Rondo 3 and Audiostream

[Mary Beth]

Have you been able to find a way to connect just your HA to Roku for audio?

[jcech344]

Yes by using the Connect streamer that I have used with this aid.  It will not connect to Beyond directly.  I assume it is not ASHA enabled.

[Mary Beth]

Have you tried using two different mobile devices (tablet and phone) with the ROKU app and stream AudioStream through one and your Widex Connect streamer through the other?  I hope the audio would be in sync.

[Mary Beth]

And another thought….  Have you considered a shoulder level BT streamer that would deliver the audio at shoulder position and be picked up by both HA and Sonnet without needing to switch out of your typical M settings?

[jcech344]

All of this is too much work for something that  should be pretty straight forward. I will first explore the Roku app to understand what it takes to do multiple headphones and then verify if my S23 will connect 2 headphones from the same device.

At this point I am still too new at getting use to my CI (10 days).  My goal right now is to watch CC tv streamed into just my CI to help with training.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I will let you know if I find an easy solution.

[Mary Beth]

Congratulations on 10 days!!!  Very exciting time.

Med-El US offers free 1:1 tech sessions with their audiologists who can help with connectivity.  Just email them for a time slot.

medel.technicalsupport@medel.com

 

Also you are welcome to join in our HearPeers GoogleMeets with free automatic captioning.  You will be able to interact directly with other Med-El CI users who can share their connectivity experiences.  Just follow this link for more info and to sign up if interested.

 

[Tim]

@jcech344 Sorry to hear about your frustrations with getting things working perfectly.  The topic is drifting a little from the original Rondo 3 Audiostream device teaser but always good when it prompts helpful discussions.

I'll share my experiences - I'm just over one year post activation.  I'm SSD with a Rondo3 and Sonnet2.  I still use tradeoff between both. 

Wrestling with Med-El's BT connectivity on top of all the work for being newly activated and learning the gear is more than what I wanted to do.  I'm an engineer and like BT devices, the connectivity of the current generation of Med-El devices is charitably described as weak.  Med-El knows this and I hope that their next generation retakes the connectivity lead from competitors. 

What I did was rely on a hardwired connection for my Audiolink to an audiosource (tablet, TV, computer) and then let it connect to only my Rondo 3.  The hardwired connection for me on the Audiolink was a lot more stable than trying to have the Audiolink manage 2 BT connections (source and R3.)

For my Sonnet 2, I pretty much used my Audiostream as my only battery sleeve and would keep that connected to my phone.

For rehab, I would try streaming directly since my good ear would otherwise carry all the weight.  It took me 1 or 2 months before podcasts or TV streamed directly to my CI was understandable (and some content can still be very challenging!)

No switching of sources, confusion over which device did what, etc.  Stuff just worked letting me focus my attention on rehab and trying to get caught up on work.

You might try just turning/taking off the hearing aid for watching TV rather than wrestling with BT.  If your non-CI ear w/o hearing aid helps some, that is perfectly fine, especially in the early days. I think I remember @Roy saying he was told to not wear his hearing aid on his non-CI side for the first month after activation on his first CI. In some ways CI rehab for SSD people is a little trickier since I can't just "turn off" my good ear via a hearing aid - not that I'm complaining.

Another work around is to just tuck your Sonnet/hearing aids under good BT headphones and let those devices manage connectivity.  Then you can adjust left/right balance to your heart's delight as well as having a far more robust & stable BT connection.

Experiment and treat it as a challenge on the journey.  Everyone's path is different but it's a marathon and not a sprint. 

[jcech344]

We are basically in agreement.  I go the whole day without my HA relying on my CI and what little help my other ear contributes.

All my training is done by streaming (AS) to my CI.  No HA used.  It actually is better this way as it forces me to concentrate more.  Hitting 60-80% right, but more complex settings only 40% or so, but its early. 

The discussion about streaming was to be able to do the same with CC TV.  I have a ways to go before that becomes practical. The Roku tip was very helpful as I have that and it works. Not convinced that there is value in the AL, but AS works now that I understand some of the quirks in the software (eg switching devices first)

Totally agree that software could use improvement and simplification.  I have already passed on a comment on this. But I understand that the sophistication and intuitive ease of use of cell phones is a tough benchmark to use. Selling 100s of millions/yr is easy to justify a massive investment in software development.  CI companies are far from that.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[Bastian]

Some information regarding Audiostream for Rondo 3 available at the MED-EL blog:

https://blog.medel.pro/products-updates/remote-care-remote-fitting/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=notification23-02-2024#msdynttrid=JmM7o0CIU3WrDD6D32pe91MdnC3W3jY-aQ3UScmvL-s

[jcech344]

Interesting.  It looks like the AS adapter does most of what Audiolink does. Advantage is one device and ready to go all the time.

It would be nice to see audiostream capabilities on the std cover for Sonnet 2 

[Mary Beth]

@jcech344

AudioStream sounds so much better than AudioLink in my opinion and it directly streams all audio from the phone without needing to use a conversion app like Audio2Ear

[jcech344]

I agree, so that's why this adapter looks interesting.  Eliminating a second device to aid in streaming is both simpler and less subject to complications, but I have to believe better sound quality.  So back to another question I posted, this adapter is located on the opposite side of the magnet.  Unless I can turn this 180 degrees, it wouldn't fit on me because my implant is so close to my ear.

[Tim]

@Bastian Nice find! 

Lots of interesting information about more than the Rondo 3 Audiostream too.

Here are some of the interesting tidbits:

• Remote fitting/programming
• New HearCare Med-El app (perhaps some more user control?)
• X-ray based post-op imaging vs. CT (less expensive?)
• Rondo3 Audiostream adapter requires Audiokey 2 version 2.08 or higher.  Better than what they said in the 2.08 release notes: 
  What's New:  Several minor improvements and bug fixes

I have an appointment with my Audiologist on Thursday.  Likely way too early to be able to make use of the new app/remote programming but I'll be talking with her.

 

 

[John F]

If you already use a Rondo 3, then it's the same spot as the telecoil adapter.  It's short and only looks bigger in pictures but not intrusive.  

 

Now two concerns about this is range since AudioStream on Sonnet 2 cuts out easily and Eggs sit slightly higher.  And the mix.  Is it 50/50, 60/40... can the Maestro 10 software finally make it 0/100?  

 

Already figured the HearCare app would be some sort of remote type deal.  Be interesting to try but unsure yet it's value although I picture many situations.

[Lauren]

After the letdown of the telecoil adapter, I’d want to try this adapter first before buying to make sure there’s no ticking sound. 

If I can try it out I’d probably get the audiostream adapter. I’m not going to upgrade until at least 2027 when I can do both sides at once at which point there should be some new processor out (I hope!). I like streaming so there’d be no sense in waiting years to do so.

As for the question on the positioning…

My original left implant was quite low so even though the telecoil adapter is short I had to angle the processor with the mics forward a few degrees or the telecoil adapter would poke my ear. This was just for the few seconds I wore the telecoil adapter due to the annoying ticking sound. Have not tried it since with the current implants that are better placed higher up.

[Tim]

Just had an appointment with my Audiologist this morning.  I had forwarded her info about the new Med-El announcements earlier in the week.  She talked with her Med-El rep. 

The rep said that she hasn't even had the training on all the things from the announcement so it will be a little while before things get out to the lab like the new software. 

The clinic is still wrestling with how to handle billing for remote programs/visits with Cochlear.  She said it might take a while for figuring out how/if to incorporate it into their practice. 

My Audi is going to pass along the comment again about the lack of mix setting flexibility (i.e. easily mute the microphone to stream only).  Hopefully in both the Maestro 10.0 software, the HearCare app, and maybe even a new update to AudioKey 2.  I get that they probably wanted to keep people from causing themselves trouble and having service complaints that their device just isn't working because they turned off the microphone by accident but the user base of CIs is getting more and more sophisticated.  They should have the ability to control that. 

I did a search on the Android App store for Med-El's HearCare app.  It isn't there (yet). 

Fingers crossed that the Rondo 3 with Audiostream doesn't suffer from the telecoil tic and the required airplane mode hack to temporarily fix.  If it still requires this workaround, Med-El would be best off just not even bothering to release the new Audiostream.  On the other hand, if they could avoid it for this, why can't/didn't they redesign the telecoil adapter to fix it. 

 

[Evren]

On 2/27/2024 at 12:32 AM, Bastian said:

Some information regarding Audiostream for Rondo 3 available at the MED-EL blog:

https://blog.medel.pro/products-updates/remote-care-remote-fitting/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=notification23-02-2024#msdynttrid=JmM7o0CIU3WrDD6D32pe91MdnC3W3jY-aQ3UScmvL-s

Nice find, thank you!

Correct me if I'm wrong. for bilateral usage we only need 1 AS adapter, right?

[Mary Beth]

@Evren

If a bilateral user wants to hear the streamed audio in both ears, two AudioStreams are needed.

[Evren]

1 hour ago, Mary Beth said:

@Evren

If a bilateral user wants to hear the streamed audio in both ears, two AudioStreams are needed.

Is that same for Sonnet? It just doesn't make sense to me as two AudioStreams means two separate Bluetooth connections and it would be much easier if both Rondo's communicate with each other and use one AudioStream as a streaming hub. 

[John F]

15 minutes ago, Evren said:

Is that same for Sonnet? It just doesn't make sense to me as two AudioSteams means two separate Bluetooth connection, it would be much easier if both Rondo's communicate with each other and use one Audiostream as a streaming hub. 

Yup.  Sonnets also use two AudioStream covers if Bilateral.

[Mary Beth]

@Evren

They are recognized by iPhones as left and right- bilateral system.  Similar to AirPods.

[Treb]

Looks like Audiostream adapter for Rondo 3 now available in Europe. 

https://www.medel.com/hearing-solutions/accessories/connectivity/audiostream-adapter

Checked with Med-el in Australia, they are hoping it will be here in a few weeks. Fingers crossed. 

[Anthony Canada]

I wonder how much shipping is from Europe.