Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
07:52
An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners
Published on: March 13, 2026
Preferred overall loudness. I: Sound field presentation in the laboratory
Karolina Smeds1, Gitte Keidser, Justin Zakis
1Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
International Journal of Audiology
|March 28, 2006
Summary
Hearing aid prescriptions may not need to normalize loudness. Both hearing-impaired and normal-hearing individuals preferred reduced loudness levels, challenging standard nonlinear, wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) assumptions.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Hearing Science
- Psychoacoustics
Background:
- Current hearing aid prescriptive methods, particularly for nonlinear, wide dynamic range compression (WDRC), often aim to restore normal loudness perception.
- The assumption that normalizing overall loudness is always beneficial for hearing aid users is being questioned.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether prescriptive methods for WDRC hearing aids should indeed restore overall loudness to normal levels.
- To compare loudness perceptions and preferences between normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.
Main Methods:
- Laboratory tests involving 15 normal-hearing and 24 hearing-impaired listeners.
- Participants rated loudness and interest of video sequences with hearing aids fitted using the NAL-NL1 prescription.
- Listeners adjusted a volume control to achieve their preferred overall loudness.
Main Results:
- Hearing-impaired participants, even with NAL-NL1 gain, rated loudness higher than normal-hearing participants, despite calculated loudness being below normal.
- Both hearing-impaired and normal-hearing participants preferred overall loudness levels lower than normal.
- No significant difference in preferences was found between hearing-impaired listeners with and without prior hearing aid experience.
Conclusions:
- The standard assumption that WDRC hearing aids must restore normal loudness may be incorrect.
- Preferred loudness levels for hearing aid users might be lower than predicted by current prescriptive formulas.
- Further research into user-preferred loudness settings is warranted for optimizing hearing aid fitting.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
00:53Sound Intensity Level
Humans perceive sound by hearing. The human ear helps sound waves reach the brain, which then interprets the waves and creates the perception of hearing. The loudness of the environment in which a person is located determines whether they can distinguish between different sound sources.
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and hence a...
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and hence a...
01:21Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
01:28Applications of Logarithms
Logarithmic functions are powerful tools for simplifying the mathematical representation of phenomena involving exponential changes. Their ability to convert multiplicative relationships into additive ones is especially valuable in various scientific and engineering contexts. One notable application of logarithms is measuring sound intensity, specifically through the decibel (dB) scale used in acoustics.Sound intensity levels vary over an extensive range, from the faintest audible whisper to...
00:58Sound Intensity
The loudness of a sound source is related to how energetically the source is vibrating, consequently making the molecules of the propagation medium vibrate. To measure the loudness of a source, the physical quantity of interest is the intensity. This is defined as the energy emitted per unit of time per unit of area perpendicular to the sound wave's propagation direction. Since the total energy is greater if the source vibrates for a longer duration and over a larger area, dividing the emitted...
01:01Perception of Sound Waves
The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...