by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A man asked:
I am enjoying my new Music Links, but I wonder whether they will work with a body-type of hearing aid? I am thinking of a body aid because it is more practical for what I’m doing, and besides, they are a lot cheaper than behind-the-ear hearing aids.
I was talking to a friend of mine that wears a body-style hearing aid. He told me that almost all body aids have t-coils AND direct audio input (DAI) jacks. This means that you could tape or clip the Music Links over the t-coil on the body aid and hear well. (He shoves them under the pocket clip on the aid itself.)
However, since they have the DAI jack, you’d be better off using a patch cord from your audio device to your hearing aid, and forget about using the t-coils and Music Links. (Just remember that the hearing aid jack is set at microphone level and the output of any audio devices is at line level (a much higher voltage relatively speaking)—so you need a special attenuator patch cord to reduce the line signal to the microphone level.)
He recommended that when looking for body aids, you make sure they have both a t-coil and a DAI jack. That way you keep your options open.
Leave a Reply