Starkey StarLink Edge Table Microphone User Review
With thanks to our friend and hearing aid wearer Aidan for his thoughts below on using the latest version of the Starkey table microphone out in the ‘wild’…
For many years I have been a big fan of the Table Mic from Starkey that was part of their Livio generation hearing aids. A brilliant innovation. Great for noisy environments, and especially useful for me during the COVID epidemic. Working in a shop, with face masks, screens etc. it was a life saver.
Having upgraded recently to Omega AI aids (recently reviewed here) I’m afraid, if you are on the same journey, your old Livio Table Mic will no longer work with the Omega aids. Its always a thorn in the side when you upgrade a computer or phone and then discover that your old peripheral devices no longer work.
But on the basis of how useful the old one was, I decided to get the new Omega generation table mic. What a pleasant surprise. The new one has been markedly improved. The quality of the stream has been improved. The startup mode is different in that the microphone automatically uses the forward facing microphones. Simple but better. Secondly, you can now isolate as many microphones as you want. The old microphone required some dextrous finger work to use more than one microphone. The new one couldn’t be simpler. Just tap the microphone you want to switch it on or off.
Saving the best for last - connectivity, or more specifically “reconnectivity”. The Achilles heel of the old microphone was the drop out if the stream was interrupted by a text message, phone call, or an out of range moment. The link was irreversibly lost. With Omega, if the connection is lost, a pair of blue lights come on and flash and will automatically reconnect with the aids when they are available. It sometimes takes a few seconds, but it does reconnect. Previously, there would have to be a routine of switching things on and off to allow the microphone to ‘reboot’. Always a bit annoying if in mid conversation in a noisy pub.
Nothing more to say. I loved the table mic before, and this new one is a definite improvement.
With great thanks to Aidan for his time on the above. Contact us if you are curious about the latest hearing technology accessories and what they could do for you.
