Ian and Aphrodite ask how the cochlear implant works with the iPOD. When I first heard about it, I wasn’t sure how it would work either, but here it is.
Auria with T-Mic earhook, DirectConnect earhook, and cable
Auria with DirectConnect earhook, attaching the cable
Auria with DirectConnect earhook, attached to cable
The whole setup, notice the silver middle – that is the evil static-causing connector.
Mandy figured out that you could remove it and still play it (I take no responsibility if you do the same) NO MORE STATIC! I’m not sure what the purpose of it is, but I think it has to do something with grounding it against electricity.
What it looks like when I wear it.
The only thing I don’t like about it is that I have to change the earhook back and forth whenever I want to listen to music or participate in conversation. The only reason why I have to switch back and forth is because I’ve got my Auria programmed to listen to music alone, because with the hearing aid, I hated hearing all the background noise, as I felt it overshadowed the music.
With my hearing aids, I could just pull off the boots, or switch back and forth between microphone (hearing both music and the environment), or just music alone.
I’m currently looking into other methods of getting the sound to my ears, such as the HATIS Epic. When the Harmony comes out, the built-in T-Coil will eliminate the whole changing-earhooks and the use of a Y-Split for stereo sound.
Some ask, why use the Y-Split? It’s needed because I have two different cables, one for my hearing aid, and one for the cochlear implant, to get stereo sound. (don’t have a picture yet as the cable for the hearing aid is missing at the moment!)
Be warned, this method with the HATIS only works if you have a telecoil built into your hearing aid and/or if your hearing aid is programmed for it (if needed). I have a Siemens Triano SP digital hearing aid with a telecoil. I would highly recommend, as with any assistive listening device (other than the cochlear implant) to try it out before you buy it (if you can).
Personally, I can’t wait for the Harmony, because I’m tired of having to change earhooks, and having two cables of different lengths and colors.
Thanks! Do you know if the Harmony also eliminate the need to swap between a non-direct input and direct input earhooks (as you said, for switching between conversation and music)? I’m surprised at the amount of assembly that seems to be needed – I was looking at the FM system info on AB’s website (basically, get a Europlug to direct-input adapter, and use that to connect the receiver and the direct-input earhook) and it all seems a lot more complicated than I would’ve expected.
I’m an electrical engineering/computer science major – maybe it’s time to think about a career in CI design.
seem like this is a old threat, i still hope you reply back cause it seem like you know what your doing. Is it possible to receive sound from bluetooth on the phone?? i hate having cord hanging.
i just got harmony couple days ago.
Hi Ian,
Yes, the Harmony eliminates the need to swap back and forth. I now use the T-Coil headphones, which allow me to just use the t-coil capability from both the hearing aid and the cochlear implant.
if you come up with that as a career, let me know!