Preferred overall loudness. II: Listening through hearing aids in field and laboratory tests

Abstract

In a laboratory study, we found that normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness (according to a loudness model of Moore & Glasberg, 1997). The current study verified those results using a research hearing aid. Fifteen hearing-impaired and eight normal-hearing participants used the hearing aid in the field and adjusted a volume control to give preferred loudness. The hearing aid logged the preferred volume control setting and the calculated loudness at that setting. The hearing-impaired participants preferred, in median, loudness levels of -14 phon re normal for input levels from 50 to 89 dB SPL. The normal-hearing participants preferred close to normal overall loudness. In subsequent laboratory tests, using the same hearing aid, both hearing-impaired and normal-hearing listeners preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness, and larger reductions for higher input levels In summary, the hearing-impaired listeners preferred less than normal overall calculated loudness, whereas the results for the normal-hearing listeners were inconclusive.

Sounds perceived as annoying by hearing-aid users in their daily soundscape

“…However, the use of compression, directional microphones or noise reduction systems may reduce the annoyance to some extent. Using digital technology, it is possible to reduce the overall loudness of the sound to a hearing aid user, in line with the suggestion of Smeds et al (2006).…”

“…Dillon, 2001). This is important for overall pleasantness of the sound but also according to the study by Smeds et al (2006), where they report that persons with hearing impairment, in general, prefer less overall loudness than given by most prescription rules. Accordingly, hearing aid users prefer less gain than that derived by ordinary hearing aid prescriptions that aim at optimizing speech perception, and the gain of the fitted hearing aid may cause annoyance at situations with sounds of high levels even if the hearing aid fitting is conducted according to normal clinical routine.…”

Modern Prescription Theory and Application: Realistic Expectations for Speech Recognition With Hearing Aids

“…That is, neither normalizing nor equalizing loudness perception to that of the normal hearer is the goal of modern-day prescriptions as was true for early prescriptions a decade ago. Instead, hearing-impaired listeners prefer about half the loudness of a normal hearer when listening to a conversational speech input level (Smeds et al, 2006a(Smeds et al, , 2006b. Efficiency is further logical as a means of comparison because prescriptions, at least well-validated ones, are already commonly regarded as ensuring adequate benefit and satisfactory outcomes for patients at the group level (Abrams, Chisolm, McManus, & McArdle, 2012;H.…”

“…As a result of gain or output allocation across frequencies, a resulting inevitable trade-off is perceived loudness by the wearer of hearing aids. The term trade-off is used because, while loudness is often acceptable to a point, uncomfortable or excessive loudness can be a predominant reason for rejecting amplification (e.g., Cox, Alexander, Taylor, & Gray, 1997;Pascoe, 1988;Smeds et al, 2006aSmeds et al, , 2006b). Controlling for excessive, but ensuring adequate, loudness has often been considered in the development of prescriptions for hearing aids.…”

Adaptive Expert System for Calculation of Real Ear Insertion Gain for Digital Hearing Aid

“…They further assist clinicians in their ability to fit these products easily and accurately. There are further formulae were created using these approaches are DSL I/O (Byrne et al, 1990), Ihaff (1994) and (Killion, 1995;Kirkwood, 2006;Smeds et al, 2006).…”