timsabre Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Sorry this is somewhat off topic for backstage but someone might have a good idea... My friend runs discussion groups for elderly people in various care homes in the area. The trouble is they can't hear each other properly. We are trying to think of some way of giving them each a direct audio feed, ideally using stethoscope-type headsets (a lot of the ladies are worried about their hairdo's!!). Because it's discussion they all need to have a mic too. The group size is 4-12 and setup needs to be relatively quick. Normal hearing aids are not very effective due to background noise. I have thought of building a set or bluecom pcb's up, that would actually work quite well but the wired link might be an issue. Also I cannot find a stethoscope-type headset with a mic, but surely there must be such a thing somewhere.Motorbike bluetooth intercoms have been suggested, but they seem to be max. 8 usersOr maybe some lash up with DECT phones and headsets... Anyone with any bright ideas? There is some budget but not enough to buy a complete wireless tecpro system... we can probably spend about £75 per user Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 If they all have hearing aids with a coil, could you set up up a temporary loop? Cheap mic in front of each person fed in to an auto mic mixer and on to the loop amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 If they all have hearing aids with a coil, could you set up up a temporary loop? Cheap mic in front of each person fed in to an auto mic mixer and on to the loop amp. That's a possibility, I think they are all sat in easy chairs though so setting up mics in a useful position is a bit tricky. A similar idea on this vein was to use cheap wireless headphones all on the same channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjadingle Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Silent disco for the output. For the small group you're looking at a few condensers should give decent coverage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Depending on the hearing issues at play, a simple amplification may not be all that is needed. Hearing loss can be more than just an attenuation of hearing acuity. Often a very clean source is needed, so you may need to mic each person individually rather than use a room mic. Compression and/or eq may also prove beneficial. There is also a psychological element to this, and it will likely need to be simple, easy, and working well very quickly, for the users to accept it as something worth the effort. No doubt Simon Lewis will have some wisely informed words to add. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 No doubt Simon Lewis will have some wisely informed words to add. eh? http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif I looked at the issue, thought If each person could be fitted with a headset mic feeding an automixer and each one had a properly adjusted hearing aid with telecoil with a suitable level of sidetone, then that would be great..... But then reality kicks in - too much cost, hassle and reliance on technology. Putting mics on older folks in different care homes is no easy task. Using a few mics to pick up general conversation rarely works well, despite what many of the hearing assistance technology providers might say. The care homes don't make it easy either, with hard floors (wipeable and easy for walking aids) lengthening reverberation and background noise being an issue. Having spent a few years visiting care homes, I came away thinking that the staff can barely use simple technology, let alone the residents. In reality, I think it's better to have another one or two human facilitators to repeat questions and answers and to make sure everyone is engaged and communicating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Thanks for your thoughts. You are quite right about a room mic or a few general mics not working. I should add that my friend, who is quite tech-savvy, has successfully trialled giving them headsets fed by a headphone distribution amp, with him as the leader/facilitator wearing a mic, and they loved it. But it was a bit of a rats nest of cables and they couldn't hear each other if someone else commented, so the leader had to repeat a lot and it affected the flow of the discussion. They are quite up for a technician solution if there is one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 These headsets from CPC might work with Bluecom and they could be worn around the neck rather than over the head. You would have to check that the headphone common isn't connected to the mic ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjadingle Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 If it's being managed by a facilitator, could you have a single handheld radio mic that is passed around? Or perhaps a catchbox if they're up to throwing a mic around! At least the focus is kept to 1 or 2 people at a time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Catchbox is pretty good for this type of thing, if its not being thrown it would be a great pass around device for them and work quite well I think. The "pro" comes with everything you need and you could plug in to a portable loop easily , depnding on room size I have only seen/used the small table top ones I dont know if there is a step up.(not selling but selling) we have sold quite a number of them and people seem impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljoshua Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Try listenTalk from Ampetronic. http://www.ampetronic.co/News/multiple-user-mobile-group-communications-now-possible Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Thanks hadn't seen that, I wonder how much it costs. It would presumably work as theatre comms too but they don't seem to be marketing it for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave m Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 The company connevans specialises in assisted hearing Maybe they can help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunray Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Cor this takes me back to the 70's...I managed to get some work at a home for their monthly bingo session after I'd discovered how to do AFIL's properly...I installed a permanent eight core loop and each month used a mixer amp for loop and slave out into their in house hifi (A number of Wharfedale Linton's on a decent amp) for those without hearing aids.They started hiring me in for more events and we soon got into the swing of raising a hand for the mic to be brought over, then in 1977 it got even better when I spent £800 on an Elkom radiomic (including taxi, ambulance services etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henny Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Would a simple Delegate microphone system not work ?? Most units have a headphone socket on them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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