Comms for hearing impaired

[Chrishaynor]

Hi All

 

Thinking someone must have had a need for this / might have some ideas.

We are a theatre with a primarily Tecpro comms system, with also a Altair wireless set as well.

We have a tech who uses hearing aids and trying to see if there’s a solution that could help and would be compatible. Other must have had this need I imagine.

The struggle is that with hearing aids in the headsets don’t sit in the right place to work well with the hearing aids, and if the hearing aids are removed the headset doesn’t quite go loud enough to hear properly.

Has anyone got any ideas for kit, or solutions to this. My best suggestion so far was to get a Y lead from canford that splits the mic and headphone signals so a mic could be separate and the output could go into a small Bluetooth box that he has to feed straight into his hearing aids. 
 

In theory it would work, but is bulky and also mean it’s just the comms into the hearing aids and he’ll then not get ambient from the room / show feed as well. It’s also very clumsy / bulky if on wireless / anywhere else in the building. 
 

Not sure if squeezing a bit more out of the headset somehow would work without distortion / blowing it. 
 

Any thoughts / experience of this sort of challenge would be appreciated. 
I have a basic electronics knowledge so happy to look at tweaks to things myself as well as off the shelf solutions. 
Also looking at possibly a punqtum system in the future so anything that would move across to that would be great.

 

Thanks in advance all!

 

Chris

Edited July 28, 2022 by Chrishaynor

[themadhippy]

could you modify the  headset so the speaker is a loop,assuming there hearing aid is loop compatable

[J Pearce]

A bigger headset like a Beyerdynamic DT108 should fit over a hearing aid comfortably. Or TMH's suggestion of bodging a local loop might be a good route.

[kerry davies]

This might be ludicrously stupid but would it be possible to buy your technician one of those cheap, adjustable, in-ear aids and wear a muff type headset over it? 

[Jivemaster]

If they need hearing assistance then they likely have an NHS audiologist. If so, then that person will be able to assist in your search for  wisdom. 

[sandall]

38 minutes ago, Jivemaster said:

If they need hearing assistance then they likely have an NHS audiologist. If so, then that person will be able to assist in your search for  wisdom. 

If you live where I do you may find your NHS audiologist has been replaced by an untrained Specsavers machine-operator🙁

[ImagineerTom]

12 hours ago, Chrishaynor said:

In theory it would work, but is bulky and also mean it’s just the comms into the hearing aids and he’ll then not get ambient from the room / show feed as well. It’s also very clumsy / bulky if on wireless / anywhere else in the building. 

Are you certain this is actually going to be a problem? My (very limited) experience is that modern HA's are 99% software based so come with all sorts of tunable features and integrations. It may well be possible to adjust them to work with the audio direct from the headset speaker, even if it's not and you have to Bluetooth or Loop audio in its a pretty safe bet the HA's will have some sort of software for only pumping it to one side or for incorporating ambient audio into the mix.

[J Pearce]

If they have a bluetooth headset that works well for them (thinking of zoom etc over the last few years...) then this bluetooth comms pack from Altair might be handy?

[boatman]

The Bluecom system was designed with a push-pull headphone amp and can be cranked up to a higher level than a standard Comms beltpack.

[the kid]

Have you asked the makers ? 

I know there was a thread on here, QUITE a while back where someone had a cochlear implant and canford made a custom part for beltpack to implant, 1st of its kind if I remember and worked great. 

I can imagine a maker would be up for making adaptions or have something made but not listed as its super custom.

[Chrishaynor]

Hi All

Thanks for all the suggestions. Some nice ideas. 
Will look into maybe adapting an old headset into a loop instead of a speaker. Not loads of info around if the electronics side of doing that sort of thing but will have a look around. 
 

I think we have an old DT-108 headset around and don’t think he got on with that either. 
 

NHS audiologist wise I think at the moment to get anything out of them is months of waiting time, but I’ll suggest chatting to them.

The direct into hearing aid will possibly work, he says he can select which ear does what / chose inputs, so that would be helpful.

Not been on here for quite a while but was having a read through the bluecom stuff so will look into it further. 
 

I’ve dropped canford an email to see if they have any other products tucked away that may do the job.

Again, as always a string of helpful reply’s, thanks all!

[Dave m]

Are conn evans  still around?

They used to be big in hearing impaired systems?

[richard_cooper]

Connevans are still around, definitely worth a call on this sort of subject. Dealt with them over the last year, ultimately unsuccessfully due to supply chain issues with TOA kit, but nice people.

Edited July 29, 2022 by richard_cooper
Using the correct words!

[the kid]

https://www.canford.co.uk/Search?q=cochlear I cant find the post now.

[dmxlights]

Ok I know this was post a while ago. I do where a hearing aid all the time.

There is  no need to mod the headset in to a loop the speaker is all ready a loop and if the hearing aid is put in T mode (for loop systems) it will work with speakers. I do this myself a lot. more so when I am videoing a show as I always plug headphones in to the camera to monitor the audio the camera getting. If I dont put the hearing aid in to loop mode it will feedback with head phones on.