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No one likes to repeat themselves, apparently
Hearing Loss | Last Active: Nov 27, 2023 | Replies (65)Comment receiving replies
@julie04 Just my two cents regarding the Roger Pen for those that may not be familiar with it. It's basically a wireless handheld microphone. If you have Phonak hearing aids or Cochlear Americas implant, the audio from the Roger is picked up by the aid/implant. Since I don't have a Phonak hearing aid, I had to purchase the Mylink, which is an accessory for the Roger. The Mylink picked up the Roger signal but you still need to get the signal to your aid/implant. Since my aids have a telecoil, I used that method to hear from the Mylink. You could also use headphones that connect to the Mylink if you don't have a telecoil. I actually thought the original Roger Pen was a bit complicated, only because I didn't think the "automatic" mode worked in all situations. Ideally, you could put the Roger on your table at a restaurant, and it would pick up the voices from your guests at the table. Background noise was too bad so I had to manually set the Roger to directional mode and point it to the person talking. It worked much better. Most people do not always remember how to switch from automatic mode and may even forget that its an option. I haven't tried the newer Roger products to see how they compare.
Tony in Michigan
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I recall the year that Phonak came out with the Roger Pen device. Many people at the HLAA convention in St. Louis were given a free device to take home, demonstrate, and give feedback on. It was an interesting innovative device; still is. One of the crazy things about it is the design to look like a pen. The reason behind that was so people could hand hold it, point it in a speaker's direction and not be obvious that it was a hearing device. (Another one of those 'hide your hearing loss' things.)
Initially, I thought it was a pretty cool device. And, yes, it still is and it has been improved since that introductory product. Still, I personally found that it almost felt 'silly' to use because pointing a pen at someone is almost like shining a flashlight in their face. 🙂 I like having device that I can clip on my shirt, set on the table, clip on another person's shirt, give to a speaker, etc. It's a microphone gosh darn it. Just like other mikes it has to be pointed in the direction where the desired sound is coming from. It can be set on directional, but the longer the distance from the desired sound to the microphone, the more background noise that can sneak into the equation. You have to be willing to tell people what a device is for to get the most benefit from it.