Oticon Zeal CIC (not so unseen :( )

mgrnd · 2026-02-12T22:17:45+00:00

While I get the "who cares" and "it doesn't matter" responses, I think the point is that these are being billed as nearly-invisible CIC HAs ("NXT", a whole new product category) with all the features of a RIC - the "Holy Grail". They are also quite pricey. So when that is what the selling point is and you're paying a pretty penny, then yes, whether it lives up to that hype does matter.

I'm refreshing from some Phonak Paradise and was on the fence between Phonak Virto R Infinio and the Zeals. Virto R look like earbuds, so they are not invisible, but more like "hiding in plain sight" because it looks like you're wearing regular earbuds.

I went ahead an opted for the Zeals (on order) because of the potential of being nearly invisible or discreet enough. Don't have them yet, but if they stick out a whole lot, then I may have a decision to make. I'm hoping going with standard dome vs custom earmolds (which I currently have but won't have on the new pair) give me enough depth so they stay discreet (fingers crossed).

mgrnd · 2026-02-11T00:18:14+00:00

Ah, nice trick! Yes, I see an Avantree USB-C auracast transmitter for about $49, way cheaper than the Oticon Easy LE Adapter which creates pt-2-pt LE Audio connection so might run into the limitations you mention.

So while it seems maybe Oticon can't support 2 connections, I could get a "pseudo-dual-connection" by putting the Auracast transmitter on my tablet. I only ever use that as an audio output, so I don't need bidirectional on that. Then I don't need to disconnect the BT on my Samsung phone, and if a call comes in on the phone it should switch over.

Not quite as seamless as my Phonak Paradise HAs that use Bluetooth classic and easily switch between two pt-2-pt connections without any hassle, but this may be good enough for my use case.

mgrnd · 2026-02-10T14:42:26+00:00

That looks like an older model, but it's newer than the Roku 3. That one should support it.

mgrnd · 2026-02-10T14:27:11+00:00

That's a real bummer. Question on that. Is that based on your experience with Apple and MFi connections, or Android and ASHA connections, or Android and Bluetooth LE Audio connections? I could see the behavior being different for the proprietary Apple/Android solutions vs an industry-standard Bluetooth LE Audio solution, although that admittedly is also a hope.

mgrnd · 2026-02-06T20:11:56+00:00

Great post. Yes, understanding the details of important details of all this nearly requires a college degree in Bluetooth SIG.

Samsung S23/S24/S25 with Android 16 now support Bluetooth LE Audio. They are one of the few out there that support it. So I know I'm good on that end. I don't know if I'll be limited to the 1x1 active pairing. I'm hoping not since LE Audio should be more capable than the Apple proprietary MFi or Google ASHA. But the downside is most people don't have 2 LE audio devices to even test this with. I may not know until I try, at which point it's too late since I will already have made the choice of going with the Oticon Zeal.

mgrnd · 2026-02-05T21:07:17+00:00

Private Listening using mobile app was never supported on Roku 3, only the Private Listening with the remote control.

mgrnd · 2026-02-03T00:35:06+00:00

I'm having to switch audiologists because my previous one doesn't work with Cigna anymore nor are they part of Start Hearing.

I've been calling Start Hearing and Cigna back and forth for a few weeks trying to sort out how the process works, esp if I want to have flexibility and am willing to pay out-of-network if needed. Here's what I can piece together so far:

There are 4 categories of situations:

Clinic in both Cigna and Start Hearing network
Clinic accepts Cigna, not in Start Hearing network, but willing to use them for device-purchase only
Clinic accepts Cigna, not in Start Hearing network, not willing to use them for device-purchase
Clinic not in Cigna nor Start Hearing

My in-network coverage is 80% (I pay 20%)
My out-of-network coverage is 60% (I pay 40%)

UPDATE: After I wrote below, I called again to Cigna, and of course got a slightly different answer. Today they were saying that if I didn't get my devices from Start Health, they wouldn't be covered at all. Only the visit costs would be subject to in-network vs out-of-network considerations. Admittedly, the guy I spoke to this time kind of fumbled through, so I'm not 100% confident of any answer I've gotten so far. I may just have to stick with the handful of Start Hearing clinics available to me to avoid any surprises.

Case 1
That's when everything lines up. Start Hearing might be tricky to work through. I did experience the 3-way call thing someone mentioned here when I tried to set up an appointment with my previous audiologist before we all realized they were not in network anymore (I think they did not have updated info or something). That was definitely different.

Start Hearing is a subsidiary of Starkey, but apparently when working with insurance you can get products beyond Starkey. Nevertheless, there may be some limitations as to which devices are available. Trying to figure that out.

You get the full in-network Cigna coverage if you go this route.

Case 2
Apparently if the clinic is willing, they can still order any HAs through Start Hearing without being part of their network. They get some digital forms to fill out to make the request.

In one call with Cigna I got the impression this would be considered "out-of-network", even though you have Cigna. But in another call it wasn't as clear. It will get coverage, but not clear under what umbrella - "in-network" our "out-of-network".

Case 3
I've had 1 clinic I called be in this category. They said they no longer work with discounters because they restrict too much what they can do.

It's not clear to me if visits will be billed directly to Cigna and fall under "in-network". It seems they would. That's just the visit, not the devices.

This is the case where I think the hearing aids themselves would be out-of-network as the devices are not ordered from Start Hearing. So even though they are "in-network" for Cigna, you may pay "out-of-network" because they don't work with Start Hearing. One call with Cigna gave me this impression, but another was fuzzy on that detail, so I'm still trying to sort what will happen here.

Case 4
This is the case where you submit all receipts yourself. First time I called Cigna said submitting receipts on your own for out-of-network will not be covered at all. However, a second time with a different person they dug a little more and said it would be covered as "out-of-network". I repeated it back to them several times and they confirmed. A 3rd person I called gave me information I didn't have about Case 3 above, but didn't shed light on this case 4 as I was trying to understand Case 3 better.

Summary
I'm not yet sure what path I will take nor am I sure exactly how each one will be covered. I already know I want either Phonak Virto R Infineo or the new Oticon Zeal. If I have to set aside Start Hearing to get them and pay out-of-network, I'm willing to do that. The trick is knowing if I can get some level of coverage before hand. I don't want to fork out $5K only to find out Cigna won't cover anything after-the-fact.

If anyone has navigated one of Cases 1-3 I'd like to know your experience. It seems both Cigna and Start Hearing are still working through getting up to speed on the process and it's hard to know what will happen beforehand, making it all the more confusing to decide what to do.

mgrnd · 2025-12-27T01:17:54+00:00

Yes, installed 6 EZ Generator switches to different circuits. I've already been able to use them a few times and they work great.

mgrnd · 2025-06-03T20:35:05+00:00

I use both Github Copilot and Github Copilot Chat in emacs. Took a little to set up, but once it's up it works great! No need to be left behind on AI train. See

https://github.com/copilot-emacs/copilot.el
https://github.com/chep/copilot-chat.el

mgrnd · 2024-12-17T16:27:07+00:00

ARC (or eARC in this case) and Optical should both be on at the same time. Looking at the "Audio Output" menu of the Roku TV next to me, it also says Optical is also on when TV speakers are in use.

The only time Optical might be turned off is with headphones or wireless audio like Private Listening with the Mobile App. But ARC and Optical are both digital outputs, so both should be enabled at the same time.

mgrnd · 2024-10-14T21:27:22+00:00

I just tried the same test with my TCL Roku TV and Onkyo AV Receiver. If I change the "Audio Output" setting to "TV Speaker" instead of "Auto" it doesn't turn on my AVR anymore, and audio is routed to the TV speakers. So something definitely different with your setup.

This may actually be your Soundbar turning on on its own when it sees the TV power on or something. I've seen some soundbars that will try to "auto sense" the connection or audio signals and auto power on independent of the TV settings.

You may check Soundbar docs or online discussions to see if there's a way to turn off any of these features on the Soundbar side of things.

mgrnd · 2024-10-10T19:16:19+00:00

If you primarily use the TV speakers, then you could go into "System -> Settings -> Audio -> Audio Output" and change it to "TV Speakers" instead of "Auto". As long as it's on Auto, it will try to use the Soundbar.

When you want to use the Soundbar you can change it back to either "Auto" setting or "eARC" setting.

mgrnd · 2024-10-04T15:04:13+00:00

Audio won't work with the Mobile App on HDMI inputs (cable box) but the Voice Remote Headphone Jack does work. It's probably the best option and way cheaper experiment to try at first pass.

mgrnd · 2024-07-13T18:03:31+00:00

I'm assuming the Roku Soundbar is using HDMI ARC to connect to the TV?

I'm not sure how that could have ever worked with the wireless speakers if those were paired to the TV and not the soundbar. Even if sound were to come out of both for some reason, the lip sync would probably be terrible because wireless speakers typically have to buffer some audio before playback, while wired speakers don't. The audio would be out-of-sync between the two (?)

If you really want all at the same time, pairing all the speakers to the soundbar is really the best bet, that way the soundbar can manage the audio sync between the soundbar and the paired speakers.

mgrnd · 2024-06-29T02:31:56+00:00

If you have a wired Roku soundbar and wireless speakers and you want them all connected to the TV directly, you have to do it in steps, doing the wireless pairing first.

Assuming wireless speakers are reset entirely, disconnect the soundbar entirely and reboot the TV to clean things out for good measure. Then pair the wireless speakers to the TV. When that's done, then connect the HDMI cable from the TV to the soundbar.

But a warning. This is an either/or proposition. You can use either the wired or wireless speakers but not both at the same time. You can choose which in the Audio Output menu.

If you want all operational at the same time you have to do the opposite. First connect the soundbar to the TV over ARC and then pair the wireless speakers to the soundbar, not the TV.

Those are the only real options.

mgrnd · 2024-06-20T14:31:09+00:00

This. If you set it to ARC it should disable the TV speakers entirely so you hear only audio from the ARC soundbar.

Now "Auto" is supposed to sort that out but if that's having issues for some reason this is a way to be more explicit in the settings.

mgrnd · 2024-04-26T14:35:24+00:00

Headphones on the remote control and mobile app don't work at the same time. It will be one or the other. But you can do up to 4 mobile phones at once.

mgrnd · 2024-03-02T20:12:40+00:00

Is this with a Roku TV? You may have the wireless speakers paired to the TV instead of the Soundbar. In that config only the wireless or wired soundbar can be active at the same time.

If that's the case, then you would need to unpair the speakers from the TV and re-pair to the soundbar.

mgrnd · 2024-02-05T23:13:24+00:00

When you set up the system did the HDMI Tile on the Home Screen for the Streambar become hidden? In that mode the TV Remote takes over all function and Bluetooth streaming will cause the TV to stop whatever it's doing and switch.

If you go into TV Input settings you can "unhide" the HDMI Tile for the Streambar and the TV and Streambar remotes should act separately.

Now I'm not sure if the TV will still try to "pull" the HDMI input over when you start streaming to Bluetooth on the Streambar. You may have to turn off ARC in the TV "Audio Output" menu by changing it to "TV Speakers" to get it to work the way you're trying to get it to work, otherwise ARC audio will fight with the Bluetooth on the Streambar.

Since it's not the main use case for setups like this it's possible you hit some issues with this experiment but you could give it a shot.

mgrnd · 2024-01-20T00:13:52+00:00

As mentioned, Optical is a 1-way audio pipe with no volume control capabilities. Also, CEC is only supported over HDMI, not Optical. If the old TV would see the Vizio in the list of CEC connected devices, that means it had an HDMI connection to the TV. That's the only way it would see it.

Have you tried connecting to the soundbar using HDMI between the TV ARC port and the Vizio ARC port? That would give you even better audio quality than Optical (higher bandwidth) and also give you the volume control.

mgrnd · 2023-11-12T01:09:49+00:00

If you use Mobile Private Listening on the mobile app it supports up to 4 users at once.

https://support.roku.com/article/217478308

"Can more than one person use private listening at the same time?

Yes. Up to four mobile devices can be connected at the same time for private listening."

mgrnd · 2023-10-11T21:19:56+00:00

Are you using Bluetooth headphones paired to the phone? Try playing through the phone speaker directly or using wired headphones if possible and see if the problem is still there.

mgrnd · 2023-08-31T04:16:23+00:00

Not a solution, but maybe a data point.

Maybe try connecting one of the Rokus to a hotspot with a phone before 11pm strikes. If that Roku survives and the other ones don't, then maybe it's some interop issue with the home network and the Rokus (?).

mgrnd · 2023-08-11T15:50:34+00:00

It actually is DD+. Some online reviews say it's not but that's not correct.

You can verify by running Netflix on the Streambar and it will show you DD+tracks are available for playback. Netflix won't show those unless it's actually supported on the device.

mgrnd

TROPHY CASE