How effective are the Conversation Boost (CB) and Ambient Noise Reduction (ANR) features in the extremely popular Apple Airpods Pro? Research at the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) show an improvement in SII-weighted SNR of around 7 dB for a talker located in front of the listener in a noisy environment for the CB-on and ANR-100% condition.
The number-one desire of people with hearing loss is not to make sound louder; it’s to hear well in noise. Improving the signal-to-noise ratio in hearing aids has evolved rapidly in the last several years. The evolution now continues with new viable and pragmatic combinations of hearing aids, Internet, smartphones, multiple wireless protocols, GPS, and more, opening up entirely new avenues for truly personalized hearing care.
Temporal envelope and temporal fine structure cues are complementary in nature, and both are used by listeners in their communications. Hearing loss, as well as the etiology and configuration of the hearing loss, could affect the relative importance of each cue for the listeners in their appreciation and understanding of daily sounds. This article reviews the importance of cues related to the temporal envelope and presents results of a study that compares the Widex EVOKE system, which is designed in part to preserve and enhance the temporal envelope, with another premium hearing aid.
The TNT is a reliable and efficient clinical test that allows measurement of a hearing-impaired listener’s tolerance for noise—with and without hearing aids—so that the results can be compared to normal-hearing listeners, among various hearing aid features, and on the same individual over time. This tool may also be useful for estimating potential satisfaction of the fitted hearing aids in real-life noisy environments.
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In a field trial where recent purchasers of ReSound LiNX2 were refit with ReSound LiNX 3D, subjective outcomes were slightly but significantly improved for ReSound LiNX 3D, with 70% of participants expressing a preference for the sound quality of the newer hearing aid.
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What is a realistic SNR and how should we test and assess features such as noise reduction algorithms? This article presents two studies that emphasize the importance of auditory reality on the design, fitting, and evaluation of hearing aids—with the hope of moving towards a firm grip on auditory reality.
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The new Signia Nx hearing aids contain Own Voice Processing (OVP™) technology designed to identify when the wearer is speaking. In this way, OVP can employ dual processing for either speech or own-voice conditions.
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With the publication of a new thought-provoking book and a constant stream of high-quality research coming from Ryan M. McCreery, PhD, and his colleagues at Boys Town National Research Hospital, we thought this would be a good opportunity to catch up with Dr McCreery.
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