What is an FM System?

Personal frequency modulation (FM) systems are like miniature radio stations operating on special frequencies. The personal FM system consists of a transmitter microphone used by the speaker (such as the teacher in the classroom, or the speaker at a lecture) and a receiver used by you, the listener. The receiver transmits the sound to your ears or, if you wear a hearing aid, directly to the hearing aid.

Personal FM systems are useful in a variety of situations, such as in a classroom lecture, in a restaurant, in a sales meeting, or in a nursing home or senior center.

FM systems are also used in theaters, places of worship, museums, public meeting places, corporate conference rooms, convention centers, and other large areas for gathering. In these situations, the microphone/transmitter is built into the overall sound system. You are provided with an FM receiver that can connect to your hearing aid or cochlear implant. The receiver can also connect to a headset if you don’t wear a hearing aid.

Credit:  American Speech- Language – Hearing Association

• Figure 1 With or without hearing aids a headphone can be used and the headphone is connected to the FM receiver.
• Figure 2 The hearing aid set to telecoil mode utilizes a neckloop connected to the FM receiver.
• Figure 3 The hearing aid set to telecoil mode utilizes a silhouette inductor connected to the FM receiver.
• Figure 4 The behind the ear hearing aid with direct access input (DAI) connects to the FM receiver.