MDEX, Bluetooth hearing aids, music

[stephtara]

After a lot of struggling, I've finally managed to get my MDEX to work with my Widex Clear220. I find that it's fine for listening to (spoken) podcasts -- better than no aids and the earbuds.

For phone calls, so far, it's disappointing: there is quite a lot of static in the background. I tried using the jack cable to connect the phone and the MDEX instead of BT, and the static pretty much disappeared (both for me and the person I was calling). Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Is it inevitable to have such a drop in quality when using BT? I haven't played much with consumer BT accessories, so I don't have much of a point of comparison.

Music is a disaster: with BT or with cable, it's tinny and saturated. Is this because of compression? Or because the range of the hearing aids is not wide enough for music? I saw another thread with somebody saying the base couldn't be heard, and that's exactly what happens. Normal Apple earbuds (which my audiologist calls "shitty") are 1000 times better than trying to stream into my aids directly.

So, am I better off taking out my aids and using my earbuds as I've done until now when I want to listen to music or make phone calls? (then I'll have to see if I'm ready to shell out the price of the MDEX to listen to podcasts, knowing the battery life is disastrous -- an hour or two? what are they thinking? most of my phone calls last an hour!)

Should I invest in a headset which will go over-and-around my aids and will work for TV, music, if not phone calls?

Advice and experiences welcome

[Don]

I don't have your brand but I've never heard static on a BT connection until you get to the edge of the range. Does it matter where the phone is? Would you still have static if the phone is a foot away from the BT device? If so there may be something wrong with it.

I have complaints about mine (Resound Phone Clip) picking up all the background noise for the person I'm calling but the sound quality on my side is pretty good. It does sound tinny and I could probably get that adjusted, but it is clear.

[stephtara]

I've tested this with the phone always pretty close to the MDEX. If I put the phone in my bag while I'm walking, I get cut off regularly. Front trouser pocket seems best.

I'll do another test later today, but there is as far as I can hear a pretty clear difference in sound quality between BT connection and jack connection.

Are there any hearing aids which are recognized as being very good for listening to music?

[Um bongo]

Originally Posted by stephtara

I've tested this with the phone always pretty close to the MDEX. If I put the phone in my bag while I'm walking, I get cut off regularly. Front trouser pocket seems best.

I'll do another test later today, but there is as far as I can hear a pretty clear difference in sound quality between BT connection and jack connection.

Are there any hearing aids which are recognized as being very good for listening to music?

It's not the aids: its' the kind of speaker driver that you have coupled to your ear with an open dome - this is designed not to retain low frequency outputs.

You can occlude your ears more and get the bass pushed up within the music program to get better results, but you might not like it.