Microphones for friends in noisy spaces

Reply to "maryjax". Yes the Oticon Connect Clip.

I've been shopping for a dual mic setup for a lecture group, and there's a HUGE selection of mics for all sorts of applications. A decent wireless system with two mics, for example, is around $500. Shoot--I paid $200 for a tiny lapel mic (only thing available) to pair with my aid. It works only if it's very close to the speaker, not at all for groups. Xmas Eve, I sat clueless while my daughter, son-in-law, and hubby talked, all of us within a few feet of each other. I caught occasional words, but not the actual conversation. Frustrating! Yet, there are great mics for all sorts of situations--except ones that work with aids. Why should we be expected to pay more and get far less than the hearing world? It's time for us to ask for better mics for more reasonable prices.

Hi @joyces you may have noticed that I moved your post to this existing discussion on microphones for those with hearing loss so that your post would be seen by others discussing this topic. Simply click VIEW & REPLY in your email notification to get to your post.

@arrowshooter and @nightwatchrenband may have thoughts on this topic.

Back to you @joyces have you been able to find any other affordable microphone options?

To Ethan, moderator: I've not found any other mics designed or sold to work with my aid, which is a Costco Bernefon (i.e., Oticon). I've given up watching TV, as we only can get it via Charter, and they do not provide captions. For a little while, there were captions on one channel, but that ceased a couple of weeks ago. It only showed old programs so isn't a huge loss. I do watch MS-NBC because it does have some explanation and ID of speakers--not actual captions, but some clues to help me guess about what's being said. My total frustration is groups around tables, both for "fun" and for technical discussions about fish and water due to a pilot project in our rural coastal county that will determine how water is allocated throughout Oregon in the future. Sometimes I can "get" part of discussions during small groups, but when the entire partnership meets (100 or more), it's four hours of understanding nothing, usually in a room that's not good for listening (hard surfaces, poor quality mics). This is a rural area, so I've yet to find a place that offers an induction loop. That makes a good mic even more important!

The important point about remote microphones that work with hearing aids is compatibility. Traditionally, hearing aid manufacturers did not use an industry standard to communicate with the hearing aids directly. They used a proprietary communications protocol. This meant that you could only use products that came from the manufacturer (or a licensed third party) for your accessories. The problem is if you ever want to replace your hearing aid with a different manufacturer. All your accessories will most likely NOT work with another product. This is why using other "standard" hearing assistive technology (HAT) was more desirable. The products could be used with any hearing aid manufacturer. Since the aids would not receive a signal directly, there needed to be a way to get the signal to the aids. The telecoil was the way to do it. It required the hearing aid to have a telecoil and you used a neckloop to get the signal to the telecoil. Today, the new hearing aids have the ability to receive a standard Bluetooth signal without the use of another device. The Resound hearing aids use a modified Bluetooth (BT low energy) that was developed with Apple to get the iPhone signal directly into the Resound aids. To receive a standard Bluetooth signal, such as from an Android phone, you need an accessory (phone clip plus) to get the signal to the aids.
Confusing, but should get better if the hearing aid industry settles on a standard.
Tony in Michigan

@tonyinmi
Hi,

Good explanation thanks. I don’t think the hearing aid industry will change much because they want you to stay with their brand .
People who buy a lot of proprietary accessories most likely will not change to a new brand of aid. What really ticked me off was that when I updated my Phonak hearing aids about 6 months ago, the remote for my older aids would not work with the newer aids....both Phonaks mind you. My Audi was annoyed also, got on the phone and was told that the older remote could not be paired with the newer aids. She ordered the new one anyway but did not charge me. She said they should be included with the price of the aids as it’s just a simple program and volume remote. She’s a gem.

Have a happy healthy good hearing New Year...FL Mary

fl Mary - where in Fla are you? If in Jax, please tell me the name of =
this gem!

>

I loved my ComPilot! It wasn’t a mic though. When I for Resound 3D Linx HAs, I started using the mini Mic. Boy! It’s changed a lot of noisy situations into manageable ones for me. I use it in restaurants, in the car, with my mumble mouth doctors, with my grandson, on busses, bike riding with my wife (whom I can mostly understand even if she rides ahead of me) and so many other situations. My only gripe was it doesn’t work in restaurants talking to more than one person - too much background noise.

@maryjax
Hi,
I am in the Tampa Bay area. More specifically New Port Richey/Trinity. My amazing Audi is part of an ENT practice. I email her directly for appts or questions. She loves to hear what I know about meetings, loops etc.
Let me trial a bunch of ALDs and different brand aids last year..no money upfront .My ENT doctor is with that practice and I lucked out with her because she works at the location I go to which is 15 minutes away.The best Audi I have ever had in 40 plus years of wearing hearing aids.

FL Mary

I found out that the Resound mics only let you pair one receiver (such as your hearing aid) with the mic. Phonak (and I think Oticon) allow you to connect multiple receivers. The reason I do that is so I can have a second receiver attached to my laptop when I'm at work, my tablet (Amazon Fire) when I'm at home, and my phone when I'm away from the house. That way I can view a captioning of the conversation, save it for later reference, and at work I add notes to the captioning. I couldn't do any of that if I had selected a Resound system.