Are hearing aids set up well enough to use Auracast in venues?

Why it matters

Auracast reception can depend on hearing aid firmware and a setting in the fitting software. Manufacturer Oticon explicitly gives clinicians an enable/disable control. Its listener guide separately asks for an up-to-date Companion app and hearing aids paired with the phone before selecting a broadcast. Those are distinct parts of preparing a listener for a venue^1,2.

This question concerns activation, adjustment and teaching. The model and phone requirements are covered in Which hearing aids, implants and phones can connect?, while telecoil fitting covers the loop equivalent. RNID asks audiologists to help people set up prescription hearing devices for Auracast or direct them to suitably trained, accessible services³.

What the evidence shows

Firmware and clinician controls

Oticon's undated Genie 2 guidance, read on 13 October 2026, says hearing professionals can enable or disable Auracast in Accessories, or through Buttons and taps under Controls. It identifies support from Intent miniRITE R firmware 1.3.0 and Intent miniBTE R onwards. Its Firmware Updater can update devices in the clinic without sending them for service, using the specified programmer and current fitting software. The page does not say whether Auracast is enabled by default or how often clinicians check it¹.

The two listener guides describe selecting a broadcast through dedicated controls. Manufacturer Starkey's January 2026 QuickTIP takes the listener through Stream options to an Auracast list, and distinguishes supported from unsupported broadcasts. Oticon's guide uses a separate Auracast broadcast screen in Companion. Neither guide tells listeners to create a conventional listening programme before joining. These are examples of particular implementations, rather than a common fitting procedure for every brand^4,2.

Stream level and hearing aid microphones

Starkey's manufacturer guide illustrates separate controls for streaming volume and hearing aid microphone level. Oticon's manufacturer guide describes broadcast volume, a streaming equalizer and stream muting. The guides reviewed do not specify a universal numerical balance between broadcast and microphones. RNID recommends intuitive user control of that balance in its discussion of shared television listening; that recommendation concerns the same hearing aid input paths, rather than a measured venue fitting target^4,2,3.

A theatre account shows why the balance depends on the feed. In RNID's 12 October 2026 interview, one experienced ReSound Vivia user, Gideon, described normally muting the hearing aid microphones to concentrate on streaming. At a musical, music was missing from the broadcast, so Gideon had to restore the microphones to hear it properly; adjusting a child's settings at the interval also improved that child's experience. The account accompanies an RNID playbook created with manufacturer GN Hearing; separate interview funding is unstated. It gives no measured mix or controlled comparison⁵.

Electronic microphone control cannot remove all surrounding sound in an open fitting. Brian Moore's independent university review, supported by a UK research council grant, explains that low-frequency streamed sound can leak out through the vent while room sound leaks in and reduces clarity. It also describes the own-voice discomfort that can accompany a closed fitting. This is evidence about the shared acoustic output path, not an Auracast trial establishing a preferred dome or mould⁶.

What listeners and clinicians have reported

Favourable sound-quality ratings have been reported under specified conditions. In manufacturer GN Hearing's February 2026 report of a study at its own premises, 18 people with hearing loss and 18 with normal hearing used ReSound Vivia aids with power domes and the hearing aid microphones off. The hearing-loss group preferred Auracast over the loop in 76% of comparisons and gave mean sound-quality ratings of 7.9 against 5.9 on a 1–10 scale. An audiologist switched between the two technologies. These ratings concern that prepared setup; the study did not compare default and adjusted fittings, microphone mixes in a noisy audience or independent joining⁷.

Audiologist James Mander reported listening with Contact Theatre sound engineer Adam Steed to speech, film soundtracks and music, in quiet and against sound from the theatre speakers. The September 2025 account describes clear, unbroken reception with hearing aids and other receivers. The installation involved the Ewing Foundation, the theatre, GN Hearing and Ampetronic; financial support is unspecified. Two evaluators are named, but no recruited listener sample, hearing aid models, firmware, fitting settings or intelligibility scores are supplied⁸.

Gideon's two theatre visits had different outcomes: clearer dialogue accompanied repeated disconnections at the first, while the second offered a stable stream and speech and music before the performance for listeners to check reception. RNID says the first theatre had checked standalone receivers but not hearing aids. These observations point to venue testing and pre-show adjustment as well as hearing aid setup⁵.

Delay can also limit the result after joining succeeds. Pro Audito's independent March 2025 Aarau theatre check, with separate financial support and listener count unstated, reported approximately 65–90 ms total delay across the receiver and hearing aid paths after including the venue audio path. It warned that this delay could be problematic near the front with open or one-sided fittings; it did not report a comparison of listeners with those fittings. That result concerns one system and hearing aid model, and cannot establish the performance of later firmware or other venues⁹.

Professional advice and the gap in routine-practice evidence

The American Academy of Audiology's June 2022 announcement describes its involvement in discussions about patient and provider needs. It is a launch-era news item, with no Auracast fitting or verification protocol. A July 2024 AudiologyOnline tutorial by hearing-sector consultant Andrew Bellavia anticipated easier clinical support from standardisation, while describing the then-current Samsung assistant as difficult for inexperienced users. Neither is an audit showing what hearing professionals routinely enable, demonstrate or verify^10,11.

RNID's February 2025 report gives a more practical support request: audiologists should help set up devices or refer to trained services. For people using an Auracast receiver with a neckloop, it also calls for telecoil activation. That is an indirect reception route, with the fitting requirements discussed in the linked telecoil question; it does not establish that direct Auracast needs the same programme³.

Where sources disagree

The optimistic expectation of simpler clinical support in the 2024 tutorial contrasts with the later theatre account's repeated reconnection and adjustment needs. These are forecasts and individual experiences from different dates and systems, rather than comparable measurements. The manufacturer's enable/disable documentation establishes that a clinical setting exists; it does not establish a widespread activation failure^11,5,1.

The GN study's microphones-off condition produced favourable sound-quality ratings, while the theatre listener needed the microphones to recover music absent from the stream. The two findings concern different feeds and listening tasks. Neither establishes a single microphone mix suitable for every venue, and an open fitting introduces an additional acoustic path beyond the electronic controls^7,5,6.

What would settle it

An audit across clinics and hearing aid brands could establish the proportions with suitable firmware, Auracast enabled, controls demonstrated and successful independent joining at a venue. Recording the ordinary programme, broadcast settings, phone and app versions could help distinguish a configuration failure from a joining problem. The present sources provide product instructions, professional commentary and individual venue experience, rather than those denominators^1,4,10,5.

Trials comparing default and adjusted settings could measure speech understanding, comfort and awareness of nearby speech with different microphone mixes, open and closed fittings, and complete venue audio feeds. Stating firmware, delay and the help each listener received would make results more transferable than a microphones-off comparison or an informal theatre test^7,6,9,8,3,5.

Planning while it is open

• Check activation separately from the model name. For the Oticon devices covered by its guide, check the specified firmware and Auracast control in Genie 2; use the maker's current fitting software and updating method¹.
• Practise the available controls. Work through finding and joining a broadcast, changing its level, stopping it and disconnecting, using the instructions for that hearing aid and phone. RNID asks clinicians to provide setup support or an accessible referral^2,4,3.
• Check the microphone balance with the intended audio feed. Separate stream and microphone controls can help, but muting may remove wanted content when the venue broadcast omits it. Do not treat the microphones-off research condition as a universal listening setting^4,5,7.
• Include hearing aids in venue listening checks and transmit audio before the event. RNID recommends letting customers connect and adjust settings before the performance and having staff available to help⁵.
• Investigate the whole sound path when reception is clear but listening is poor. Vent leakage, the venue's microphone feed and delay can remain limiting factors after successful connection^6,9.
• Check the telecoil when the route uses a loan receiver and neckloop. RNID explicitly asks audiologists to activate it so people without direct Auracast reception can use that route³.

Sources

1. Oticon Genie 2: Enjoy intuitive fitting for individual needs. Oticon (Demant). Oticon professional website, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Oticon / Demant) ↩︎ https://www.oticon.com/professionals/clinical-experience/genie-2
2. How to listen to an Auracast broadcast. Oticon (Demant). Oticon support website, undated (read 13 October 2026). Manufacturer (Demant / Oticon) ↩︎ https://www.oticon.com/support/life-with-a-hearing-aid/connecting-to-other-devices/how-to-listen-to-auracast-broadcasts-with-hearing-aids
3. Auracast: a revolution in audio accessibility (RNID Auracast report). RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People). RNID, 11 February 2025. Nonprofit advocacy (RNID, UK charity) ↩︎ https://rnid.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Final-Auracast-Report-110225.pdf
4. Auracast Assistant: QuickTIP. Starkey. Starkey Laboratories, FLYR4546-00-EN-ST, January 2026. Manufacturer (Starkey) ↩︎ https://cdn.mediavalet.com/usil/starkeyhearingtech/ZrMv5J2LG0GLYUt4jl0qQQ/zFt3mab1DE-z6vDSS9-lBQ/Original/Auracast%20Assistant%20QuickTip.pdf
5. Attending theatres with Auracast: Gideon’s Story. RNID; interview with Gideon. RNID, 12 October 2026. Nonprofit advocacy (RNID; published alongside a theatre playbook created with GN Hearing; separate interview funding unstated) ↩︎ https://rnid.org.uk/2026/10/attending-theatres-with-auracast-gideons-story/
6. Hearing aids: what works well and what can be improved. Moore BCJ. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology 27:123-135, 13 February 2026. Independent (University of Cambridge; UK research council grant) ↩︎ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10162-026-01031-5
7. Sound quality comparison of Auracast and teleloop systems in a real-world environment. Jespersen CT, Hashem R, Aranda de Toro MA, Fernández D. GN Hearing (ReSound) white paper M201742-26.02, 17 February 2026. Manufacturer (GN Hearing) ↩︎ https://centerforhearingaccess.org/uploads/resound-jespersen/
8. The times they are a-changin’ for public broadcasting. Mander J. BATOD Magazine, September 2025, pp. 66–68; reprinted from Audacity, September 2025. Independent (Ewing Foundation audiologist; describes an installation involving the theatre, GN Hearing and Ampetronic; financial support unspecified) ↩︎ https://www.batod.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/W3883W.pdf
9. Test report: Auracast assistive listening system in a theatre. Pro Audito Schweiz. Pro Audito Schweiz (in German), 17 March 2025. Independent (Pro Audito Schweiz, Swiss hearing-loss association) ↩︎ https://pro-audito.ch/news/testbericht-auracast-hoeranlage-im-theater/
10. Improved Access Through New Consumer Technology: Broadcast Audio. American Academy of Audiology. American Academy of Audiology, Audiology in the News, 13 June 2022. Independent (American Academy of Audiology, professional association of audiologists; no separate funding stated) ↩︎ https://www.audiology.org/improved-access-through-new-consumer-technology-broadcast-audio/
11. 20Q: Auracast is Here - What You Need to Know. Bellavia A; introductory commentary by Gus Mueller. AudiologyOnline, article 28985, 8 July 2024. Independent (Andrew Bellavia, AuraFuturity hearing-sector marketing consultant and Tuned advisory-board member; formerly with Knowles; article funding unstated) ↩︎ https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/20q-auracast-28985

Change log

• 13 October 2026Published with 11 sources.
• 13 October 2026Citation audit narrowed setup claims, clarified study and delay limits, and expanded supporting records.
• 13 October 2026Second citation check retained the setup and listener-study claims; consolidated the Oticon record limits.

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