GN's free Auracast+ app turns a $250 TV streamer into a venue transmitter

GN, the Danish company behind ReSound, Jabra and Beltone hearing aids, released a free app on 17 October called GN Auracast+. It does one thing: it lets anyone set up and manage an Auracast broadcast from GN's existing TV-Streamer+ or Multi-Mic+ accessories without owning a GN hearing aid.

Until now those two boxes were configured through the ReSound Smart 3D app, which assumed you had ReSound aids paired. That kept a perfectly good US$250 Auracast transmitter locked inside one brand's ecosystem. The new app, on iOS and Android, removes the lock.

Why it matters for small venues

The professional Auracast transmitters that venues such as Sydney Opera House install cost US$1,300 to $2,400 each before installation. For a council meeting room, a church hall, a GP waiting room or a café with a TV, that has been the barrier.

A TV-Streamer+ costs about US$250 (around £200 in the UK). Plug it into the TV's optical output, open the app, give the broadcast a name and optionally a password, and it is live. Any Auracast receiver can join: ReSound aids, obviously, but also Starkey aids, Samsung and Sony earbuds, and the Avantree receivers venues lend out. Aurahear's testing confirms the broadcast is open, not GN-only.

The Multi-Mic+ does the same for speech: clip it to a lectern or pass it around a table.

Australia and New Zealand first

GN announced the AU and NZ rollout on 13 October, four days ahead of the global app launch, alongside UK and EU availability. GN's local arm has been the engine behind the Opera House installation (with Hearing Australia and the National Acoustic Laboratories), so the timing is not a coincidence.

What it does not do

It does not make a TV-Streamer+ a substitute for a venue-grade transmitter. Range is a living room, not a concert hall; there is one stream, not two; and there is no Dante, no PoE and no central management. For a single room with a single feed, that is fine. For anything bigger, the professional options still apply.

The bigger picture

This is the second move in a month to lower the cost of broadcasting. Avantree's AirCast does a small venue for US$300; SMART's SoundFlow puts a transmitter inside a classroom display. The expensive part of Auracast was never the radio. It was the lack of a cheap, sanctioned way to switch one on. That is changing.