Q: starkey halo

OldGnome, can't read it here but could in the email that I got that there was an update to this discussion. Great post, what we all don't need is anything causing more issues.

A big thanks for posting their reply. I wonder what ReSound has to say about all this.

frank

How do we get on that email list?

Sorry, folks. I was using my iPhone when I got the e-mail and posted. I didn't realize it wasn't going to come through clearly. Here's the text:

"As previously communicated, we have confirmed compatibility with iOS 8 and Halo™ hearing aids.

With today’s release of iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, we have embarked on rigorous testing for hardware related issues. Preliminary indicators are iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus should not be used. Connection between iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and hearing aids is not robust and users will experience frequent and inconsistent connectivity issues.

iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5 remain compatible and are the recommended phone for Halo users. We strongly recommend patients do not update to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus until the issue is resolved.

We will provide further updates to you in the coming days."

For the record, I am having very good results with my iPhone 5S (32Gb) running iOS 8. As soon as my employer's IT department finishes vetting iOS 8, I will be able to test that on my iPhone 5C (32 Gb).

I'd like to get on that e-mail list too.  I was able to read OldGnome's message by scrolling that window, one line at a time.

UPDATE:

I've been doing more experimenting, and discovered that THERE IS AN ISSUE with maintaining a CONSISTENT connection.  THE ISSUE IS WITH AIRPLAY.  You see, AIRPLAY is how you get the Bluetooth signal from a device to the hearing aids.

DO THIS: when streaming audio from say, the iPad, if you SWIPE UP from the bottom of the screen, you'll get the Control Centre screen where you can make choices like "Airplane Mode" , Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Start and stop your music, Camera or Timer.  At the very BOTTOM CENTRE of Control Centre, you'll see "AirDrop" and hopefully "AirPlay".  WHEN YOU ARE STREAMING TO YOUR HEARING AIDS, it will list them like "Jim Hearing Aids."  THIS IS WHERE THE CONNECTION GETS FLAKY.  I hope that Apple engineers are reading this list so that they can begin working on this issue.  When it works, it works VERY WELL, but it is INCONSISTENT.

More on AirPlay: for it to work, all devices must be ON THE SAME Wi-Fi NETWORK.  So AirPlay depends on Wi-Fi, and appears to be an amalgamation of Wi-Fi AND BlueTooth.  This is just a guess on my part, but I'd say that the flakiness is when one or both signals (Wi-Fi a/o BlueTooth) is interrupted by congestion or packet collision.

APPLE?  Are you listening?

dogsitter - it's not a mailing list except for the fact that the local Starkey rep was kind enough to give my Audiologist her card so that I could ask questions. Ask your Audiologist to get the contact information for the local rep.

UPDATE!!! 

I can now EXPLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING, and why it doesn't always work as well as other times.

For a while, I was perplexed at the interaction between BlueTooth, Wi-Fi and AirPlay.  Here's what is happening:

1.  Our hearing aids only talk BlueTooth.  They can connect to ONE device (iPhone or iPad) at a time.

2.  When we STREAM audio from A SECOND DEVICE, that device does NOT send the audio directly to our hearing aids.  Rather, it uses AIRPLAY (over Wi-Fi) to ROUTE THAT AUDIO TO THE FIRST DEVICE, where the audio is RE-SENT to the hearing aids via BlueTooth.  That Wi-Fi link MUST be on the same network.

So, to quote an old saying, "a chain is only as strong as its weakest LINK."  If any one link fails, the chain breaks.

Suggestion to Apple: have a programmer write a socket for the use of AirPlay, which would attempt to open an AD-HOC channel (device to device) FIRST, with fall-back to the Wi-Fi network.

Unfortunately for Cmjabo, this may throw a monkey-wrench in his wedding plans, if there isn't a reliable Wi-Fi network to use at the wedding venue.

Jim

de K0UNX

I really have little time for playing with these things. I just want them to work with the simplest flow. Why I have to go to system and do stuff and then deal with another app makes no sense to me. I understand not using Trulink, but there have been times I had to open it to stream to my hearing aids. I also only get sound in my right ear often. I also do not like that I have not control over the speaker volume. When I rode my bicycle using steaming to HAs, I was listening to podcasts and could barely hear because the speaker volume on the aides was not loud enough to deal with ambient noise and there seemed to be no left ear volume at all. Same with phone calls. Iphone says they are both connected. But the streaming is not working right.

Wit my iPad the volume is the same way. No control of speaker so I gave up streaming and listen to the iPad with volume on full and turn up mikes on HAs. Not how its supposed to work.

I hear better in general with the HAs I'm testing, but they really do not help my phone calling and listening experience.

I can appreciate your frustration, and may be able to help a little.  But first, note that I have occasional DROP OUTS of one ear or both, but generally they are for under a couple of seconds.  I've noticed that it is usually WHEN I AM MOVING or have the iPhone directly against my body.  When I wear a "neck pouch" with the iPhone in it, or have the iPhone sitting on my desk, the dropouts almost never happen.  The neck pouch I use is the kind that skiers use to display their lift passes.  That holds the iPhone securely in front of my breastbone, not far from the aids, and in the clear.  If I have the phone against my body, and place my hand over the phone, the bluetooth signal degrades rapidly.

Now, for the STREAMING VOLUME issue.  I listen to podcasts all day long.  Some are recorded low in volume, some with plenty of volume.  So I had my audi crank up a couple of the memories, which helped a LOT.  I have an appointment Monday to have him crank it up even more.  So THIS is fixable by your Audi.  The streaming is controlled by the volume control ON THE PHONE, but you can have the overall gain cranked by your audi, then just turn down the MICROPHONES.  I did select in Tru-Link to "Automatically Mute When Streaming Audio."

My phone calls have been GREAT.  Only podcasts and watching live or recorded TV using the TabloTV App are too soft.  I expect that will be fixed on Monday when my audi cranks 'em up.

Yes, SIMPLE would be ideal, but you and I are PIONEERS!  It is up to us to blaze the way for those that follow us.

Parrish, have you tried muting the aids while streaming? In trulink on the settings page you can turn on automatically mute while streaming. I have only the had the Halos for a week, and I am amazed with the clarity of speech. My hearing loss is very profound, I can't hear audio from iPad at all even on full volume. But I am having great success with phone calls if I mute while streaming, there is no ambient noise to contend with that way. I don't leave "auto mute while streaming" on all the time, because I thought the aids were cutting in and out on me, when in fact that were muting when I opened some apps on my phone. I have always kept both my phone and ipad set with no volume, since I can't hear it at all, I never know if it is making noise that would disturb others. I realized that any app that had audio was streaming, but because I had the volume turned off, my aids were actually muting not dropping out on me. I turned off the mute while streaming option, and that fixed that issue for me. Before I make a phone call, or use a function that I want to stream, I turn that option back on.

I used my phone for navigation today, muted while streaming and could actually hear the directions. That is a first for me.

I took some pictures with my phone tonight as well, I had no idea that the phone made a camera sound, never heard it before even with my Wii aids.

It would be perfect if we didn't have to deal with the connectivity issues, but I am willing to contend with them for the improvement to my hearing. These are by far the best aids I have ever had.

Dogsitters suggestion about having your Audi crank up the volume so you can turn it down and then room for increasing it is a great one. I actually went to Starkey to have mine fitted and programmed. I have a very difficult to aid loss. The day I picked the aids up they fined tuned them. I stayed overnight to make sure I was happy with the programming, I realized that most of the time I had the volume turned to max, so I went back and had them turn it up in their programming so I had room for adjustment.

Hope they work out for you.

I just had another thought, the volume buttons on the phone will change the volume of sound that is streaming. If the phone volume is too low it may make the sound from the aids to quiet...just a thought, I know I have adjusted volume while on a streaming phone call with the buttons on the side of the phone. I didn't pay any attention as the whether or not that changed the setting in the phones system or in trulink, it just worked when I did it.

Thanks Oldgnome and dogsitter. I won't see my audi until the 30th. He'll have to make some adjustments and add some memory functions as you suggest.

I also had the mute mikes while streaming. I guess my problem is my hearing is not severe. I need aids but I can hear a good bit without them. Therefore, when bicycling, I can still hear ambient noise like traffic and just the whir of my own tires. I have domes instead of molds so a lot of sound gets through.

On the good news side, I went to a concert last night to celebrate the International Day of Peace. It's the first time I have ever heard the words distinctly to any music my whole life. I never learned the words to songs or the artists because listening to them, everything didn't come through. I didn't know others had an easier time of it. I get to really test these out this weekend when I fly to Newark and then drive to Stony Point NY for a national committee meeting where I will interact with a wide range of ages in different conditions.

I knew about the phone and ipad volume control. I have it on max for almost everything. In iTunes I always change the audibooks and music to make it louder. If you do not know the function is made by selecting the item, audiobook or books. You can do a select all and then command -'i'. That opens a window in which you select options. Then you can use the slider to increase the volume. If you have an older MAC or a Windows machine it may take a minute for the adjustment to happen. Resynch and you will have more volume.

A question: I know one of you does not use truelink. However, I would like to set up some memories on it if I can figure it out. Surely there is something better than what I have found to coach on how to use SoundSpace. Starkey has a customer and professional section. Of COurse, to get into the professional section, one has to be credentialed. I can't register as a customer because I am still just trying mine out and have no serial number to give. Any ideas?

Yes, I'm the one that doesn't use Tru-Link.  That's because the "window of adjustability" is more limited than what iOS (Triple-Click) allows.  Of course, Tru-Link gives you TONE adjustability, and iOS doesn't.

THANKS for the suggestion about Cmd-i to get to adjustments!  I'll have to give that a try.  The podcasts that I listen to are either from the Podcast App or Instacast, which often have a different selection to choose from than what is available in iTunes.

Now, on the professional section at Starkey, if you go to https://starkeypro.com you can use the SEARCH window to get lots of information.  Their TIPS are really very good.  I got lots of information there. 

If you have "special situations" that you want a memory for, you may find that its parameters are OUTSIDE THE RANGE that Tur-Link can adjust.  Thats where you need your Audi to make those for you.  He/she has more latitude than the limited range of Tru-Link.  BUT the audi is limited to 4 or 5 memories, so choose what you want carefully.

On world peace (whirled peas?), the fools on both sides of the aisle fail to understand that peace cannot exist as long as there is testosterone.   So we might as well accept reality, and remember the Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.

I use TruLink and access it maybe a couple of dozen times a day.

To set up a memory, tap SoundSpace, then Start. You will see an XY graph. The vertical axis is the volume control (I have one I have labeled "It is loud here" where I turn the volume down. Helps in restaurants) and the horizontal axis is the tone control. All you have to do is tap anywhere on the screen to move the blue dot that indicates the setting you want. Your HAs will immediately respond. When you have the setting where you want it, tap Save then Yes, then you will have the opportunity to lock that setting to a geographic location.

If you do not want to lock it to a geographic setting, tap the red X. If you choose to use the geographic setting, your HAs will change to that setting when you get near the location. Either way, give the memory a name in the box and tap Save. You can then active the setting by selecting the name from the first menu (your presets are at the bottom of the list). To delete a memory setting, tap the > to the right of the memory name from the menu, then Delete on the next page.

As dogsitter said, your audiologist has a broader range of both volume and equalizer settings. That having been said, I have been using my own memory presets from the beginning and they help a lot.

Thanks for your suggestions.

shoot, I typed this complete explanation on how to use sounds pace, and it didn't post correctly.

if this shows up twice, that's why.

Parrish I use sound space, really like it. Here's my readers digest version...

you have 20 memory slots - 4 of which are presets

it works in conjunction with your phones GPS

when you are in a location that needs sound adjustment, open sound space, you find the settings you like for that location by moving the cursor to adjust treble, bass, soft, loud. Once you are happy with the sound quality, click save at the top, name the location. That creates a geo tag.  The next time you go to that place, your aids will automatically switch to those settings.

You can manually switch to them anytime using the remote pull down. I go,to several big warehouse stores like Costco and Sams, they all have really similar loud background noise that needs to be turned down, rather then geo tag each of them, I created the memory in the one I go to most frequently and manually switch to it in the other others so I don't use up the memory slots.

Have you talked to your audi about full ear molds vs domes? If your problem is noise masking out speech maybe your speech recognition would improve with ear molds. With all the adjustments on these aids it would seem possible and logical to me, that blocking unneeded sounds with the molds, and enhancing  those you need to hear to understand speech would be beneficial.  i always have a better chance of catching what's being said when it directly goes into my ears, via a headset, ear buds etc rather then a volume controled speaker phone or some other amplification into the room. I recenlty had a big decline in speech recognition in my left ear, I went from around 50% to 30% right ear remained the same. When they programmed the Halos they compensated for this by making my right ear a little louder so what my left was hearing wasn't masking out speech in the right. Which is what's been happening the past few months, making it more difficult the usual to have a conversation with anyone...maybe you can turn down unwanted sounds and turn up needed ones more successfully with molds,,does that make sense??

Thanks to everyone for your help. One of the things that seems to be the case is that when in a restaurant, I want to be able to turn down background noise but want to hear what's in front of me because I want to be able to talk to people. With Soundspace, that is not an option. It just controls the mikes as if they are equal. I'm assuming the HAs have front and rear mikes like my oticons do. All sound space does is overall volume and overall tone.

It's also hard to work with this in the restaurant because people, even friends, see you fiddling with your iPhone and think you are not listening even when you say, I'm listening but trying to get my HAs to help me hear you better. For people who hear perfectly well, the whole idea of not being able to hear is more difficult to grasp than quantum theory. They think hearing aids are like eye glasses but as a friend said yesterday, they call glasses corrective lenses and hear aids, aids for a good reason. Glasses get us back to at least the illusion of correct sight. If I don't see something plainly, the conversation is not hurt but if I can't hear correctly, the conversation suffers.

I am really thankful that my hearing seems to have been stable for about 8 years, maybe longer. For those of you with very bad and maybe declining hearing, I have great compassion.