By Christina LampHaving trialled the Cochlear wireless accessories last year, I was very pleased with the quality and the range of sounds. When they became available, I ordered all three accessories!

Pairing the products can take a few goes and tests to work it out if you are not electronically minded like myself.

Once the devices are paired, you can start streaming with the TV Streamer or Mini Microphone with a long press of the telecoil button on your Remote Assistant or Remote Control.  Or you can do a long press of the upper button on the Nucleus 6.

The Phone Clip + has its own call pick up/hang up button.

Mini Microphone

• Hear from up to 7 metres
• Switched on using your remote

This was easily my favourite product, a wonderful diverse product. I tested this in a number of situations.

• One-on-one conversation in a very loud location-coffee shop at the crossroads of 2 main thoroughfares with very heavy traffic
• A TV that did not have a TV streamer, placed under the speaker
• Travelling on transport
• Discussion with my husband
• In a group that had a main speaker

My experience was:

• Clear speech, I was able to follow the speaker in all situations
• The background noise was low and the speaker’s voice was loud
• The voice was clear in all situations
• The TV, while not the same sound as the TV streamer, it’s clear with great clarity, a great solution for if you are visiting somewhere where you need to listen to a TV or radio
• Light weight, easy to store and very portable
• Very easy to use, switch the device on for the person who will wear it, adjust the volume using the buttons on the side as necessary, and select mini microphone on your remote.

The device can also have music and audio streamed directly to the Sound Processor using a supplied cable connected to the mini microphone and the audio device.  I haven’t tested this yet. The Mini Microphone is mono, so if you want true stereo, you have to use the Phone Clip + instead.

Mini Microphone quick guide

TV Streamer

• Stereo Sound

I tested this at home, my walls are double brick and floors tiled, the rooms tend to echo.

My experience was:

• I found the stereo very clear
• Able to listen to the TV from the living room while working in the kitchen
• Easily adjust the volume on the TV Streamer
• Easily switched on by remote

My only difficulty was:

• When I listen to Stereo Sound on the TV Streamer, I find it hard to hear the conversation around me.  When adjusting the accessory mix to improve the sound around me, the person speaking is too soft to hear.. Since I have gone bilateral in Nov 2014, I found it much easier to just have the TV Streamer connected to one CI without adjusting the accessory mix to hear voices, while the other CI is used normally so I can hear people around me. I plan on testing the conversation around me again once my second CI has adjusted to hearing sounds.

TV Streamer quick guide

Here is how to change the accessory mix, which adjusts the loudness of the accessory input compared to the processor microphone.

Wireless Phone Clip

I tested this on different voices.

My experience was:

• I could follow most conversations easy, there was clarity
• A bad connection with static was more difficult but using the clip I was able to follow enough of the conversation
• Very easy to use, one click for answer, if you can’t answer double click.
• Clips easily to clothing
• The background noise is muted so you can just concentrate on the voice
• The area I live has reduced mobile connectivity but I was still able to have a good conversation even though the connections weren’t great
• Sometimes in some calls the voices sounded not as clear like a landline does but it was explained by a hearing person that a mobile is not as clear as a landline anyway

You can also use the device to listen to music from your phone in stereo. I haven’t done this yet as prior to CI I had trouble hearing music. This will be a next step for me to learn after CI number 2 has settled.

 

Phone Clip quick guide

Conclusion

This was a wonderful outcome for me and I happily purchased all three products and they have improved my life.

Pre-CI I would have:

• No voice clarity for the TV or loud coffee shop location
• Heard only noise on transport
• Relied totally on subtitles on TV
• Only heard the voice on the phone with no clarity and a lot of noise
• Sat in front of the speaker and tried my hardest to lip read

About the Author

Christina Lamp has had a hearing loss since she was 7 years old.  By time she was a teenager, she had become profoundly deaf.  Christina relied heavily on analogue hearing aids and lip reading to communicate.  After struggling with digital hearing aids, she received her first cochlear implant in March 2014 and then went bilateral in Nov 2014.  Christina and her sister both have cochlear implants, but the rest of their family is hearing.