General - Pre-Sales Questions

You can use the BeHear headset to listen to the TV even without the HearLink PLUS transmitter, but HearLink PLUS will provide better sound quality, as the audio will be streamed directly to the headset.

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Yes, our assistive hearing headsets are designed to give you personalized amplification for computer-generated audio and conference calls, as well as live conversations. For conference calls with apps such as Skype, Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet, and WebEx, you will simply need to pair the BeHear headset with the sound source (smartphone or computer) and select BeHear in the conference platform’s audio settings.

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You can use the BeHear and control its basic functions even if you don’t have a smartphone. However, if you want to make sure the BeHear amplification matches your hearing profile, we highly recommend that you take our hearing assessment using a smartphone and our app. The hearing assessment results will be saved in the BeHear headset, so you can use it later without a smartphone.

The smartphone is also instrumental in fine-tuning the hearing environment in real time. However, the headset itself includes seven built-in control buttons that allow you to use it autonomously. So, if you want to use the device for ambient hearing only (not mobile phone calls or audio streaming from a phone), you do not need a smartphone.

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Operating Instructions

When your headset is connected to the Internet (via the Bluetooth connection to your mobile phone or a computer), you can get notification of the availability of an update (and then apply it to your headset). The W&H BeHear app checks for updates automatically when the Auto option is selected for the Headset Update Check in the Application section of the Settings screen. You can also check manually by choosing the Settings option from the bottom menu of the app and then tapping the Update button on the screen.

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  1. To connect your BeHear headset to a Windows PC desktop computer, first you must place the headset into pairing mode (when the headset is OFF, press the power button for several seconds until the LED flashes alternating red and blue lights).
  2. Then (and only then!) go to Settings > Bluetooth & other devices on your Windows PC.
  3. Click the “Add Bluetooth or other device” option
    Add a Bluetooth device on Windows PC - part 1
  4. Click “Bluetooth”:
    Add a Bluetooth device on Windows PC - part 2
  5. Your BeHear headset will appear as an audio device in the list next to a “headphone” icon. Click on this device name to connect:
    Add a Bluetooth device on Windows PC - part 3

Note: If you don’t follow the sequence detailed above, and instead start searching for new device in the PC while your headset is simply ON (not in pairing mode), BeHear will appear in the list as unknown device, with no “audio” under the name and no “headphone” icon next to it. Connecting to this device will not activate BeHear as a headphone/headset.
Add a Bluetooth device on Windows PC - part 4

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The answer is yes. When you are in Personal Hearing mode, tap the equalizer button under the hearing environment icons. Scroll down until you reach the “Balance” section. You can adjust the balance between ears here, and it will apply to all hearing environments (Indoor, Outdoor, Crowd, and Live Music) as well as the hearing modes (Personal Hearing, Mobile Calls, and Audio Streaming).
You may find this setting useful for situations in which annoying sounds are coming from a specific direction, and you are unable to change your physical position. Otherwise, there may be no need, since once you have applied the results from your hearing assessment to the headset the balance should then be optimal for your unique hearing profile.

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The battery in the BeHear headset is rechargeable (tested up to 600 cycles) but not replaceable. We designed it this way to provide protection against water and dust damage for the life of the product, as well as to keep the price down.

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Technical

Yes, although you can fully charge the headset’s battery within 2-3 hours, it is not damaging to the battery to keep it in the charger overnight.

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This noise, which sounds like a whistle and is also known as feedback, can be the result of one or more issues. There are a few things you can do:

  1. The ear bud may not be securely positioned within the ear canal. Try to re-adjust it, or choose a pair of ear tips that fit better. See one of these videos for details:
    BeHear ACCESS
    BeHear NOW
  2. The volume may be too high. Try turning it down a bit.
  3. Change the “Best Sound Point” in the Sound Tuning grid to a lower region on the screen.
    See one of these videos for details:
    BeHear ACCESS
    BeHear NOW
  4. Severe hearing loss in the high frequencies, which necessitates a high amount of amplification for these frequencies, may be responsible for the whistling. If this is the case, contact our tech support group with a screen shot of your Hearing Assessment results. They may be able to adjust some of the values to improve the situation.
  5. If none of the above solves the problem, you may have wax build-up in your ear.
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  1. As the headset can be connected to two devices at any one time, you need to make sure it’s not currently channeling the audio from any other device you may have connected (iPad/tablet/HearLink, etc.)
  2. In order to make sure your headset is connected to the computer, double-click the speaker icon on the Windows lower menu bar.  computer audio setting for behear assistive hearing headset
    The name that appears should be “BeHear” and not “Speakers”. If you see the name “Speakers” click the ^ (arrow). If the BeHear is connected properly you will be able to see it listed under the list of playback devices. Choose the “Headset” option. computer audio setting for behear assistive hearing headset
  3. When connecting to a desktop / Windows computer, the BeHear headset can appear in two different listings, once as a “Headset” and once as “Headphones”.
  4. Only the “Headset” listing will enable the BeHear microphones to transmit (the “HeadPhones” setting uses BeHear as a speaker only). Try switching between these two options.
  5. If you are using a communication application, such as Skype or Zoom, it is not enough to specify in the computer settings that the BeHear headset should be the audio device. You will also need to specify it in the communication application’s audio settings.
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If your HearLink or HearLink PLUS isn’t operating to your satisfaction, check possible causes below:

  1. The quality of the Bluetooth connection (and associated audio distortions) depends on the weakest connection of the two connected headsets. For example, audio distortions may be heard by the wearer of the headset closest to the HearLink/HearLink PLUS transmitter when the second headset is out of the transmitter’s range.
  2. The active CODEC (SBC, aptX or aptX-LL) for the HearLink/HearLink PLUS transmitter is determined according to the common denominator for the both headsets. Two BeHear headsets will always operate in aptX-LL mode. However, if one of the connected headsets is not a BeHear headset, and it doesn’t support aptX, both headsets will work in SBC mode only. (Note: HearLink does not support two connections with the aptX CODEC. If paired with two headsets simultaneously it will work in SBC mode only.)
  3. It is not recommended to connect two headsets simultaneously to one HearLink/HearLink PLUS and maintain separate smartphone connections for each headset. This is due to problems which may arise when the wearer desires to switch the audio stream between his/her phone and HearLink/HearLink PLUS (e.g., for an incoming call from one of the phones).

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Depending on the application, BeHear may appear either as a headset or as a headphone, just like most other Bluetooth headphones.

For most music players it will be listed as a “headphone” while for messaging services, such as Skype/Viber/WeChat etc., it will be listed as a “headset”.

For each additional Bluetooth device you would like to link to the BeHear headset you will need to perform the pairing procedure (placing the headset into “Pairing Mode” by turning it OFF, and then pressing the power button for several seconds until the LED flashes red/blue). You should see the BeHear headset in the “Audio Devices” section of the Bluetooth pairing screen.

For more information, view one of these videos:

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Depending on the application, BeHear may appear either as a headset or as a headphone, just like most other Bluetooth headphones.

For most music players it will be listed as a “headphone” while for messaging services, such as Skype/Viber/WeChat etc., it will be listed as a “headset”.

 

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