I don't know whether multiple microphones can be part of my system but
I'll investigate that though I really don't need them for my situation I
can certainly appreciate as to why Gordon would find them helpful.
Here's another tip, try connecting the Zoom H1 to the line in of your
system when next at a meeting, you may find that this simple measure and
the H!'S very good microphones may make all the difference.
On 22/09/2011 11:27 PM, Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith wrote:
Hello Dane
On 22 Sep 2011, at 13:57, Dane Trethowan wrote:
No cable comes out of the input shoes I use with mine, the shoes are mini
digital FM transmitters themselves.
Ah, maybe I've misunderstood that then. The transmitters you can use don't have
to be Phonak, as long as it's compatible with what I believe to be the standard
then you can use it. So if that's the case then I would imagine your system is
similar to the ones available from Connevans. they may not be the only
supplier; although I would imagine the prices are similar. The one I was
looking at, the ZoomLink, has facilities for 2 aids and 3 microphones. So if
you were in a meeting, each participant (up to 3) could each have a microphone
around their neck and the user would be fine with all of them. Gordon has
difficulty now in echo-prone environments and that was why I was looking at
these devices. But I think we'll have to talk to our audiologist to see if
there's any chance of getting him one on the NHS. I would doubt it, but we
could try. We pay our taxes; and it's not like we're asking for a luxury item.
We bought the iCom and TVLinks ourselves because I thought that the price of
those were reasonable. But the transmitters, that's another story.
Lynne
No, bluetooth delay isn't usually a problem unless you listen to speech from a
"source" as well as speech directly. With my system I have it programmed so
say in a room my hearin instruments function as per normal - analysing the noise around
me - whilst the sounds from the transmitter are mixed in with those so I get the best of
both environments and its up to the brain to do the processing of sound.
\
On 22/09/2011 10:52 PM, Gordon Smith wrote:
Hello Dane
Actually I was wrong about Bluetooth. The equipment they sell is FM, as you
describe. But there are a number of designs. Some of them work with an input she,
some of them work by interfacing with the iCom which I bought for Gordon a while
back. Actually he has 2 of them now, and that pay dividends. There's a device which
gods with the iCom which I also bought him called a "TVLink. Perhaps a
misleading name; because the device works with any audio source.
Yes, there is a delay of a very short period but it isn't enough to cause
Gordon problems. But the microphone transmitters are FM with digital coupling
so I'm sorry I gave inaccurate information there. Some of them as I said use
the iCom and some use an input shoe directly. But the problem with those which
use the input shoe is cables. The reason we were looking at the iCom type is
that they are cable-free apart from the lead between the iCom and the receiver.
I think the problem with the shoe type is that there is a cable leading from
the ear, which could get in the way. Also the iCom can, unless it's overridden
when the Euro socket is in use, also be used with the phone at the same time.
The iCom can be paired with up to 8 simultaneous devices if it has the latest,
open firmware. Phonak has released their firmware source to outside developers
which is interesting.
Anyway, yes; I was slightly wrong about the transmitter. You're correct, they
af FM rather than Blue Tooth.
Lynne
On 22 Sep 2011, at 13:25, Dane Trethowan wrote:
I agree with all this though I have to say that Bluetooth would be the last
platform I'd be using for this sort of thing because of the delays involved,
now perhaps to be fair the developers of this ket you're talking about have
found a way around the delay factor and perhaps that's where some of the cost
comes in, this kit may use custom chips or something who knows but whether or
not this is the case its still a nasty pain to the hip pocket.
I have a system with my hearing instruments that uses some sort of FM
transmitter/receiving system and its digitally encoded somehow so as to prevent
static and I paid half the price you're quoting so I'm wondering if there's an
alternative kit or model you can look at.
The model I have connects directly to a connector at the back of the hearing
instrument and is powered from there.
If someone is wishing to speak to the wearing of the hearing instrument then
they were the microphone with the FM transmitter round their neck and speak
into this, the conversation is then transmitted directly to the hearing
instrument.
The transmitter can be programmed for multiple operations, for example you can
ttransmit a line in source - say a tape recorder - to one receiver connected to
the right ear whilst transmitting someone's speech or another source to the
left ear and this sort of arrangement can be damn handy for those times when
you need extra description for slides at a lecture etc.
On 22/09/2011 10:02 PM, Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith wrote:
Hello everybody
At the risk of being accused of trying to put people down, I am going to raise
one further subject because this is something that I find outrageous.
I was just looking on a website here in the UK which is that of a company which sell
equipment for the hearing impaired.<http://www.connevans.co.uk>. They sell a
series of items designed for hearing aid users in an environment where it is
difficult to hear the spoken content. For instance in a lecture room, meeting or
similar where the desired audio source is either a considerable distance from the
listener, or where the background noise makes it difficult for the listener to hear
what's being said.
These devices use Bluetooth to communicate with a receiver that's either at ear
level or which interfaces with a hearing instrument to give the listener access
to a desired audio source via a radio microphone which the speaker either wears
or holds.
The transmitter and receiver, as a kit, cost over £1100 Pounds Sterling. That, I would
think, is way beyond the reach of most individuals, and I think it's absolutely
outrageous that a company supposedly there to "help" the disabled is charging
quite so much for its products.
No; I'm not dumb! I understand fully that developers have to eat. I also understand that
companies and developers have to make a reasonable profit on what they're selling. But
that is outrageous. We're talking nothing but a transmitter/receiver here and nobody can
convince me that a transmitter/receiver kit is going to cost anywhere close to that kind
of money to develop. That, to me, is profiteering above and beyond the
"reasonable" and I'm disgusted. I have already written to the company concerned
to express my views. I don't for a second expect to receive a response; nor do I expect
them to take notice of what I said. But I have at least made my views known.
I think it's utterly wrong that those who are afflicted by what is a very
debilitating disability should be victimised in that way, just because they
can't take advantage of what the rest of us take for granted.
Now I hope nobody will twist what I'm saying; but I think it's grossly unfair
that companies are able to profit in that way in a market which, I accept, is a
minority market. All the same, there should be some kind of dispensation for
individuals struggling to buy that kind of equipment for their own use.
Lynne
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