Adding to the video I would just like to say that I am 100% behind captioning, and have for many years been pushing the film, television, online media, airline, and other industries to include captioning options 100% of the time, and to improve the quality of captioning. We also caption 100% of our TH-cam videos (like this one) using premium captioning services. We do realize that not everyone can achieve success with TV streamers and Bluetooth soundbars, so if you fall into this category, please do accept our apologies for making the suggestion that captions can be made optional. I realize they are an absolute must for some users, especially those with poor residual hearing capabilities or poor speech recognition abilities. Should you be in that category and reading this message, please do consider having a cochlear implant evaluation if you haven't already. Many people reach peak performance with hearing aids and still struggle with ordinary conversation and TV dialogue. Please do reach out to me personally on matthew@hearingtracker.com if you have any further questions or comments.
I recently purchased the Starkey TV streamer. It works beautifully and it helps me hear the actors voices clearly over the oftentimes too loud background music/sounds. The audio is completely independent of the audio from the speaker. Even if my wife mutes the speaker I still hear the audio on my aid and vice versa. Still use the closed captioning to pick up the words I might have missed.
Love the beginning from the watcher's point of view, creative! Solid recommendation too; the TV connector is my superpower. I own two, one for the TV and one for my computer. Internet meetings are so much easier streaming through it. On the TV, an advantage of using the TOSLINK that you didn't quite say is that the hearing aid wearer gets fully independent volume control. One can even mute the TV altogether and still get the audio streamed, useful if another person in the room doesn't want to hear it. Another important feature is that the latency is low enough so that one can set their hearing aids for mix of live and streamed audio, at least with the Phonaks that I have and probably others too. This lets one hear others in the room and converse with them while still getting streamed, corrected audio. Much better than wearing headphones that isolate the user.
Hey Andrew yes you’re right I didn’t mention that about the TOSLINK and the other advantages! It looks like you have your setup sorted! Thanks for watching, Matthew
Yes, bluetooth streaming from tv to hearing aids is amazing... BUT some things to know ... with my phonak tv streamer, muting the tv does NOT mute the streamer ( this can be a plus or minus, depending on the situation) ... it automatically connects to hearing aids (mostly a plus, sometimes annoying if I am walking in and out of a room and not interested in what others are watching so have to repeatedly disconnect using the hearing aid button). Captions ... still useful when watching folks with a thick or unfamiliar accent OR folks who speak as fast as an auctioneer OR when there is a lot of other noise in the room/house OR when shows/videos make background music as loud as (or louder than) the speech volume.
I use a steamer with Toslink for TV; however, when someone with average hearing (or less but still don't need hearing aids) sits next to me I can hear both : the audio from the streamer and the audio from the TV speakers. By myself I can shut down the TV audio and it is great.
Another very useful vlog as always but I believe the choices are not as simple as one may believe as there are so many factors to consider, including the persons degree of hearing loss, room acoustics, environmental noise (a/c units, fan heaters etc), type of TV, internal or external TV speakers, TV and AV equaliser settings to name some of them. After some prolonged experimentation to find the optimal solution for my hearing I have tried and rejected the Phonak TV streamer as the audio quality (even via TOS link) when very poor given the size of hearing aid driver units. With the focus on speech the resultant sound stage lacks depth and breadth. Many modern TVs already have separate BT Audi controls for volume which enables moderate hearing loss to be overcome using earbuds (Apple AirPods) or headphones. To improve TV sound clarity you can also adjust the TV graphic equaliser or accessibility settings to emphasise speech frequencies. I have finally settled on two approaches 1. TV audio output set to external speakers for more dynamic soundstage. TV graphic equaliser to speech setting. Phonak hearing aids set to TV. This setup is good enough for general TV programmes. Phonak aids use inbuilt mics to pick up sound from external speakers 2. Films and dynamic sound Apple AirPods connected directly to the TV via BT. External TV speakers disabled. AirPods noise cancellation on to mask TV speakers that my partner is using to listen. We each have our own volume control via the (Samsung) TV Lots of choices, none perfect but may be suitable for some of us!
Hey Vincent, thank you SO much for adding to this. It’s great to have some practical feedback for others to use in addition to the content in my videos, thank you so much and keep it coming! Matthew
Really helpful and informative. Thank you. I use a Phonak Roger Pen to stream direct to my hearing aids. The difference between using this and just the TV speakers is staggering! I do have a question. Would the dedicated Phonak TV Streamer work even better than the Roger Pen?
The sound quality will be the same. One possible reason to buy a TV streamer: If in your current setup you don't have independent volume control for the main speakers & your audio stream, the TV connector will give it to you when you use the optical (TOSLINK) input.
Hey Alan, the sound should be the same so I would stick with your setup! Thanks for the feedback, I love hearing positive stories. Thanks for watching, Matthew
No mention is made about the unavoidable sound delay introduced by some bluetooth streamers. More on this subject would be appreciated. For the more technical amongst us, my Phonak Lumity aids do not support aptx-LL, only sbc, so therein lies the first hurdle in the quest for
Bluetooth TV streamers only work with my cable tv and I stream mainly through Apple TV. I have not found a streamer which works both with the cable tv and the Apple TV
Hey James, I’m not sure of your setup, with multiple devices sometimes you’ll need an AV system to channel it all though one device. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, Matthew
Hello Matthew, I have the tv connector with phonak hearing aids and it sure delivers clear sound and improve speech comprehension but one issue I have is an echo that seams to be created by the sound of the sound bar itself reaching my ear and the processed sound from the HA. I can attenuate this echo by setting the app to stop surrounding sound but it cuts you off from other person conversation and also from bass sound effect when listening to a movie. Is this an issue with every brand of tv connector? Michel
I prefer my Bluetooth headphones or AirPods for better bass sounds. There is also a Roku streamer to pair your tv and ha’s for about $30 that is getting good reviews.
Adding to the video I would just like to say that I am 100% behind captioning, and have for many years been pushing the film, television, online media, airline, and other industries to include captioning options 100% of the time, and to improve the quality of captioning.
We also caption 100% of our TH-cam videos (like this one) using premium captioning services. We do realize that not everyone can achieve success with TV streamers and Bluetooth soundbars, so if you fall into this category, please do accept our apologies for making the suggestion that captions can be made optional.
I realize they are an absolute must for some users, especially those with poor residual hearing capabilities or poor speech recognition abilities.
Should you be in that category and reading this message, please do consider having a cochlear implant evaluation if you haven't already. Many people reach peak performance with hearing aids and still struggle with ordinary conversation and TV dialogue. Please do reach out to me personally on matthew@hearingtracker.com if you have any further questions or comments.
I recently purchased the Starkey TV streamer. It works beautifully and it helps me hear the actors voices clearly over the oftentimes too loud background music/sounds. The audio is completely independent of the audio from the speaker. Even if my wife mutes the speaker I still hear the audio on my aid and vice versa. Still use the closed captioning to pick up the words I might have missed.
Hey David, thank you for leaving your feedback for others out there that are HOH. Matthew
Love the beginning from the watcher's point of view, creative! Solid recommendation too; the TV connector is my superpower. I own two, one for the TV and one for my computer. Internet meetings are so much easier streaming through it.
On the TV, an advantage of using the TOSLINK that you didn't quite say is that the hearing aid wearer gets fully independent volume control. One can even mute the TV altogether and still get the audio streamed, useful if another person in the room doesn't want to hear it.
Another important feature is that the latency is low enough so that one can set their hearing aids for mix of live and streamed audio, at least with the Phonaks that I have and probably others too. This lets one hear others in the room and converse with them while still getting streamed, corrected audio. Much better than wearing headphones that isolate the user.
Hey Andrew yes you’re right I didn’t mention that about the TOSLINK and the other advantages! It looks like you have your setup sorted! Thanks for watching, Matthew
Yes, bluetooth streaming from tv to hearing aids is amazing... BUT some things to know ... with my phonak tv streamer, muting the tv does NOT mute the streamer ( this can be a plus or minus, depending on the situation) ... it automatically connects to hearing aids (mostly a plus, sometimes annoying if I am walking in and out of a room and not interested in what others are watching so have to repeatedly disconnect using the hearing aid button).
Captions ... still useful when watching folks with a thick or unfamiliar accent OR folks who speak as fast as an auctioneer OR when there is a lot of other noise in the room/house OR when shows/videos make background music as loud as (or louder than) the speech volume.
Hey Torinsall! This is really helpful, practical info. Thank you for sharing! Matthew
I use a steamer with Toslink for TV; however, when someone with average hearing (or less but still don't need hearing aids) sits next to me I can hear both : the audio from the streamer and the audio from the TV speakers. By myself I can shut down the TV audio and it is great.
Hey Gaddy, thanks for sharing your feedback so others can benefit from your experience. Matthew
Another very useful vlog as always but I believe the choices are not as simple as one may believe as there are so many factors to consider, including the persons degree of hearing loss, room acoustics, environmental noise (a/c units, fan heaters etc), type of TV, internal or external TV speakers, TV and AV equaliser settings to name some of them.
After some prolonged experimentation to find the optimal solution for my hearing I have tried and rejected the Phonak TV streamer as the audio quality (even via TOS link) when very poor given the size of hearing aid driver units. With the focus on speech the resultant sound stage lacks depth and breadth.
Many modern TVs already have separate BT Audi controls for volume which enables moderate hearing loss to be overcome using earbuds (Apple AirPods) or headphones.
To improve TV sound clarity you can also adjust the TV graphic equaliser or accessibility settings to emphasise speech frequencies.
I have finally settled on two approaches
1. TV audio output set to external speakers for more dynamic soundstage.
TV graphic equaliser to speech setting.
Phonak hearing aids set to TV. This setup is good enough for general TV programmes. Phonak aids use inbuilt mics to pick up sound from external speakers
2. Films and dynamic sound
Apple AirPods connected directly to the TV via BT. External TV speakers disabled. AirPods noise cancellation on to mask TV speakers that my partner is using to listen. We each have our own volume control via the (Samsung) TV
Lots of choices, none perfect but may be suitable for some of us!
Hey Vincent, thank you SO much for adding to this. It’s great to have some practical feedback for others to use in addition to the content in my videos, thank you so much and keep it coming! Matthew
Really helpful and informative. Thank you.
I use a Phonak Roger Pen to stream direct to my hearing aids. The difference between using this and just the TV speakers is staggering!
I do have a question. Would the dedicated Phonak TV Streamer work even better than the Roger Pen?
The sound quality will be the same. One possible reason to buy a TV streamer: If in your current setup you don't have independent volume control for the main speakers & your audio stream, the TV connector will give it to you when you use the optical (TOSLINK) input.
@@bellavia.a Thanks! That's very helpful.
Hey Alan, the sound should be the same so I would stick with your setup! Thanks for the feedback, I love hearing positive stories. Thanks for watching, Matthew
Thanks, I'm heading to Costco soon as I can. I hope the cost of the Costco amplifier is reasonable.
Hey Hawkrider! I’m glad to hear that you found this video useful. You’ll love it when you get it home. Thanks for watching, Matthew
No mention is made about the unavoidable sound delay introduced by some bluetooth streamers. More on this subject would be appreciated. For the more technical amongst us, my Phonak Lumity aids do not support aptx-LL, only sbc, so therein lies the first hurdle in the quest for
Good video.
Im going to buy one for my new hearing aids.
Bluetooth TV streamers only work with my cable tv and I stream mainly through Apple TV. I have not found a streamer which works both with the cable tv and the Apple TV
Hey James, I’m not sure of your setup, with multiple devices sometimes you’ll need an AV system to channel it all though one device. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, Matthew
Hello Matthew, I have the tv connector with phonak hearing aids and it sure delivers clear sound and improve speech comprehension but one issue I have is an echo that seams to be created by the sound of the sound bar itself reaching my ear and the processed sound from the HA. I can attenuate this echo by setting the app to stop surrounding sound but it cuts you off from other person conversation and also from bass sound effect when listening to a movie. Is this an issue with every brand of tv connector?
Michel
Hey Michael, thanks for reaching out. Have you tried alternative connections to the TV? Matthew
I prefer my Bluetooth headphones or AirPods for better bass sounds. There is also a Roku streamer to pair your tv and ha’s for about $30 that is getting good reviews.
Sound bar!
I think I have.tinnitus how did you ignore it
Hey Juan I have a whole host of tinnitus videos. Check them out on the channel. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, Matthew