that it might have exceeded the processing capacity of the hearing aid, causing a temporary internal reset of some inner circuitry, which in turn triggers the muting until the hearing aid comes out of the minor reset and resumes operation.

How would they fix something like that with a firmware update? No idea… But I guess they can do many things to correct it. Probably just put in some algorithm to detect such situations and simplify or even bypass some of the digital processing to reduce the load from being overwhelmed to the point of an internal reset on some part.

Of course all this is still just another conjecture thrown out here for fun. Something to muse over.

In reply to @Volusiano

@Volusiano said:

It’s been a day since I’ve updated mine to firmware 6 and I’m also please to report that I don’t have any cut out due to loud noises anymore with Speech Rescue enabled. Usually it happens a few times a day.

I’m on my third day now and there still hasn’t been any disconnection due to loud noises on my programs which have Speech Rescue enabled. This is very positive.

I also haven’t had any interference issue when streaming from the iPhone, which is also positive. I have enough share of interference throughout the day before that was kind of annoying. Now it’s much more pleasant. I’m on iOS 12.

Some miscellaneous post firmware update feedback: I had a weird problem with my OPNs streaming phone calls only into my left ear. This was a particularly annoying issue as my my hearing in my left ear is worse than my right and I’ve always talked on the phone with it held to my right ear. My settings were set onstream to both L and R. And this only happened with phone calls, not with other streaming activities, like listening to music or podcasts. I tried forgetting and repairing the aids a few times, without luck. I finally tried forgetting the devices, shutting down the phone, turning Bluetooth off on again, then repairing. It seems to be work8ng fine now, though I still prefer using the iPhone, rather than streaming for calls.

The second issue I’ve been having (post firmware update) is my left aid has been shutting down periodically once or twice a day. No loud noises triggering the shut down. It just goes super quiet in that ear and if I try to check the volume, I don’t hear any beeps in the left ear. My fix was to press the volume button a few times to cause the aid to reboot. Or open and shut the battery door to force a reboot. My Audi thinks this is related o the rechargeable battery or battery door. I’ve been testing a regular battery in the left aid for the past 3 days, and so far it hasn’t shut down once. I love the idea of rechargeable batteries, but zpower and Oticon still have some bugs to work out!

In reply to @Volusiano

Volusiano, Thanks so much for this very helpful information re: re-connection by turning off Bluetooth and then turning back on. As always, I greatly appreciate all your great contributions to this Forum.:+1:

Yes Volusiano that’s a great tip. Thank you for saving me the aggravation of going through the other ways of restoring connection. The same function exists on Apple Watch series 3. I don’t even need to take my phone out of my pocket. its literally a 2 second fix on the watch screen, same as the phone screen!

For any who may be using Apple Watch series 3 GPS with you OPN’s, I spent some time speaking with Apple the tech reps, (three of them) about why the music playlist on my watch doesn’t stream to my hearing aids when I’m out running without the phone.

I’ve downloaded the list to my Apple Watch and the playlist appears on the watch face and I can select a song on the play mode screen, but when I do, the watch will not connect to my hearing aids by bluetooth, even though every other Apple Watch audio function automatically connects and plays automatically. I was told that the music function on Apple Watch used in an activity like running or cycling (on GPS without the phone) does not connect with OPN’s (which are supposedly made for Iphone) due to a bug in the apple software.

Has anyone gotten this function to work on any bluetooth hearing aid with Apple Watch during exercise without the phone nearby?

In reply to @Karentoo

Make sure you have the new firmware update in the Z rechargeable unit with the Audi.
Also re-visit your iPhone settings in the phone to make sure it is still set to streaming both left and right for calls. That would be an easy fix :slight_smile:
The problem I have consistently after all the updates is the bluetooth not recognizing the left hearing aid. I have to turn off and on 3 times (always) for the BT to connect to left aid on both iPad and IPhone - shows battery level 0% on left aid. I deleted the OPN app to eliminate that as the problem. I still get the fluttering while streaming. The TV adapter works flawlessly. I hope next Apple update fixes these issues.
Since replacement ZPower, the remaining battery level is higher at the end of the day for me after a week.
If it is the ZPower door problem, it is an easy switch out for the Audi.
I really love the convenience of the rechargeables! Although my confidence level is not as high as it was, and I still bought a lot of batteries last week.

Another possible remedy…delete the hearing aids from the phone. Re-pair. Let them set with the phone for a couple minutes after the phone states that all is done… Sometimes, things are still getting sorted out.

In reply to @Mago

Thanks for the tips, Mago. I’ve narrowed down the left aid problem to the batter or the battery door. I’m almost positive the zpower charger is on firmware 6.0, but I will ask my Audi o confirm when I go in to get a new battery/door. The aid has been working fine while using a regular battery.

The streaming issue seems to be resolved after I:

  1. forgot the Hearing devices
  2. shut down the phone
  3. shut down the aids
  4. turned the phone back on
  5. turned Bluetooth off then on
  6. Paired the devices

I just hope I don’t have to do this too frequently. But it has been working without issue for the past week!

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