How does the Naida audio shoe work? CONFUSED!

NaidaUP

NaidaUP

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Messages
2,100
Reaction score
27
After having my Phonak Naida UP for about a year now. I am finally thinking about getting some audio shoes so I can hook up to my direct input to listen to music.

I am totally confused about how they work. I had Phonak Superfront aids before hand where I could leave the shoes on until the battery died as I could turn the aids off via the switch.

When I used a FM system at school, I know that the more you take the shoes off, the quicker they die as the connections fail. Is that the case with the Naida shoes?

Also can I open the battery draw without taking the shoes off?

Has anyone got a picture as well because I can see 2 designs (they are not the integrated FM). One says you have to change the battery draw and then there is the shoes. The other one is the battery draw and shoe together and then it shows a direct lead being plugged in at the bottom (it is not the integrated FM).

Is the one with the battery draw and shoes connected, I guess will be used like the battery draw and has the technology changed so they last forever.

Thanks, I am very confused. :ty:
 
The shoe requires a replacement battery door with a hole in the bottom and a catch on it to attach the audio shoe. The shoe itself then stays on the battery door at all times if you want to. You can remove it, but there really isn't any point except to make the hearing aid a little smaller or if it's a non-matching colour and that bothers you - you don't have to put the original battery door back on if you don't want to - see below, though! So yes, you have to change the battery door, but it is not integrated. You can operate the hearing aid normally with the shoes on, it doesn't lock it into FM programs like my previous Siemens aids did, and the battery can be changed without removing it.

The one thing to be aware of is that you lose your water resistance if you change the battery door to the audioshoe version. To reinstate the water resistance you have to put the original battery door back on.

I'll be back with some pictures of mine.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.164779696915934.39490.100001517150686&type=3&l=bc01e5c088

OK, irritatingly, the photos have uploaded in the wrong order, start with the last one (and ignore the photo of me wearing a T-shirt with a zebra on it!)
The last one is a picture of the changed battery door but without the actual shoe attached. You can see the connector where the audioshoe itself slides on.
Click Previous and you will see the battery door and the audioshoe separate.
Previous again and you see the battery door and audioshoe attached, and how you can still open and shut the battery door with everything connected.
Previous again and you will see the battery door connector and the audioshoe with the battery door closed up and you can then see the 3 pin connection where you plug stuff in.

Mine is an SP but it's the same idea with the UP shoe, just a bit bigger curve on it because of the size of the 675 battery door.

Hopefully that's clear now. They are extremely easy and trouble free, I leave my FM connected all the time, which I could never do with my last aids as they couldn't be turned off with the audioshoe attached, these ones you can open and shut the battery door with the shoes attached.
 
:ty: RoseRodent.

What I am confused about is at the end of each day I open my battery draws to turn them off. Does this mean I have to take the shoes off as well or can this be done without?

I would rather keep them on at all times but if I have to take them off at the end of each day to turn off aids, then it means the connections would go quicker. This means personally they are useless I would go through loads of shoes.

:confused:
 
Ok thanks, I now understand it with the help of the photos.

Do the connections go quick as you are opening the battery draw to turn of the aid which then takes the shoe off the connections? The connections are at the top of the battery draw, am I right? That what it looks like.

Have you had to replace them yet?

I have EasyFM which I think means the program will changed atomicity as soon as shoes are attached. :(

I love the slim tubes you have, wish I had those. :) Shame you didnt manage to get different colour aids. Mine were ordered in specially as I got lost in the system due to failed CI assessment. Not allowed CI due to shapes of cochlears. It was them saying sorry but if one breaks, I will properly end up with odd colours. :)
 
Sorry about all the questions but I spent so long with analog aids that digital are so confusing.
Do your microphones turn off when you are connected to FM?
I would love mine to.

Another question sorry. Have you got the secure n stays, do they fit with the audio shoe attached? Thanks. :)
 
NaidaUP said:
:ty: RoseRodent.

What I am confused about is at the end of each day I open my battery draws to turn them off. Does this mean I have to take the shoes off as well or can this be done without?

I would rather keep them on at all times but if I have to take them off at the end of each day to turn off aids, then it means the connections would go quicker. This means personally they are useless I would go through loads of shoes.

:confused:
Click to expand...

at the end of each day, leaving the battery door open may save your battery's energy by circulating the air so it will air out!
take off the shoe if you're not using it, that's what I do with my FM boots when I recharge the FM unit at the end of my school day.
 
You don't have to remove the shoes to open the battery door, you can leave them connected overnight while you are airing out the aids. They will not drain power because the battery is disconnected, and leaving them on will put less wear on the clips and things that hold it all together. I leave mine on literally all the time and you can still air out the aids because the shoe stays connected to the battery door.

Yes, the connector are at the top of the battery door. I'm not sure what you mean about connections going quickly... do you mean they wear out? Because they are well integrated into the aid design they last soooooooo much longer than the clip on shoes. I've had this pair on for a year, attached 24/7, used every day, worn for about 16 hours a day, fallen asleep in them, dropped, them, all the usual stuff, connections are still fine.

EasyFM doesn't switch straight to FM when you attach the shoes, it switches when it detects an incoming signal. I'm not sure that works with an input lead rather than an actual FM, but if it doesn't work you would just select FM manually instead. You can definitely exit the Fm program without removing the shoes. If you have a signal down the FM then it comes on, if the signal goes quiet for about 10 full seconds the aids automatically return to the auto cycle.

You can choose to have either FM+M or FM only in the EasyFM slot, the audiologist can change that to FM only if that's what you want. You can still have FM+M in a manual program if you have enough left over. I have both on mine, P3 is FM only, P4 is FM+M.

I got slim tubes because I have terrible trouble with earmoulds, I've got very soft ears because of my connective tissue disorder, and heavy tubes actually start to saw my ears off from my head. I have terrible trouble getting them replaced because people either have the big aids and big tubes or small aids with small tubes, but the tubes for micro aids are different, and it's what they send me every time I request replacements. I have really small ears and need a size 0 tube which I have to blag from paediatrics. I then have a soft deep-fit mould on the end, which I bought privately because the NHS one made my ear so sore and pouring with blood and their best solution was to leave my hearing aids out!

I do have Secure n Stays, I wear them every night becuase I have a habit of falling asleep with my hearing aids still on and got sick of hunting for them in the bed. They fit over the audioshoes absolutely fine.
 
Last edited:
roserodent-albums-hearing-aids-ha-bits-bobs-picture5550-imag0040.jpg
 
Thanks RoseRodent

Connections mean the things at the top of the battery draw (the ones on the shoes tho) failing due to be worn out by taking them off all the time.

Have been thinking though and I guess the Naida FM receiver works the same though and as they cost £400 roughly they need to make sure they last a long time.

I just got told at school, to take the receivers off but not the shoes. I was told quite firmly by my teacher of the deaf, to not take the shoes off unless I was changing the batteries. That has always stuck in my mind, more so now, that I have to pay for them myself.

I guess I will just bite the bullet and buy some. They say they work with FM and direct input for music etc.

:lol:
 
I have -
P1 - Automatic
P2 - T coil + M
P3 - FM + M, I do have M according to myPilot.
P4 - Directional
P5 - Mute

I dont think I have anymore programs so I will get my aud to turn M off T coil and FM.
 
RoseRodent.

With you slim tubes, what do you do if they get moisture in?

I have a puffer which I use each night. I take my ear mould and tubing off the ear hook and puff the moisture out. I then leave them separate all night while they are in the dry and store, more so the ear hook can dry out if needed.

I think I have worked out that I could get them with my hearing loss.

May go and ask as I get red marks from the other ear hooks.

I worked out though I would have to have a normal ear mould but can get away with power slim tubes.

:ty:
 
What do you use the FM program for? Is there a particular mic or other set-up you like?
 
Beach girl said:
What do you use the FM program for? Is there a particular mic or other set-up you like?
Click to expand...

There is an (expensive) FM receiver that can be attached to the HAs and, if s/he's in school, the teacher would have a transmitter. S/he probably also has a (expensive) transmitter that s/he uses in other situations.

I have a (inexpensive) FM receiver (like a radio) that I plug into my iCom. I use it at church since I can set it to the channel the church transmits. I also have a transmitter (wasn't cheap...but got it on sale) that I used a little bit when my husband was alive and I was pushing him in his wheelchair. I will probably use it at my daughter's graduation (have the sound tech plug it into the sound system).

I love using the FM as it makes the speaker sound like they're right in front of me.
 
I use FM only for situations where there is significant background noise, like in a restaurant with the family, or even just doing the ironing and wanting to watch TV. The subtitles are truly appalling, I need as much sound as I can get to try to follow what's going on.

I don't get a lot of moisture in mine, I am a really cold person. May be more of a problem when my thyroid meds start working. If I do get moisture then I have two techniques, one is to put the thin tube inside the end of a standard tube and blow it with a puffer, the other is to use a syringe with a "blunt" on the end of it that can be put very slightly inside the tube and used dry and empty to blow moisture through. Sometimes I just keep 2 sets of tubes on the go at once, when one is really wet through I swap it and keep it in a drying set till it's ready to use again.
 
RoseRodent said:
I don't get a lot of moisture in mine, I am a really cold person. May be more of a problem when my thyroid meds start working. If I do get moisture then I have two techniques, one is to put the thin tube inside the end of a standard tube and blow it with a puffer, the other is to use a syringe with a "blunt" on the end of it that can be put very slightly inside the tube and used dry and empty to blow moisture through. Sometimes I just keep 2 sets of tubes on the go at once, when one is really wet through I swap it and keep it in a drying set till it's ready to use again.
Click to expand...

Do they last longer then the standard tubes?

Thanks :)
 
LoveBlue said:
There is an (expensive) FM receiver that can be attached to the HAs and, if s/he's in school, the teacher would have a transmitter. S/he probably also has a (expensive) transmitter that s/he uses in other situations.

I have a (inexpensive) FM receiver (like a radio) that I plug into my iCom. I use it at church since I can set it to the channel the church transmits. I also have a transmitter (wasn't cheap...but got it on sale) that I used a little bit when my husband was alive and I was pushing him in his wheelchair. I will probably use it at my daughter's graduation (have the sound tech plug it into the sound system).

I love using the FM as it makes the speaker sound like they're right in front of me.
Click to expand...

I want to use the audio shoes for music, you can get these direct input leads.

FM wise, I am getting issued with the Naida FM receivers and transmitter for work. Work in a deaf school and they want me to use one as well.

From experience of using one all the way through school, I loved how clear it was but I was in school from 1993 to 2003 and I found the old ones to be crackly, not always a good signal.

Im hoping the new ones these days are better and makes the speech clear.
 
Hmmm, good luck with that, some of the modern ones are not as clear as the ones I had at school! But then I had a wired DAI body worn in school, which is always clearer than the ear level. If you had an ear level MLX before then the new MLXi is *much* better. If they are going to be integrated receivers then you will have to take the battery door off every time you want to change them, which will be a pain, and you risk losing the little pin that keeps it on. You are better with a universal receiver if you want to be able to use the DAI lead also. Also beware the Wallpilots around a Deaf school, I used to take my daughter to the nursery at a Deaf school and had to duck under all the Wallpilots that changed the kids' receivers to the right channel when they entered the classroom. Got a few rogue maths lessons that way! If you are going in and out of classes and you don't need to be synchronised with the lesson in each room you will need to switch off the receivers or keep your head out of range of the Wallpilot, though you can return to your own channel using your own transmitter, but it's a pain to keep lurching in and out of channels.

If anything the thin tubes probably wear out even faster than the standard tube, specially if you are active. The Secure n Stay helps, because if the body of the hearing aid falls down from behind your ear it twists the tube. I've crimped a few tubes that way and even broke one!
 
RoseRodent said:
If anything the thin tubes probably wear out even faster than the standard tube, specially if you are active. The Secure n Stay helps, because if the body of the hearing aid falls down from behind your ear it twists the tube. I've crimped a few tubes that way and even broke one!
Click to expand...

Phonak have confirmed that my hearing loss is to bad to use the 'power' slim tubes :(

Ausrider mentioned that having the tubes a bit longer will help with the red marks but then the aids fall of my ears. Have ordered secure n stays to help with that, I hope.

If I fall asleep with aids on, I get woken up straight away as soon as my ears touch my pillow or anything else, they go mad and whistle.
 
Back
Top