The biggest changes in my life with new hearing aids (HA for short) have been adapting to the technology. Since starting my hearing aid trial, any time I have to put anything more complicated than a toque over my ears, I have had to adapt and/or learn a new interface. In this post, I’m going to share what I’ve found so far.
This is Part two in this series. In Hear today, I shared my thoughts about the first twelve days of wearing hearing aids.
Hearing aid controls
On my model there is only one button, which has to do everything. At the simplest, one press on my right HA ups the volume one notch, the same on my left lowers it. So far so good, but then there are functions that require a two-second press and release and a four-second press. I don’t work well with multiple presses of varying length – but I discovered a phone app which mitigates this.
Low Tech – Ear protection
When I’m working with power tools in my workshop, I have two kinds of protection: in-ear plugs and over-ear headset. So the former are now unusable, and the latter work fine, except that it makes sense to turn off the hearing aids while I’m wearing the protection. Apparently there is a way to mute the aids, something about “press for 4 seconds” but for now I’m opting to just turn the volume to minimum. I know how to do that.
Listening to the television
For a regular TV, I just sit in front of it and listen. Maybe if I’m listening to a TV for which someone else controls the volume control, I may turn down the volume on my HA.
When I’m using the exercise bike in the basement, I usually watch a movie on DVD, and I used to listen using headphones which mitigated the noise of the bike and my knees creaking. At the moment, I’ve wired up a pair of speakers, and that’s working quite well. When I come to think of it, I’m not quite sure why I didn’t try just putting the headphones over top of the hearing aids, however, my audiologist says this won’t work.
Using Bluetooth on Android – the ConnectClip connection
I need to describe how Bluetooth works on the Oticon MiniRite hearing aid. My hearing aids are designed for iPhone, iPad and iPod support and connect directly to those devices, but Android use requires a small unit called the ConnectClip. My understanding of this device is it that it acts like a Bluetooth headset, except that it only includes the microphone part. The bit which lets me hear the audio are my hearing aids. So the ConnectClip talks to the hearing aids (on separate channels) via one Bluetooth connection and to a Bluetooth source on a second connection. My phone talks to the ConnectClip and the ConnectClip passes on the audio to the hearing aids. What I hear is an audio mix of the ConnectClip content and whatever the aids are getting from the environment. If the source is a phone call, my voice is captured on the mike in the ConnectClip and sent to the phone. The ConnectClip needs to be recharged after 5-6 hours of music streaming or phone operation (16 hours of typical use including standby time). OK, back to the regularly scheduled program…
Cell phone
I could use the ConnectClip option but so far, I’m thinking I’ll just hold it up near my ear. Having to clip the ConnectClip to my shirt anytime I’m expecting a call just isn’t going to happen.
Home phone
Same as cell phone, but the Bluetooth option on our wireless home phone system needs to be used within 1 metre of the home base. Another thing that isn’t going to happen.
Recently I’ve started using speakerphone for either the home phone or cell phone. Holding the handset to my ear, is OK, but if I’m having difficulty making out words, having the sound going to both ears seems to be clearer.
Headphones for working on the computer
I have a set of (on ear, not over-ear) Bluetooth headphones which I used to wear for editing audio for a video production, or sometimes if I’m watching a movie on the PC. I tried putting the headset on while wearing the hearing aids and that seemed to work well enough. Then I found that when I put the headset on, I’m just hearing the sound directly – the HA mikes aren’t catching anything. I discovered this by turning the volume way down on the HA – it didn’t make any difference!
However, I can connect to the PC sound through Bluetooth to the ConnectClip, which works well audio wise but not so convenience wise. More on that later.
Cell phone in the car
I use Bluetooth for hands-free operation and it seems reasonable to continue this. I’m not sure what would happen if the cell phone is linked to both the hearing aid and the car. Probably whichever one connects first.
FM radio on the go
This is an issue I spent a lot of time on. I have used an MP3 Player/FM radio with a wired set of ear buds on my dog walks for probably the last 20 years. I have this thing about using old technology as long as it keeps working – the headphones and amp I used to use on the exercise bike date back to 1972! Anyway, earbuds or headphones don’t mix with hearing aids, so Bluetooth to the hearing aid it has to be.
For some reason, my 20-year old MP3 player doesn’t support Bluetooth, so I’ve been looking at Android smartphones. To use a phone for FM radio, I need to plug something into the earphone jack to act as an antenna. A 3.5mm plugged extension cord will do. Then I need to unlock the phone, start the radio app and power up the (previously paired) ConnectClip. Then I just need to adjust the volume on the phone to balance the radio with whatever noise is in the environment. Makes my MP3 player look quite attractive in comparison.
I’m getting used to this setup now. For a while reception appeared to be hit and miss until I found that moving the ConnectClip closer to my HA fixed it. When I was wearing earbuds, they served as the antenna and conveniently extended the wire vertically from my ears to the phone at my belt. My current antenna hangs down my leg!
Bluetooth Issues – older phones
My early thought was to devote an older phone to use as a radio, so I could leave it permanently set up, but my older phones did not include an option to direct the sound to Bluetooth. They wanted to send the sound to the non-existent headphone, because, after all, there was something plugged into the earphone outlet. Only my newest phone provides a means to direct the output of a radio app to Bluetooth, earphone or speaker. There may be workarounds to this that bear further investigation.
Bluetooth Issues – getting connected
Most of the time, I turn on the ConnectClip and wait for a blue light to come on. That’s it, when I start something which makes sounds on my phone, I can hear them through my HA. At worst, I may have to choose Bluetooth instead of headphones on the phone app. However, there are also times when it doesn’t connect. Or I get radio in one ear but not the other. When this happens, things get confusing really quickly, as there are four electronic devices that all have to be in the right state (or maybe mood!) to connect properly. And there are virtually no diagnostics available. There may be a better way, but it seems to me the surest way to get back in sync is to bring everything back to a known state – that is, turn everything off (including both HAs) and bring them up one at a time.
Bluetooth Issues – connecting to the right source
My phone is nearly always on, and near me, so when I power up the ConnectClip, it finds the phone’s Bluetooth first. Which is great except when I want to connect to my computer. So far as I can tell, I need to unlock my phone, turn Bluetooth off, turn Bluetooth on in the PC, and then turn on the ConnectClip. When I’m done, I have to remember to turn Bluetooth back on in my phone, so that I can receive calls in my car. Getting to my phone under a seat belt is a recipe for disaster, not to mention illegal. Switching audio sources is not a convenient process.
Oticon ON app
This app makes several things much easier. I can tell what state each HA is in: the condition of the battery, the hearing program (this post isn’t getting into that subject) currently selected, and the volume. I can change these too through the app, well, except for the battery condition. This makes things much easier than fiddling with individual button clicks on the HA. However, it means I have to fiddle with my phone instead, but that does have a nicer interface.
I couldn’t understand why my audiologist paired my phone directly to my HA as well as to the ConnectClip. When I installed the app, I understood – the app can talk to the HA without the Connect Clip. Which begs the question why the clip is needed to stream audio from an Android phone. However, I grant you would need something for a microphone when making a phone call.
Doing two things at once
Previously, when I stopped to talk with someone I met on my dog walk, I would just drop an ear bud so I could hear the conversation. Not so easy to drop a hearing air, and my first few attempts at silencing the radio but not the HA were not pretty. Just today, (day 22) I got it right – one click on the ConnectClip and the radio silenced. Unfortunately, to start the radio back up, I have to get my phone out, unlock it and give the radio app a nudge.
Around about Day 6, I got a phone call on my dog walk. I pulled out my phone to answer it. I could hear my wife in the HA, but didn’t realize that Bluetooth was handling the call, so my microphone was the ConnectClip which was in a pocket. She couldn’t hear me. I did pull out the ConnectClip and started to speak into it, but every time a car went by, I couldn’t hear what she was saying. It was a mess. She hasn’t called me since.
Conclusions so far
I have “a solution” for each of the scenarios I’ve come across, but I think some of them can be improved. I am disappointed that the HA model I have doesn’t work well with Android, or that the Bluetooth version they are using doesn’t handle multiple inputs. Using four devices, each with its own battery, and three Bluetooth connections, just so I can walk around and listen to a radio seems like overkill, and all the Bluetoothing and FM radioing means my phone needs recharging every day, when I used to do it once in two or three days.
I think some of the glitches will disappear as I get more used to all the button presses and so on. I get the feeling that on some days I may be doing things in a different order, with different timing, or with different apps running while I’m trying to connect. I’ve rarely had 100% success with Bluetooth except with hands-free phone calls in the car.
There may well be a part three on the ConnectClip and the Oticon app if I have an epiphany regarding the way they work.
