UniVox Listener: The ideal way to hear in looped venues if you are hard of hearing and do not have hearing aids.

The UniVox Listener is a unique assistive device. It combines both the function of a loop receiver and the function of a personal amplifier (such as a PockeTalker^TM) into a single device at no increase in cost.

Benefits:
 

• Just as with any other loop amplifier, the UniVox Listener loop receiver lets you hear beautiful clear sound from anywhere inside any room loop or from counter loops.
   
• Comes with a quick disconnect neck strap for your convenience. (See bottom picture.) Just wear it around your neck and forget it's there. Weighs less than 3 ounces (80 g) with batteries installed.
   
• The Listener has both a volume control and a tone control so you can adjust it to your unique hearing needs.
   
• If you are not in a looped area, you can use the UniVox Listener as a personal amplifier to hear people talking to you, or when you are watching the TV. When watching TV you can keep the volume on the TV down to a reasonable level and still hear clearly.
   
• It's easy to use. To change it from a loop amplifier to a personal amplifier just push the switch on the right side from "T" (telecoil for looped areas) to "M" microphone (for listening to sounds around you—people, TV, radio, etc.).
   
• All the controls are clearly labeled on the back (see middle picture) so you don't have to wonder which control does what.
   
• You can tell right away if you are in a working loop because the blue light at the top glows bright blue (see top picture). If the blue light doesn't go on, then you know either the loop isn't working, or you are not in a looped area and thus you need to switch to the "M" position to hear via the built-in microphone. (If you want to be technical, the blue light turns on when peaks reach +6dB or 200 mA/m.)
   
• When the UniVox Listener is turned on a small red light (top picture below the speaker grill) blinks to let you know it is on and that the batteries are still good. It uses two standard AAA batteries (included) which should give you 125 to 300 hours of listening pleasure, depending to the type of battery used.
   
• It has a standard 1/8" (3.5 mm) stereo  plug  on the bottom so you can plug in your favorite earphones or earbuds (earbuds/earphones not included).
   
• An interesting feature is that the UniVox Listener has a built in loudspeaker so if you don't have earphones plugged in, you can listen to it via the speaker. This is useful for a hearing person to check out the unit, or when a hearing person wants to listen via a room loop.

Some words of caution:

1.  For best results when using room loops, hold the UniVox Listener in a vertical position. All loop amplifiers (including the UniVox Listener) need to be oriented properly to the loop or the signal can almost fade out. Thus, when wearing the UniVox Listener around your neck and you are sitting up straight, it is automatically properly oriented to a floor loop and will give a good signal. However, if you lay back in your LazyBoy chair to watch the TV, the UniVox Listener may now be almost horizontal. Consequently, the signal may be much weaker. Just position it so it is hanging vertical again and the good signal will return.

2.  When using the UniVox Listener as a personal amplifier be aware that the microphone will pick up your clothes rubbing on the Listener—and this can be very annoying, not to mention drown out the person you are trying to hear. You have to be perfectly still to avoid this noise, but when you do this, it works wonderfully. This is a major drawback to using this device as a personal listening system.

3.  The volume on the loudspeaker is so weak (to me with my poor hearing) that if you have a significant hearing loss, you won't be able to hear it well at all. I don't recommend using this feature unless you have normal hearing (and then you wouldn't need it anyway)!

As a loop receiver the UniVox Listener is great! No question about that. The built-in personal amplifier is useful in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend using that feature regularly because of the clothes noise problem unless you are not moving when you use it—for example, when laying back and listening to the TV—then you'll love it too.