Things You Should Know Before Buying Hearing Aids for Streaming

Hearing aids advertised as supporting LE Audio or Auracast may appear to offer the latest and most capable Bluetooth technology. Before buying them, however, it is important to understand that Auracast is not yet a complete replacement for Classic Bluetooth streaming.

Auracast was designed primarily to let many listeners receive a broadcast from a television, theater, church, airport or other venue. That is different from the dependable personal connection people have long used between their own phone, computer, television and hearing aids.

If you expect to stream for several hours each day, the distinction matters.

1. Ask Whether the Aids Still Support Classic Bluetooth

Do not assume that hearing aids with Auracast also retain Classic Bluetooth.

Some manufacturers have replaced Classic Bluetooth with LE Audio and Auracast. Others have chosen to support both systems. Phonak, for example, has introduced Auracast while retaining Classic Bluetooth in its newer products.

The dual approach recognizes that the two technologies serve different purposes:

• Classic Bluetooth provides a mature personal connection between your own devices and hearing aids.
• Auracast lets you select and receive broadcasts from compatible transmitters and public venues.

An Auracast logo alone does not tell you whether the hearing aids will provide dependable everyday streaming from all of your devices.

2. Determine Whether Auracast Is Intended for Occasional or Continuous Use

Receiving a sermon, lecture or airport announcement is different from streaming television, music or computer audio for several hours.

Ask the provider:

• How many hours can the aids stream continuously?
• Was that estimate measured with Auracast active?
• Does the estimate apply to real-world stereo streaming?
• How does streaming performance change as the battery weakens?
• Has the manufacturer tested the disposable-battery model under sustained Auracast use?

A hearing aid may continue performing its normal hearing functions while no longer having sufficient power reserve for stable wireless streaming.

3. Battery Capacity Matters

This became apparent during my testing of Starkey Genesis AI Omega 24 RIC 312 hearing aids.

During extended Auracast use, one aid would sometimes stop streaming or restart. Rebooting the affected aid restored normal operation with the same battery. The battery was therefore not exhausted; it still had enough energy to operate the aid and resume streaming.

Fresh batteries improved stability, however. That indicates that the small 312 battery may have too little power reserve to sustain the complete streaming workload reliably as it weakens.

Rechargeable lithium-ion hearing aids generally provide a much larger and more stable power reserve. That does not correct software or connection problems, but it can make sustained streaming more dependable.

4. Test What Happens When One Aid Disconnects

Modern hearing aids establish separate wireless connections for the left and right sides. If one aid briefly drops its connection, the system must restore the pair correctly.

In my Starkey testing, Android could capture an aid that had disconnected from MyStarkey’s Auracast picker. That could leave one aid connected through MyStarkey and the other through Android’s operating-system picker.

Before buying, ask for a live demonstration:

1. Connect both aids to a stream.
2. Turn one aid off.
3. Turn it back on.
4. Confirm that it automatically rejoins the other aid.
5. Verify that stereo and normal controls are restored.

A streaming system should recover cleanly without requiring the user to untangle two competing connection managers.

5. Confirm That Streaming Is Actually Stereo

Do not assume that hearing two aids means you are receiving two-channel stereo.

In my testing:

• MyStarkey’s Auracast picker delivered mono.
• Android’s LE Audio Auracast picker delivered stereo.

Ask the provider to play a left-and-right channel test through the actual aids and connection method you will use.

6. Test the Controls While Streaming

Determine whether you can still adjust:

• Hearing-aid volume
• Surrounding microphone level
• Left-right balance
• Hearing program
• Stream volume independently from environmental sound

With MyStarkey, the Auracast controls are separate from the aids’ normal program, microphone and volume controls. This forces the user to make a separate adjustment during a stream.

The controls demonstrated during an ordinary hearing-aid fitting may not behave the same way once Auracast is active.

7. Test With Your Own Phone

Compatibility lists are not enough. Pair the hearing aids with the phone you actually use and test:

• Music
• Video
• Telephone calls
• Auracast source selection
• Stereo separation
• Reconnection after an aid is restarted
• Operation after the phone is restarted
• Several hours of continuous streaming

If possible, repeat these tests after the batteries have been used for a day. A brief demonstration with fresh batteries may not reveal a power-reserve problem.

8. A Classic Bluetooth Bridge May Improve Reliability

I obtained a more dependable connection by putting Classic Bluetooth back into the system externally.

My experimental pathway is:

Computer → Classic Bluetooth → 1Mii B06Pro+ → Auracast transmitter → hearing aids

The computer sends its audio by Classic Bluetooth to a 1Mii B06Pro+ receiver. The 1Mii supplies audio to the Auracast transmitter, which then broadcasts to the hearing aids.

This arrangement has substantially reduced the frequency of streaming failures.

A useful way to describe the 1Mii’s apparent function is that it places a throttle and a metronome on the stream. It receives and buffers the computer audio, then provides the Auracast transmitter with a calmer and more consistently timed source.

This is an observed result from my system, not a guarantee that the same equipment will correct every Auracast problem. It nevertheless demonstrates that the quality and timing of the source feeding an Auracast transmitter can affect what happens at the hearing aids.

Questions to Ask Before You Buy

1. Do these aids support Classic Bluetooth as well as LE Audio and Auracast?
2. Can they sustain several hours of daily streaming?
3. Was that capability tested with this exact battery model?
4. Will streaming remain stable as the battery weakens?
5. Is the stream true stereo?
6. Can I adjust the hearing program, microphones and volume while streaming?
7. What happens if only one aid disconnects?
8. Will the pair reconnect automatically?
9. Can I test the aids with my own phone and transmitters?
10. What remedy will the manufacturer provide if sustained streaming proves unreliable?

Get the answers before the trial or return period expires.

What the Industry Still Needs

Auracast provides something hearing-aid users badly need: an open, nonproprietary broadcast that can be received by products from different manufacturers.

What remains missing is a listener-centered system that manages all of those sources through one stable connection to the user’s already-paired hearing aids. The phone or computer should handle source selection, timing, buffering, stereo and reconnection. The hearing aids should behave like one managed listening device rather than two independent receivers competing for connections.

I call that missing layer Bluetooth MINE. Read the Bluetooth MINE use case (PDF).

Auracast belongs to the venue. Bluetooth MINE belongs to the listener.

Auracast can then do what it does best: make a church service, theater performance, meeting or public announcement available to everyone. Bluetooth MINE would do what users need every day: manage their own hearing aids and their own chosen sources dependably.